BattleGoats

About this board game

BattleGoats is a War-style card game for 2–6 players, with games lasting about 5–30 minutes. Released in 2016, it combines card battles, changing number values, and memory as players fight to keep the last card in play.

Each player receives a random Hero and recruits an army of goats. Players then receive eight additional cards from the deck at random, while any remaining cards are set aside for that game. With nine cards in hand, everyone creates a face-down battlefield in a 3×3 pattern.

The player who finishes laying out their battlefield first chooses who attacks first. On a turn, the attacking player selects one of their own cards and chooses any one of an opponent’s cards to challenge. Both cards are revealed, and the higher number after applying any modifiers wins.

• Special abilities and modifiers are shown on the bottom of the cards.
• If the numbers are equal, both cards are defeated.
• The losing card is discarded, while the winning card is flipped face down again.
• Players must remember where cards are positioned and target cards with lower numbers when possible.

The concealed battlefield creates a memory effect throughout the game. Although a winning card returns face down, remembering its location—and the locations of vulnerable opposing cards—can shape future attacks.

In BattleGoats, every attack can change the battlefield as cards are removed and values are adjusted by abilities or modifiers. The player with the last card in play wins.