Woollie

• Designers: Simona Greco and Marco Rava
• Publisher: Cranio Creations
• Players: 1
• Age: 7+
• Time: 5 minutes  (only for the easiest!)
• Played on my lunch table at work with review copy provided by publisher

So, I had a nice email chat with my friends from Cranio Creations this summer, and they asked me if I was interested in reviewing some of their games – and I happily said yes, as I have had lots of fun with their releases in the past.  I thought I was getting a deduction game (Murder Pocket Party) and a party game (Broad Lines), but when I opened the mailing crate, I was surprised to find this little solo puzzle.  I knew nothing about it, and it doesn’t even have an entry on BGG!  Not sure if this is because the game is more a puzzle, than a game – but that hasn’t stopped other similar things from making it into the BGG database in the past…

The idea here is to recreate a pattern seen on a card using a specific subset of the 11 magnetic tiles. Depending on the difficulty of the puzzle, you might use a 3×3, 4×4 or even 5×5 grid.  To play, choose one of the puzzle cards – they are color coded for difficulty – and then put the board tile on the correct side to match the needs of the puzzle.

Look at the puzzle card closely; the catch here is the orientation of the feet!  That’s how you know you have the sheep in the right place.  If there are flowers, they can be a clue to help you fit the pieces in as there aren’t too many flowers on the tiles.  However, one thing to keep in mind is that you can have other flowers in your solution; you are only mandated to have flowers in the positions shown on the card.

The eleven tiles are magnetic and double sided.  You will definitely need to flip them around to look at all the possibilities.  I’m not sure why the tiles are magnetic other than to stick them to the board to make this easier to play in a car, train or plane.  When you think you have the right tiles in place (or you give up in frustration), you can flip the card over to reveal the solution.  As far as I can tell, there is only a single unique solution to each puzzle.

The puzzles are surprisingly hard.  I found the first few easy (blue) puzzles took me a few minutes each, and then I jumped into a hard one – for review purposes, of course – and my first pink card took me the better part of a lunch break to solve.  I totally disagree with the 5min time estimate on the box!  (Or I guess, I’m really bad at Woollie).  With each tile being double sided, it takes a bit of brainpower to remember what is on the back sides.  I did eventually figure out that I could use a copy machine at my office to make a sheet with fronts and backs on them so I didn’t have to keep flipping the dang tiles over.

Is it a game? I mean, not really.  But it’s a cute and challenging puzzle box which has kept me busy all week in my downtime at work.  Given its small size, it would be perfect for travel, and I assume that is why the pieces are magnetized.  If you’re a fan of these solo challenges, this would be a worthwhile pickup. 

Until your next appointment,
The Gaming Doctor