I recently played Tipperary with my family. I was very impressed with how my 6-year-old son did on his very first try. He did not place the tiles in the best way, but he still scored really well.

The rules for this game are very simple. You spin a spinner and take one of two tiles from the area your family crest points to. Then you place that tile into your own playing area. Your main goal is to keep groups of sheep next to each other to score points.

But there are other ways to score, too. You can get points by placing granaries next to fields. This gives you whiskey barrels, which you show by moving your marker up a step. This can give you extra sheep pieces to place in empty fields. This helps connect nearby sheep fields for the highest score.

Then there are the bogs. You can make a protected bog by placing two or more bog tiles next to each other. This lets you draw a special tile you can use to fill in your playing area. Why do you want to fill it in? Because you also score points for the single largest complete rectangle made by your tiles.

We also have the ruins. If you connect three ruin tiles in a straight line, you get a tower piece. This piece can help fill out your rectangle at the end of the game. Lastly, you score points for completely surrounding your starting village on all sides.

I absolutely love these little tile laying puzzle games like Tipperary, Isle of Cats, and Planet Unknown. I can’t wait to try it with five players.

Jeremy is a gamer from Lafayette, Louisiana. He games at home with his wife and young son, but he also hosts and visits game nights with friends all over the area. Jeremy loves games about nature, games with turtles and Batman, and games he can play with his young son. Expect lots of different games discussed here each time. All photos are courtesy of Jeremy Dobler.