Top 5 National Dog Day Games!

We celebrate our pup every day. Well, we try to. When Star Beethovens inside after a muddy walk, it’s somewhat harder to remember just how wonderful she is. But August 26 is all about our darling doggos.

National Dog Day is almost here, and it’s the perfect time to put your puppy on a pedestal. 24 hours to revel in all the weird and wonderful things they do. And being board gamers, it’s a great chance to get some canine inspired cardboard on the table! So here are 5 options that will leave you in no doubt as to who is top dog in your household!

Dog Park

Nothing like a nice walk in the park with your pooch! And Dog Park from Birdwood Games is just that; an auction based, set collection, resource management game where your steps will gain you goodies. Played in phases, part 1 is all about trying to entice some pups. Each game will reward you at the end depending on what breeds you have managed to walk, so choose wisely, and don’t forget to collect the treats they like! Then, after you decide which puppies to promenade, you’ll walk through the park picking up goodies and enhancing your rep. But, if you have left any behind, beware. Any dogs you aren’t able to walk that round will score you negative points! With gorgeous artwork and a new expansion (New Tricks), as well as another on the way, you’ll need no excuse to take your pup to the park now!

Dog Lover

Cats? Nope. The biggest affection has to be reserved for our loyal labradors and cooky cocker spaniels. And Dog Lover by AEG is a fun set collection game all about rescuing dogs and spoiling them rotten. Each game, you will take cards from a central tableau. These could be dogs, food, bones, walkies, treats, or tricks. But you can’t take any cards. Oh no. You can only take cards that match the shapes on the tricks you have taught your pups. And the Guard Dog is going to mess with your choices even more! And for your dogs to score at game end, they need to be fed with the things they like. Bonus points can be awarded for giving them their favourite things or taking them for a walk. But you need to balance what you give to ensure that you can adopt the perfect pooches for you!

Nuts About Mutts

Uno is a big hit with our son. And Nuts About Mutts is an even bigger hit as it takes the Uno vibe and levels it up. This is a simple but fun shedding game where the object is to be first to lose all your cards. But unlike Uno which only lets you lay a card on your turn, here you can sneak in even if it’s not! The card you lay has to match the colour, number, or breed of the card on the top of the discard pile. If you can’t comply, you’ll have to pick up. But there are also special cards which let you carry out actions that will make your opponents howl! The artwork is cute, and the publisher Grandpa Beck’s Games always comes through with simple to learn, fun to play family options.

Woof Days

Woof Days was made for this list. A light card game for two about dogs which has been created by Farplace Animal Rescue! And if you aren’t a fan of complicated rules then this is definitely one for you. In this game, you and your opponent are trying to create your own week filled with lovely pups. Every dog card you lay has a value and an action which affects the game play. There are also some special cards which mix things up even more. Sometimes you’ll be swapping dogs about in your own week.

At other times, you’ll be messing with your opponent’s line up. Lasting anywhere from a few minutes to 10/15, this is a sweet, fast playing filler that is part of a sweet trilogy including Dino Days and Cat Days

Forever Home

Another lovely game from Birdwood, this is a spatial puzzle, pattern building, set collection, open drafting game about giving rescue doggies their forever home. Each turn you will be choosing between taking a dog tile and placing it on your board, taking a training card, or moving an existing dog around your board. When the dogs on your board match the configuration on one of your training cards, that card is completed, and you’ll move dogs from your board to one of the available homes (City, Countryside, Foster Home, and Suburbs). As well as the training cards being worth points at end game, the dogs you home may also be worth bonus points. At the start of the game, dogs breeds are allocated to shelter commendations. And the player with the most dogs in each category by end game will get extra puppy points (giving it an individual area majority vibe). With each game ending after a player has completed 7 training cards, this is a lovely chilled, light game with a fun solo mode.

Hopefully this list will inspire you to hug your hounds every day but particularly on national Dog Day! Have fun with these and other great games. Just remember; if you lose, nobody likes a biter! Haha