Happy Tails and Trails in the Fantastic Game of Dog Park
Take a stroll through the beautiful outdoors on daily walks with all sorts of canine companions in Dog Park.
I love animals in general, yet there aren’t a lot of solo games that prominently feature dogs. When my copy of Dog Park arrived, I was beyond excited to take a look at it! After a few recent disappointments, I kept my expectations pretty low and simply wanted to enjoy all of the different dogs. But… There were dogs! I still couldn’t hold back my anticipation!
Game Overview
Game Name: Dog Park
Publication Year: 2022
Designers: Lottie Hazell and Jack Hazell
Artists: Kate Avery, Holly Exley, and Dann May
Publisher: Birdwood Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Over the course of 4 rounds, dogs are recruited and taken on walks throug the local park. Resource management exists with adorable balls, sticks, treats, and toys, while the hundreds of unique dogs provide bonuses, breed facts, and majority awards. It’s fun with all barks, and no bites!
First Play
November 14, 2022
Complexity
2
Latest Play
October 21, 2023
Expansions
2
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
14
Play Time
30 Minutes
High Score
64
Game Area
40" x 22"
Low Score
23
Out for a Little Walk
Each round begins with the recruitment phase, which happens twice and involves choosing from these wonderful dog cards. All unique, and absolutely adorable!
Breed expert categories form the baseline for up to 8 victory points. Certain categories are worth more, yet it also comes down to choosing individual dogs.
In this example, the Whippet was there for more of a long-term strategy with final scoring.
With 2 solo opponents, I knew their priorities, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try for the same dog!
Long-Term Thinking
At the novice difficulty level of the solo mode, I had to win at least 3 breed expert awards. Easier said than done with a total of just 7 out there, and 2 solo opponents!
They prioritized the most valuable breed categories. Yet if I just stuck to the breed categories near the bottom of the list, I was missing out on a lot of potential victory points.
So there was an over-arching goal to work towards, but every dog I recruited had its own special ability.
And then there was the other part of my recruitment selection… The fact that I wanted all the dogs. All of them!
Bidding Victory Points
On those occasions when I wanted to recruit the same dog as a solo opponent, I used my handy leash dial and rolled this cute die to compare our values. Very tricky!
In fact, these bids were paid for out of my own victory points, and not resources. There was a delicate balance between getting the right dog without overpaying.
I won all ties, yet had to lock in 4 victory points to guarantee the higher value. Just barely made it here!
Had I lost, I would have been able to recruit the unchosen dog for 1 victory point. That was still something!
Off to the Park
After recruitment, it was time to decide which dogs to walk! Early on, this seemed pretty clear. Unwalked dogs got antsy and took away victory points. Onto the lead!
I paid the resource costs, which was very fun as I imagined the different dog personalities. Any 2 resources could be substituted, so someone got an alternate ball.
Just seeing these happy dogs was a joy. For my first few plays, I was more distracted than anything. Ha ha!
Dogs could also be walked multiple times, and a collar token would be added each time to meet one of the goals.
Racing for Resources
The walk in the park wasn’t entirely a… Walk in the park? Ha! Both solo opponents moved according to the die, so they broke up my plans a little bit and hurried me along.
If I was the last dog walker out of the park, I lost a reputation point. Yet this was where I got a lot of resources, so racing to the end wasn’t the best idea.
There were ways to swap out dogs in the recruitment area, and even change the dogs back in my kennel.
I didn’t realize it for a little bit, but there were a lot more strategies to discover than I originally spotted. Awesome!
Filling Up the Kennel
In the end, I had a wonderful selection of 8 dogs. Note that I appreciate the theme, which is about walking dogs, rather than breeding them or collecting them.
Despite playing at the lowest difficulty level, my score was rather abysmal. Exciting! That meant there was more of a challenge ahead, and I was excited to keep on playing.
Of the roughly 160 dog cards, I probably saw about 30 during each play. Lots and lots of variety. And all the dogs!
Working towards the breed expert categories was an intriguing concept, yet wasn’t the sole consideration.
Solo Opponent Stacks
Both of the solo opponents had their own kennels of 8 dogs, although the only thing that mattered were the majorities. I just steered clear of the gundog group. Ha!
Yet there were a lot of subtle considerations over the course of play. I could try to win the bid on a certain dog, mainly to have a little control over the breed categories.
Individual dogs needed to work well for me, though, and I hadn’t come close to figuring out the right choices.
Gameplay was still very much on the light side, yet I found myself enjoying the thinking process. Back to the start!
Just Enough Control Over the Solo Opponents
The game mechanics were wonderful in general, and I absolutely loved how smoothly everything moved along! Yet I was even more appreciative of the solo mode. This wasn’t about over-complicating things by making me think about their decisions. Only I needed to keep track of my resources and victory points, which was very simple.
But this pair of solo opponents wasn’t boring. During recruitment, it took a matter of seconds to see which dogs they would prioritize. In that way, I could bump one of them out by outbidding them on a dog with a more valuable breed category. Or, maybe that was the dog I needed for an awesome ability! I had a little bit of agency over them.
Their walks through the park also kept me on my toes. With random results from the die, they sometimes raced ahead, or lagged behind. That played into my strategy of which spaces to go after and how to choose my own pace. Rather subtle again, yet the focus was on my strategies. I didn’t have to pause to manage anything complicated on that side.
This kept the game relatively lightweight, but it didn’t lack any decisions. I had to constantly keep an eye on the solo opponents as I worked towards building up my kennel and victory points. It was challenging, though nowhere near overwhelming! And if I ever felt like I was doing horribly… There were lots of happy, adorable dogs to hang out with!
An Entirely New Kennel
After resetting everything quickly, I was right back to my little dog walking business! My kennel was very different this time as I spotted a ton of brand new dog cards.
Not every dog has a unique ability, and there are just a handful to understand. The rulebook contains a nice reference section, too, although the cards are clear.
Combined with the rest of the elements, decisions weren’t as cut and dry as they might have been.
Sometimes, I had to choose a dog card to mantain a breed category majority, even with an unneeded ability. Clever!
Finding an Old Friend
Some comments point out that the breed artwork isn’t as accurate as it could be, and some dogs don’t look as cute as they could be. It’s all subjective with watercolors!
I wasn’t expecting to find an obscure breed I knew of, yet I was overcome with nostalgia with the Australian Terrier.
This was my childhood dog, and a very accurate sort of representation! She could have such a serious expression at times. Totally sassy. And my first canine friend!
It was just wonderful to have that little memory pop up in such a positive and adorable way in the middle of play.
Top Dog Bow-Wowing
I played over and over, always with a consistent play time and quick sequence of play. That highest scoring tier was just out of my grasp, time and time again. So challenging!
Then, the dogs finally came together. I spotted the sort of strategy I needed, and actually competed for most of the top breed expert categories. It was a rousing success!
Not to give away the strategy, yet all of the dogs’ abilities came together in the end. Lots of resources, too!
This was an absolute joy to play, and I was really only working at the novice difficulty level. Plenty more fun!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-6
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Novice Difficulty Level
Outcome: 60, 49, 55, 48, 54, and 64 (6 Wins)
I technically won each time, yet hitting the highest scoring tier took a lot of effort! Looking back at the park and the different options, this was actually a much bigger part of the game than I originally thought it would be. My winning strategy made much better use of these fun strolls. Now, it’s onto the next difficulty level in a game that I’ve quickly come to love, from snout to tail!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- The artwork is simply wonderful with over 150 unique watercolor dog cards included in just the base game.
- Gameplay flows very smoothly with reminders on the board and easy-to-read summary cards for each phase.
- Decisions aren’t overly complicated, yet rarely will recruiting a dog be a simple comparison between options.
- Both solo opponents are simple to run with the roll of a die, yet they can pose a major challenge with majorities.
- Recruiting dogs comes with a bidding process that uses victory points, which offers a lot of considerations.
- Everything feels very thematic around walking dogs in a park, rather than collecting them, which is nice to see.
– Cons (Negatives)
- With so many dog cards, shuffling can be a little annoying and may not lead to a balanced spread of categories.
- There is a little bit of luck involved with having only 3 dogs and their abilities available to recruit at once.
- Some of the walking phases can feel repetitive since the paths are pretty static and based on gathering resources.
- Only a handful of forecast cards and rerouted park cards are included, which limits the variety in these elements.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Objective
- Overall Goal Progress 50%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 62 points at the novice difficulty.
Score at least 62 points at the intermediate difficulty.
Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Dog Park? Are there any other dog-themed or other animal-themed solo games you love? I appreciate how this game showcases dogs to walk, rather than collect. All of them are adorable! I got so many smiles out of this, both from the artwork and strategic decisions. This dog walker will be out again in full force soon!
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