Our five year old is a big fan of Lego and he received the Shave a Sheep game as a Christmas present last year. The suggested age range for this game is 5+ and it is for 2-4 players.

* Setting Up *
Perhaps unsuprisingly for a Lego game, all the game pieces need to be constructed from Lego. Full pictorial instructions are provided for this. First you need to build four sheep - these are very simple to build and our son was confident following the instructions and making them himself. You then need to build the wolf - again, this is a simple model perfect for the target audience of the game to build. Finally, you need to build the dice as even this is made of Lego.

* Object of Game *
The object of the game is to collect wool (i.e. white Lego blocks) on your sheep and then shave it. The person with the biggest pile of wool at the end of the game is the winner. However, it is not quite a simple as that. You can steal wool from other players' sheep and there is also the menacing threat of the big bad wolf. Gameplay revolves around the dice - you roll the dice and either collect wool, swap sheep with an opponent, shear your sheep or send the wolf to another player to steal all their wool. The wool is only 'safe' when it has been sheared and you can only shear your sheep when it has all five pieces of wool or you roll 'shear sheep' on the dice.

* Gameplay*
Although the basic premise of the game seems very simple, it can get very tactical - and, after a few Christmas drinks, a bit malicious! We're all a bit too competitive in this house and took great pleasure in swapping an empty sheep for an almost full one, or sending the wolf to steal somebody elses' wool. Of course, that makes it more entertaining for the grown ups but the hyper-sensitive five year old didn't take to kindly to having his wool stolen. And, a word of warning, it isn't really a game where you can 'let' a child win without it being really obvious - not that they care how they win! Creating the dice out of Lego also gives you the option of changing the rules to suit your family - or just to give a bit of variation to the gameplay. There is a section in the rule book which suggests different ways of playing and changing the configuration of the Lego dice to enable this. We enjoyed the 'speed wolf' version where rolling the 'wolf' colour means that it is a free for all where everyone races to grab the wolf and howl, before moving it to someone else's sheep.

* Cost *
This game costs around £8. I think it is worth the money, especially as once the children outgrow it, the Lego bricks can be absorbed into the ever-growing Lego collection. It is also good as a party present.

* Final Thoughts *
This is definitely a game for all the family. It is simple for younger children to understand the rules, quick to set up and fun to play. The only negative is that it is easy to lose the Lego pieces - we have lost a few bits of wool so now have multi-coloured sheep as we have had to add to the game pieces with blocks from the main Lego collections. Also, the tactical nature of the game can lead to a few five year old tantrums - but, to be honest, we get that with virtually all games if he isn't winning so I am just crossing my fingers and hoping he grows out of it soon.