SNAP Review – Stampfarm

It’s time to fill a farm with animals, and this time we’re going to do it in Stampfarm.

This is a SNAP review for Stampfarm.

Game

Stampfarm is a game by Walter Obert and published by dV Games.

The box says it’s for 2-5 players ages 6 and up, and it plays in about 20 minutes.

Art

There’s some art! Let’s talk about the art in Stampfarm.

As you might guess, there are stamps in this game. They’re cute, they’re self-inking, and they’re big chunky squares that line up really nicely with the squares on the player sheets.

The colors and animal symbols are the same on the stamps, the dice, and the scoring area at the bottom of the sheet, so no one is going to get confused about what does what.

Even the tiles for the advanced play option have clear instructions and each one gives an example through a picture of how they work.

Mechanics

So let’s talk about the mechanics of Stampfarm.

Set out the five animal stamps and give everyone their own player sheet.

The first player rolls all three dice, and then they reserve the one that they want, using the corresponding stamp to make a mark somewhere in their grid. All the other players can choose from the two options presented by the two remaining dice; everyone gets a chance to stamp. At three or more players, this means you’ll sometimes have to wait for the stamp that you want to use.

Then you’re going to pass the dice to the next player.

If a hay bale is rolled, that’s a wild, and the player may use that to stamp any kind of animal they want.

If you don’t like your current choices for stamps, there are two spots in your barn that don’t count towards final scoring.

Scoring

Let’s talk about that final scoring:

Your goal is to make connected groups of each animal type. At the end of the game, you count the animals in your largest group of each type. So if I’ve got a group of five sheep and a group of two sheep, I’ll score 5 for my sheep. If you have two groups tied for the largest, count them both. Here I have two groups of three cows each – I score 6 points for my cows.

A single animal by itself sadly, is lonely and not in a group. It scores zero points.

After scoring all five animal types, the player with the most points wins!

Advanced Mode

Stampfarm does have an advanced mode, which introduces a little bit more strategy.

First, you’ll actually be using the hay bale stamp. On its own, it’s not worth points, but it may help you fulfill requests.

Requests come in three types. Pick one request tile of each type before starting the game: usually one that involves hay bale placement, one that has relationships between animals, and one that wants certain animals to be next to the hedge.

The hedge is the last change – we ignore it in the basic game, but in the advanced game, it separates squares that would otherwise be adjacent.

Scoring the animals works the same in the advanced game. But then you also score how well you did on the three requests, to find out who is the best farm designer.

Expectations

Well, that’s how you play this game. What did we expect from Stampfarm?

[Anitra] Games that roll dice and mark off paper sheets can be really tough for young kids. Even if a kid understands the mechanics of a roll and write game, there’s a lot of fine motor skills involved.

[Andrew] Stampfarm removes the need for writing – or even coloring – and replaces it with stamps, so it should be even more accessible for young kids.

[Anitra] So, when I first saw this game, I expected something really simple. Sort of an introduction, a “my first” roll and write game.

[Andrew] I was excited because you could tell from the beginning that this was going to be some kind of tile placement puzzle, but with stamps instead.

[Anitra] Yeah!

Surprises

[Andrew] So what surprised us about this game?

[Anitra] So I love how everything fits together in this game. It really gives a scaffolding for any player to get started right away.

[Andrew] The simple mode feels like just the perfect fit for kids between 4 and 6 years old, but there are two issues (small issues).

First, you still have to write down scores at the end, then add them all together. Maybe this isn’t an issue, depending on your kids’ age. But if they’re younger, it could be a problem.

[Anitra] The second problem is that this game feels too long. It does take less than 20 minutes, but as an adult I am ready to be done with the game when we’re maybe halfway: about 10-12 stamps into the 20 that we’ll do.

We didn’t get to play this with anyone younger than our 9 year old, so maybe it’s less of an issue with younger kids who still love to repeat actions over and over and over… especially if they can use stamps to do it.

[Andrew] Yeah, I think that’s probably true. Younger kids tend to find activities that they enjoy, and if that’s the stamping of the stamps, I think we’ll be ok there.

Speaking of the stamps, they’re fantastic in this game. They’re so good. They are perfectly sized, they stamp really well, and they have lovely detail to them! I was honestly impressed by the quality of the stamps in the game.

[Anitra] The yellow ink and the green ink can get a little hard to see, but that’s a color issue. You’re not going to make a yellow stamp that really stands out.

[Andrew] I also really appreciated the advanced mode (which was actually the only way I played the game). It’s still accessible to pre-reading kids while stepping up the strategy. They were so smart to make even the special goal cards pictures only. You didn’t need the words for them.

Recommended?

Do we recommend Stampfarm?

I think Stampfarm could be a good choice for kids who are interested in “grown up” games but don’t really have the patience for them yet.

And also for kids who love stamps!

What are we going to rate Stampfarm from dV Games?

I think we’re going to rate Stampfarm 4 stamps out of 5.

And that’s Stampfarm, in a SNAP!

Find Stampfarm on Amazon or ask for it at your local game store.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Stampfarm from dV Games for this review.

This post contains affiliate links, which do not change your price, but help support The Family Gamers.

SNAP review music is Avalanche, provided courtesy of You Bred Raptors?