Post by Gilvan Blight on Jan 23, 2006 11:28:54 GMT -5
Okay this is an old game I used to love playing, and some how this one is still great.
Quickly: a ton of fun a great diversion, good to play when needing a break from more hardcore boardgames.
Summary: You have a house that looks similar to clue, with a bunch of rooms and halls. You have 5 cats and 4 objects. Each player is randomly assigned a cat and an object in secret (no one knows who is who). The goal is then to get your cat to your object for teh win. The strategy comes in here as each turn you get four moves, these can be a combination of cats or objects (aka you don't have to move your own pieces). Once moving is done purr and meow cards are played to force cats to move into the rooms of the house (ex black cat Meow card for Blue Bedroom moves the black cat to the blue bedroom unless a purr card is played). Hissing adds one extra dimension to the game where if you move a cat next to another it can hiss at it and move it one square away (thus giving you more then 4 moves) Just remember "You can't hiss a cat through a wall!"
The good: this game is a ton of fun. Seeing adults playing a game for 6 years old is amusing enough on its own. This is a game for 6 year olds (maybe even less) that has enough strategy in it that it is stiff fun at 31. The pieces are really nice, pre painted plastic cats that are well painted, and silver objects. The rules are incredably simple and easy to learn. House rules make the game even better.
The bad: the board is too small, and it makes it too easy to get to an oject too quickly. The board also looks lousy compaired to the cats. The production quality on the cards isn't holding up (though I have had the game for over 20 years so I guess that could be why). People have a tendancy to blurt out that they won before the meow cards are played and thus letting everyone know what cat they are.
The ugly: some times it just works out that the game is over in one turn. You meow the wrong cat, or move the wrong oject and bam it's done. The cats always start in the same positions and some are closer then others to objects when you start, this gives and advantage to the player of those cats (though who plays what is determined randomly).
Overall: this game has really stood the test of time. I would love to see a bigger board or this 'engine' used in another game as I love it. This is a great diversion, really quick and a ton of fun. Way more strategy then most kids games (which usually boil down to roll the dice then move, and are totally random).
House rules:
I thought I would include our house rules as they tend to make the game more fun. Actually until we played this a couple of days ago, I didn't realize we had house rules, probably just played it wrong years ago.
1) 4 moves a turn. These can be used to move any combination of cats or objects, not just 2.
2) Purr cards. These only cancel one meow, not have the cat stay where it is for the rest of the turn.
3) Meow cards. These can be played on any cat, not just cats that moved that turn.
an optional 4th that we came up with the other day that we didn't try:
4) Chain Hissing. if you his a cat next to another cat, that cat hisses the cat next to it and so on. The player hissing decides which cats move and where if there is an option.
What these rules add is more chaos to the game as cats are teleported all over the damn board and just when you think you have your object on your turn you hear a meow and rush accross the house to check it out. Of course it ups the chance that someone wins in the first round, but then you just start another game.
Quickly: a ton of fun a great diversion, good to play when needing a break from more hardcore boardgames.
Summary: You have a house that looks similar to clue, with a bunch of rooms and halls. You have 5 cats and 4 objects. Each player is randomly assigned a cat and an object in secret (no one knows who is who). The goal is then to get your cat to your object for teh win. The strategy comes in here as each turn you get four moves, these can be a combination of cats or objects (aka you don't have to move your own pieces). Once moving is done purr and meow cards are played to force cats to move into the rooms of the house (ex black cat Meow card for Blue Bedroom moves the black cat to the blue bedroom unless a purr card is played). Hissing adds one extra dimension to the game where if you move a cat next to another it can hiss at it and move it one square away (thus giving you more then 4 moves) Just remember "You can't hiss a cat through a wall!"
The good: this game is a ton of fun. Seeing adults playing a game for 6 years old is amusing enough on its own. This is a game for 6 year olds (maybe even less) that has enough strategy in it that it is stiff fun at 31. The pieces are really nice, pre painted plastic cats that are well painted, and silver objects. The rules are incredably simple and easy to learn. House rules make the game even better.
The bad: the board is too small, and it makes it too easy to get to an oject too quickly. The board also looks lousy compaired to the cats. The production quality on the cards isn't holding up (though I have had the game for over 20 years so I guess that could be why). People have a tendancy to blurt out that they won before the meow cards are played and thus letting everyone know what cat they are.
The ugly: some times it just works out that the game is over in one turn. You meow the wrong cat, or move the wrong oject and bam it's done. The cats always start in the same positions and some are closer then others to objects when you start, this gives and advantage to the player of those cats (though who plays what is determined randomly).
Overall: this game has really stood the test of time. I would love to see a bigger board or this 'engine' used in another game as I love it. This is a great diversion, really quick and a ton of fun. Way more strategy then most kids games (which usually boil down to roll the dice then move, and are totally random).
House rules:
I thought I would include our house rules as they tend to make the game more fun. Actually until we played this a couple of days ago, I didn't realize we had house rules, probably just played it wrong years ago.
1) 4 moves a turn. These can be used to move any combination of cats or objects, not just 2.
2) Purr cards. These only cancel one meow, not have the cat stay where it is for the rest of the turn.
3) Meow cards. These can be played on any cat, not just cats that moved that turn.
an optional 4th that we came up with the other day that we didn't try:
4) Chain Hissing. if you his a cat next to another cat, that cat hisses the cat next to it and so on. The player hissing decides which cats move and where if there is an option.
What these rules add is more chaos to the game as cats are teleported all over the damn board and just when you think you have your object on your turn you hear a meow and rush accross the house to check it out. Of course it ups the chance that someone wins in the first round, but then you just start another game.