Don’t be creative, don’t be original and certainly don’t be exclusive. In DGTL Detox’s and Big Potato’s Herd Mentality, you have to go along with the majority of players. Each time, a question card is read out. For example, “Would you rather have a statue or a painting of yourself?”, but there are also more open-ended questions in between, such as “What is the first thing you do in the morning?” or “How many Big Macs can a normal person eat in 20 minutes?”. These are all questions where there are multiple answers and no right answer.
After reading out the question, everyone writes down for themselves an answer that they think will be given by most players. So above all, don’t think of what would be the right answer for you, unless you are a pretty average person. The players who form the majority get a cow chip; the remaining players get nothing. The first player with eight cow chips (and therefore with a herd of eight cows), wins the game. Draw? Continue until only one winner remains.
But… There’s a catch. If one player’s answer alone makes them the minority, that player gets the pink cow. And you don’t want that! Apart from the fact that the cow looks pretty angry, no matter how cute and sweet a pink cow sounds, the pink cow ensures that you can no longer win. You can still collect cow chips, but they don’t count for as long as the pink cow remains a threat to your average existence… That is until another player single-handedly forms the minority, causing that player to take over the pink cow. The black sheep (read: the pink cow) in your family (read: herd) is gone and all the cows in your herd just count again!
The concept of Herd Mentality is very simple, works well and is therefore easy to bring to the table. It is entertaining, a worthy addition to the game cabinet/room if you like party games and creates smiling faces. Incidentally, what also contributes to this is the following rule from the game: ‘If someone thinks too long about an answer, everyone else gets to ‘moo’ at them to make sure they hurry up!’ It comes across as a bit odd and you may have to step out of your comfort zone to actually tap into your inner four-legged animal, but at the same time, know that there is an championship burling (= the sound that male deer make when they are looking for a female to mate with). Trust me, that’s more embarrassing.
Some final noteworthy comments:
- The box is full of cow patches made from a particular fabric. Very nice detail!
- In 2022, the game won an award: family game of the year for players aged 10 and above.
- It’s of course possible to come up with your own questions for the game and use them. The publisher even goes a step further: ‘Feel free to come up with your own questions and test them out with your group. If you think you’ve come up with a top question, send it to info@dgtldetox.com. If we think it’s as fun a herd question as you do, we’ll include it in a future version and send you a free copy of the game!’ So, forget my first sentence. Be creative and original, send in your top question(s) and win!
Note: some aspects of this review mainly applies to the Dutch version of Herd Mentality called ‘Kuddegedrag’.
