Cat Between Us Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components
Setup
How to Play
Game End
Recap
Credits

Components

42 Lure Cards (0-6 in six toy suits)
6 Toy Cards (six toy suits)
4 Room Cards
Player Aid Card & Round Marker
1 Cat Token
12 Player Markers (2 per player color)

Setup

If the game is played with 5 players, choose 1 suit and remove all cards from the game. (1 Toy Card and 7 Lure Cards). All other player counts are played with all 6 suits.
Place the 4 Room Cards in a row of ascending numbers and place them at the center of the table. The bottom row of numbers is the Interest Track, where players will try to adjust the attractiveness of their hand to summon the cat to their lap.
Place the Toy Cards in any order in the second row beneath the Room Cards.
Each player selects a color and takes 2 Player Markers of that color. Each player places 1 Player Marker on the left-most cat shelf on the Room Cards, (the example setup is for three players). These cat shelves will track how many rounds each player has won during the game.
Each player places their other Player Marker on the "0" space on the Interest Track.
Randomly flip a Lure Card and check the number in the paw print on the bottom right corner. Place the Cat Token on the matching numbered space on the Interest Track. This is the target number for the round.
Shuffle all Lure Cards and deal them to the players as their hand. The number of cards each player receives is determined by their wins and the number of people playing:

Total number of Players	0 Wins	1 Win	2 Wins
2 Players	9	10	11
3 Players	7	8	9
4 Players	6	7	8
5/6 Players	5	6	7

The remaining Lure Cards are set aside face-down. They are not used in this round, and should not be revealed to players.
Place the Player Aid Card above the Room Cards. Place the Round Marker on the "1" space on the bottom of the Player Aid Card. This is the Round Track, and the game ends after 7 rounds.
The player who has most recently held a cat becomes the starting player. You may now start the game!

How to Play

The game will be played over several rounds, with 3 phases in each round: the Prep Phase, the Lure Phase, and the Nuzzle Phase.

1. Prep Phase

This is the same as setup steps 5 to 8, and will be skipped on the first round.

Each player places their free Player Marker on the "0" space on the Interest Track.
Randomly flip a Lure Card and check the number indicated in the paw print on the bottom right corner. Place the Cat Token on the matching numbered space on the Interest Track. This is the target number for the round.
Shuffle all Lure Cards and deal them to the players as their hand. The number of cards each player receives is determined by their wins and the number of people playing:

Total number of Players	0 Wins	1 Win	2 Wins
2 Players	9	10	11
3 Players	7	8	9
4 Players	6	7	8
5/6 Players	5	6	7

The remaining Lure Cards are set aside face-down. They are not used in this round, and should not be revealed to players. Proceed to the Lure Phase.

2. Lure Phase

Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes turns playing one Lure Card from their hand:

Cards are placed face-up under a Toy Card to increase the attractiveness of that toy.
Each Toy Card can only have two Lure Cards placed under it.
Any Lure Card may be played under any Toy Card, and the suits do not need to match.

This phase continues until all Toy Cards have exactly 2 Lure Cards under them (a total of 10 cards for a 5-player game, 12 for all other player counts), then proceed to the Nuzzle Phase.

EXAMPLE 1 - This example shows a completed Lure Phase in a 2, 3, 4, or 6 player game. A 5-player game will have 5 Toys, each with 2 Lure Cards below.

Toy	Cactus	Mouse-tail toy	Fishing rod	Yarn ball	Feather wand	Ribbon toy
Lure Cards below	2, 5	0, 0	2, 3	5, 3	1, 1	4, 6
Attraction	2+5=7	0+0=0	2+3=5	5+3=8	1+1=2	4+6=10

3. Nuzzle Phase

All players reveal the remaining Lure Cards in their hand.

Each time a player wins a round during the game, they will have one additional card remaining at the end of the following rounds.

Then, players calculate the total attraction value of their revealed cards. To find each card's value, add together the numbers on the two cards below the Toy that matches it. (Examples 1, 6).

Next, players move their Player Marker on the Interest Track to the number that represents their total attraction to the cat.

The player who is closest to the target number without exceeding it wins the round (Examples 2, 3).
If all players exceed the target number, the player who exceeds by the least wins the round (Example 4).
If there is a tie, all tied players win this round.

EXAMPLE 2 - Cat 18. Green 15, Yellow 18, Red 19 – Yellow wins.

EXAMPLE 3 - Cat 18. Green 15, Yellow 15, Red 19 – Green & Yellow both win.

EXAMPLE 4 - Cat 15. Green 17, Yellow 18, Red 19 – Green wins.

EXAMPLE 6 - Red Player's hand: cards 4, 3, 1, matching attractions 7, 2, 10 (2+5=7, 1+1=2, 4+6=10) for a total of 19. Green Player's hand: cards 2, 5, 4, matching attractions 10, 5, 0 (4+6=10, 2+3=5, 0+0=0) for a total of 15. Yellow Player's hand: cards 4, 6, 6, matching attractions 10, 8, 0 (4+6=10, 5+3=8, 0+0=0) for a total of 18.

The winner(s) of the round advances their Player Marker to the right, onto the next cat shelf on the Room Cards (Example 5), and becomes the starting player of the next round.

If there was a tie, the starting player would be the winner that is closest to the previous round's starting player (in player order).

Players retrieve their Player Marker from the Interest Track.

Check the position of the Round Marker on the Round Track. If it is on the "7" space, the game has ended.

If not, advance the Round Marker 1 space to the right, proceed to the next round.

Each time a player wins a round during the game, they will draw one additional Lure Card at the start of future rounds.

EXAMPLE 5 - After Yellow wins, they advance their Player Marker to the next cat shelf to the right. In the next round, they will draw eight Lure Cards. When the round ends, they will have four cards remaining in their hand.

EXAMPLE 6 - Red wins this round, and they advance their Player Marker to the right-most cat shelf. Since they are the only player to win 3 rounds, Red wins the game!

Game End

The game ends after a total of 7 rounds, or when a player wins 3 rounds.

The player that has won the most rounds is the winner of the game, and gets to cuddle the cat until it escapes again.
If there is a tie, the tied player who was closest to the Cat in the final round is the winner. If there is still a tie, all tied players share a combined victory and pet the cat together.

Recap

Refer to this chart to deal the correct number of cards to each player at the start of each round.

Total number of Players	0 Wins	1 Win	2 Wins
2 Players	9	10	11
3 Players	7	8	9
4 Players	6	7	8
5/6 Players	5	6	7

The cards you have remaining at the end of the round depends on your wins, regardless of how many people are playing the game:

	0 Wins	1 Win	2 Wins
Remaining cards at end of the round	3	4	5

Credits

Publisher: The Op Games, Distant Nova Creations
Game Designer: Sky Huang
Art Director: Noa Vassalli
Illustrations: Fabio Frencl
Graphic Design: Fabio Frencl, Noa Vassalli
Rulebook Layout: Noa Vassalli
Rulebook Translation: Desnet Amane
Rulebook Proofreader: Gordon Tsai
Production Manager: Desnet Amane
Special Thanks: Francesco Biglia, M.O.B. Vanguard
Playtesters: Members of the BGD Taiwan playtest group