- Set-up
- About 2 min
- Reading
- None
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Children aged about 4 to 8 playing with a parent, grandparent or older cousin
Think twice if Your children are 9 or older and already enjoy proper strategy games
How we rate it
Learning curve. Swap two tiles or move one step and flip a tile: a four-year-old follows it after one round, which puts it with UNO at 1 on our scale.
Luck & skill. Early flips are mostly lucky guesses, and a sheepdog that lands on the wolf at once ends the round. Watching the wolf's swaps and bluffing well as the wolf add a little skill.
Interaction. It is one player against the rest every round: the wolf tries to fool the team, and the team talks over every move.
Set-up. Lay the 16 sheep tiles face down in a 4 by 4 square, put the wolf tile, sheepdog and bone tokens nearby, and choose the first wolf.
Reading. There is no text on the tiles or tokens; only the adult teaching needs to read the rules.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
Is Uly & Polly right for you?
Great if
- Children aged about 4 to 8 playing with a parent, grandparent or older cousin
- A first taste of bluffing and teamwork, with everyone getting a turn as the wolf
- Short sessions before bedtime or homework: a round takes only a few minutes
- Families who want a small game with no words to read
Skip it if
- Your children are 9 or older and already enjoy proper strategy games
- You want a game the youngest can play entirely on their own: they usually need help hiding the wolf
- You want a game for a big family gathering; five is the most it takes
How Uly & Polly plays
Lay the 16 sheep tiles face down in a 4 by 4 square: this is the field. Put the wolf tile, the wooden sheepdog and the 20 bone tokens beside it. In each round one player is Uly, the little wolf, and all the others form one team as Polly, the sheepdog.
- Time to teach: about 5 minutes.
- Reading and language: The tiles and tokens have no words, only pictures of sheep, a wolf and bones. The Indian box has rules in English and Hindi. An adult reads them once and can explain them in any language, so children who can't read play on equal terms.
How to Play - Uly & Polly - A quick and fun family game · Bored Game Company · Official
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Hide
While the others close their eyes, the wolf player swaps the wolf tile into the face-down field of 16 sheep.
- 2Swap
On each of their turns the wolf must swap two touching tiles, but never the one the sheepdog stands on.
- 3Search
The sheepdog team moves Polly one step and turns over the tile she lands on. Find the wolf within eight sheep and the team wins the round.
- 4Win
Each round's winners take bone tokens. After everyone has been the wolf, the player with the most bones wins.
The full explanation: how a game of Uly & Polly goes
To start a round, everyone except the wolf closes their eyes. The wolf player swaps one sheep tile for the wolf tile, face down, and may turn a few other tiles to cover their tracks; the sheep that was taken out goes back in the box. The sheepdog team then chooses a tile to start on and puts Polly on top of it, without turning it over.
Now the two sides take turns. The wolf must swap two tiles that touch, side by side or corner to corner, but never the tile Polly is standing on; swapping two ordinary sheep is allowed and is a good way to confuse the hunters. Then one player on the sheepdog team, taking turns clockwise, moves Polly one step in any direction and turns over the tile she lands on if it is still face down.
If the tile is the wolf, every player on the sheepdog team takes a bone token and the round ends. If the team turns over eight sheep without finding him, the wolf has escaped and the wolf player takes a bone. Then the next player becomes the wolf. With 4 or 5 players everyone is the wolf once; with 2 or 3 players everyone is the wolf twice. The player with the most bones wins, and tied players share the win.
For parents: young children find it hard to hide the wolf without giving it away, and some forget where they put him. Reviewers suggest an adult helps the youngest set up the field, or plays on their team. Watching which tiles the wolf keeps swapping is the main clue, and with three or four players there is less waiting between turns.
What's in the box
- 16Sheep tiles
laid face down in a 4 by 4 square to make the field - 1Wolf tile
Uly, the little wolf who hides among the sheep - 1Wooden sheepdog
Polly, the piece the hunting team moves - 20Bone reward tokens
- 1Rules
Box: 0.19 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
Contents are from Blue Orange's Uly & Polly box (1 wooden piece, 17 tiles and 20 tokens) and its English rules, which split the tiles into 16 sheep and 1 wolf; Blue Orange's US page for Wilson & Shep calls the tokens bone reward tokens. Bored Game Company doesn't list the contents of its Indian box, and its only contents photo is very small, so we have taken them to be the same.
Where to buy
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Reviewers agree that Uly & Polly, sold in the US as Wilson & Shep, is a quick, good-looking hide-and-seek game that young children understand at once. They split on how much fun it is: one family's children asked to play it every day and a 3-year-old could join in, while another reviewer found the wolf very hard to find and rounds of eight empty flips a slog. Most recommend it for children up to about 8 with an adult close by, and with two or three players on the sheepdog's team. Older children and adults may find it too simple and too lucky.
What people love
- Quick rounds and simple rules that young children grasp, with everyone getting a turn as the wolf
- Funny sheep faces on the tiles and a chunky wooden sheepdog
- A gentle first taste of bluffing and deduction for preschoolers
- Adults can play alongside children instead of only running the game
Common complaints
- Young children struggle to hide the wolf without giving it away, so an adult often has to help
- Finding the wolf can be very hard, and a round of eight empty flips can drag
- With four or five players there is more waiting, and older children may find it too simple
5 research sources
- Review Wilson & Shep Review (Jason Kelm, July 2021) · Board Game Quest
- Review Wilson & Shep Game Review (Justin Bell, June 2021) · Meeple Mountain
- Review Wilson & Shep Is A Fun Game Of Hide & Seek on the tabletop (Brody Sheard, April 2021) · The Fandomentals
- Review Protect Your Sheep in the Kids Board Game Wilson & Shep (Keith Law, February 2022) · The A.V. Club
- Reference Uly & Polly (Blue Orange publisher page, October 2026) · Blue Orange
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Hide the wolf among the sheep, or help the sheepdog find it | A different fit The grown-up version of the same idea: one player hides and moves in secret while the rest hunt as a team | A different fit A cooperative whodunit for children from 5, with clue-hunting instead of hide-and-seek | A different fit A gentle team game for preschoolers when you want everyone on the same side |
| Players | 2–5 | 3–6 | 2–4 | 2–4 |
| Best with | 3-4 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| Play time | 10–20 min | 45–60 min | 20 min | 15 min |
| Age | 4+ | 10+ | 5+ | 4+ |
| Rules | Easy | Medium | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Available | Available | Imported | Imported |
| On this page | Explore Scotland Yard | Explore Outfoxed! | Explore Hoot Owl Hoot! |
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Questions people ask about Uly & Polly
Is Uly & Polly the same game as Wilson & Shep?
Yes. Blue Orange published Roberto Fraga's game as Uly & Polly in Europe and as Wilson & Shep in the US, with the same 16 sheep tiles, wolf tile, wooden sheepdog and bone tokens. Only the names of the wolf and the dog change. Wilson & Shep is now out of print, and the Indian edition uses the Uly & Polly name.
What age is Uly & Polly for?
Blue Orange and Bored Game Company say 4 and up; the US version said 6 and up. Four- and five-year-olds can flip tiles and move the sheepdog, but most need an adult's help to hide the wolf and keep a straight face. Reviewers found it holds children's interest up to about 8.
Can two people play Uly & Polly?
Yes, it plays 2 to 5. With two, one player is the wolf and the other is the sheepdog, and each of you plays the wolf twice. One reviewer felt the wolf has an easy time one-on-one, so three or four players is the sweet spot.
Is Uly & Polly a memory game?
Partly. The sheepdog team has to remember which tiles the wolf has swapped and where he might have moved, so memory and simple deduction both help. The wolf player practises bluffing, since swapping two ordinary sheep can throw the hunters off.
Is Uly & Polly made in India?
Yes. The front of Bored Game Company's box says Made in India, and that the rules are in English and Hindi. The game itself comes from Blue Orange in France and was designed by Roberto Fraga.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Roberto Fraga
- Publisher
- Blue Orange (sold in the US as Wilson & Shep); Indian edition by Bored Game Company
- In India
- Bored Game Company (Pune), which publishes its own Indian edition of Uly & Polly
- First published
- 2021
- Players
- 2–5
- Language
- No reading – The tiles and tokens have no words, only pictures of sheep, a wolf and bones. The Indian box has rules in English and Hindi. An adult reads them once and can explain them in any language, so children who can't read play on equal terms.
- Box size and weight
- 0.19 kg
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.
- Bored Game Company - Uly & Polly (Indian edition, SKU UPIN01)
- Bored Game Company - How to Play Uly & Polly (video and description, January 2022)
- Blue Orange - Uly & Polly (publisher page: contents, designer, illustrator)
- Blue Orange - Uly & Polly rules (English)
- Blue Orange Games (USA) - Wilson & Shep (out of print: age, players, contents)
- Board Game Quest - Wilson & Shep Review
- Meeple Mountain - Wilson & Shep Game Review