Playtest Version
Chicken in the KitchenTM now has a print-and-play test version!
Click the egg to view a playtest version:
About the Game
Chicken in the KitchenTM is a game in which you draw a card to determine whether or not you are a chicken. You will need to navigate the game board following the ruleset to collect (and maintain) eggs faster than your opponents to win. But the other chickens (or not chickens) playing will definitely try to put up a challenge!
At first glance of the ruleset, it may look as though it is all luck, but rest assured there are significant strategic elements at play. You might decide you don’t want to use the bathroom, for instance, or you may try to jet ahead through the living rooms. Try it out today with our free printable version! Be sure to have a standard deck of playing cards and a die ready!
Game design and artwork by Tyler and Rebecca Stalbaum.
Translated Rules
Click the egg to view the translated rules (French, Spanish, German, Italian):
Rules
Start of the Game
At the start of the game, you are greeted by Mama Chicken in the Front Hall. Each Player chooses a player token to use and places the token on the Front Hall space.
Shuffle the playing card deck and each player draws 1 card.
During gameplay, if the deck runs out, reshuffle the discard pile.
If you have a red card, you are a chicken.
If you have a black card, you are not a chicken.
The youngest player (or whoever) goes first.
During a turn...Move and Act
During your turn, roll 1 die and move that many spaces clockwise around the board.
If you land in the Living Room, you may swap places with any other player in any living room.
If you land in the Bathroom, and if you are a chicken, you may show your chicken card to collect 1 Egg Token.
If you are in the Kitchen, you might be "accused" by another player, see the "Chicken in the Kitchen?" section. On your next turn, when you leave the kitchen and before you roll, you may discard your card and draw a new one.
If you land in the Roll Again spot, you must roll again and move that many spaces.
If you land in or pass the front hall, collect 1 Egg Token. You do not get an Egg Token from passing the Front Hall when swapping places with another player through a Living Room to Living Room jump.
During a turn...Chicken in the Kitchen?
After you have moved and acted, if any player is in a kitchen, you may accuse them of being a chicken. You may only accuse one player per turn.
The accused player must show their card. If the accused player is a chicken, you collect 1 Egg Token and the accused player loses 1 Egg Token. If the accused player is not a chicken, you lose 1 Egg Token. The accused player must discard their card and draw a new card.
If any player with no Egg Tokens should lose 1 Egg Token, ignore the effect.
End of the Game
The first to 5 Egg Tokens wins!
Our Story
I’m Tyler and my wife is Rebecca, and we have been married for many years.
I come from a family of board and card game enthusiasts, where we always play games during family gatherings and after meals. During our marriage, I have always been trying to get Rebecca to play board games with me, but it has been a constant struggle to find games that she would enjoy.
Early on this year, we went through a phase of trying out new games to find something we would enjoy together, but still having little success. At around that same time, our 2 year old was trying to say “Chicken in the Kitchen” and was saying it in a really funny way. That’s when it all came to me: Let’s just make up our own game that’s fun, cute, and fast-paced with simple but goofy rules, and we call it Chicken in the Kitchen! After a few hours of bouncing around ideas, we threw together our first prototype board and ruleset and started playing that evening.
This was back in about July/August. We began playing it regularly and as we played more, we enjoyed the game more and more. We have had lots of great times laughing together and just having fun with the game, and so after months of playing our own game together at home, we decided we should figure out how to launch the game for everyone to enjoy! Which brings us up to the present, and what a cool journey it has been.
Recently, we’ve been working on finalizing the first edition for public release and have published (and improved) our printable playtest version. But there is a ton more work to do! We still have a lot of artwork to wrap up and even more playtesting to do. We really hope that you will want to stick around and join us on this journey!
Thank you so much for your interest in Chicken in the Kitchen, let’s bring this game to life!
Sincerely,
Tyler and Rebecca
Sourdough Games
Notice
No chickens were harmed in the making of this game!