Squatter (game)

Superficially, Squatter has the appearance of a Monopoly-type game. However, unlike Monopoly, all players remain in the game until the end. Players each start the game with their own sheep station and aim to be the first player to improve and irrigate their pastures and then fully stock their sheep station. Players run their sheep station as a business venture, to earn enough money to pay for the seasonal running expenses and to finance the improvements that are required to win the game. The Squatter game presents players with a mixture of strategy and luck that reflects the many challenges facing any form of livestock raising. These challenges include droughts, floods and bushfires, as well as disease, variable livestock prices, and luck.

The components of the game are stored in a cardboard box with a lid. The box depicts an Australian stockman herding sheep on horseback. The components consist ofRules for Squatter, rule book from Squatter game, 1993{{Cite news|url=http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/object/133744|title={{!}} National Museum of Australia|last=Australia|first=National Museum of|work=National Museum of Australia|access-date=2018-05-18|language=en}}

• A square game board with a hexagonal layout representing 6 sheep stations and a Monopoly-like set of squares printed around the edges of the board that pieces move around
• Two "Ready Reckoner reference" cards
• Twenty-two "Tucker Bag" cards, five "Stud Ram" cards, twenty-six "Stock Sale" cards, five "Worm Control Programme" cards, five "Fertilized Pasture" cards, five "Control of Weeds and Insects" cards, thirty "Irrigated Pasture" cards and thirty "Improved Pasture" cards
• Two 6-sided dice
• Six playing pieces, six hay stack pieces, and one hundred and eighty sheep tokens
• Play money of various denominations

The game has been added to the collections Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and Outback Centre{{Cite web|url=https://ehive.com/collections/3492/objects/17070/squatter-board-game|title=Squatter board game; 1305 on eHive|website=eHive|language=en|access-date=2018-05-18}} as well as the National Wool Museum{{Cite web|url=http://victoriancollections.net.au:8080/items/54065f539821f50e3cc9f412|title=Game, Board - Squatter game: the Australasian version - Victorian Collections|access-date=2018-05-18}} and the National Museum of Australia where in the Statement of Significance it quotes

"'Squatter's' focus on sheep farming reflects the inextricable link between this industry and Australian history more broadly." and "The 'Squatter' boardgame, which has been a household favourite in Australia for 45 years, offers players a rough simulation of life as a sheep farmer with all the daily trials and tribulations this entails."

The game has received some criticism in recent years (2016) with Mental Floss rating it number 8 in 14 justifiably forgotten Milton Bradley board games. Mental Floss's position is that:

"Some board games turn up the tension so high you practically sweat through your clothes. Squatter, an Australian import which brings home the high-stakes world of sheep-herding, is probably not one of them."{{Cite news|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/84866/14-justifiably-forgotten-milton-bradley-board-games|title=14 Justifiably Forgotten Milton Bradley Board Games|date=2016-08-23|access-date=2018-05-18|language=en}}

• Games & Puzzles{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_games-and-puzzles_1976-01_44/page/14/mode/2up | title=Games and Puzzles 1976-01: Iss 44 | date=January 1976 | publisher=A H C Publications }}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://squatter.com.au/ Official Squatter Game site]
• {{bgg|2970|Squatter}}
• [http://www.torus.com.au/index.php?page=games&id=49 PC CD-ROM Developer Torus Games]
• [https://www.facebook.com/squattergame/ Squatter Facebook Community]

Category:Board games introduced in 1962

Category:Economic simulation board games

Category:Australian board games

Category:Works about Australia