Cat Box Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Game Components
• Game Preparation
• Player Turn
• Game End
• Advanced Rules
• Cat Box Tokens

Goal of the Game

Players will be dealt a secret Identity. The winner of the game is the player with most cats visible of her identity in the play area at the end of the game... unless they are the Chihuahua, in which case they will win if there are lots of empty boxes!

Game Components

• 6 Identity cards: 5 different cats and 1 Chihuahua.
• 48 Cat Box cards: Double-sided with either a cat or an empty box in each quadrant.
• 5 Player Aids
• 25 Cat Box Tokens (used in the advanced game): 5 different types in 5 different colours.

Game Preparation

1. Shuffle all Identity cards and deal 1 card face down to each player. Players should keep their identity secret until the end of the game. Remove unused Identity cards from the game without revealing their identities.

   NOTE: Remove the Chihuahua in 2 and 3-player games before shuffling Identity cards, as it will not be used.

2. Shuffle all Cat Box cards (either side is ok) to form the draw pile. Remove a number of cards from the top of the draw pile depending on the number of players:

   # of players	5	4	3	2
   Remove	2	3	2	1

3. Each player draws a number of Cat Box cards from the top of the draw pile as their hand cards:

   # of players	5	4	3	2
   Draw	1	1	2	2

   Public/Secret Side rule: When drawing Cat Box cards, always keep the topside (public side) visible towards all other players. The bottom side (secret side) can only be seen by the player who drew the card.

4. Turn over the topmost Cat Box card from the draw pile and place it in the center of the table, starting your play area.

5. The youngest player starts and players take turns in clockwise order.

Player Turn

A player's turn involves two steps:

1. Play a card.

   The active player chooses one of two possible actions:

   a. Play a Cat Box card from their own hand. The player must play the "secret" side face-up, OR

   b. Play a Cat Box card from another player's hand. The player must play the "public" side face-up.

   Placement rules:

   • The orientation of the Cat Box cards must be the same (i.e., cats all facing the same direction)
   • The Cat Box card played must cover at least one existing quadrant of a previously played card.
   • If all quadrants of the Cat Box card you play are occupied, you must cover exactly 1 quadrant of a previously played card.
   • If the Cat Box card you play shows an empty box, you may cover 1 or 2 quadrants of 1 or 2 existing cards.

2. Refill hand cards and end turn

   The player whose Cat Box card was played this turn refills their hand (respect the public/secret side rules) and the active player ends their turn. The player to the active player's left may now take their turn.

   NOTE: If the draw pile is empty, skip this step.

Game End

The game ends when all Cat Box cards have been played. Players then reveal their Identity cards and score Victory Points (VP)!

Players whose identities are cats:

• Each visible cat of your colour = 1 VP.
• The largest area connected by cats of your colour = 1 VP per cat in that area.

NOTE: If you have multiple areas tied for the largest, only score one of them. Cats diagonally adjacent are not considered connected.

The player with the Chihuahua:

• Each empty box = 1 VP.
• Each area connected by exactly 3 cats of the same colour = 2 VPs.

The player with the most VP wins the game. If tied, the Chihuahua player wins the tie first, if among the players. Otherwise, the player with the largest area connected by their colour breaks the tie. If still tied, play another game of Cat Box to determine the winner. Cats love to play in the boxes after all, ain't they?

Scoring Example:

• Black 4 + 2 = 6
• Pink 7 + 4 = 11
• Purple 6 + 2 = 8
• Blue 6 + 3 = 9
• Yellow 6 + 3 = 9
• Chihuahua 8 + 4 = 12

Advanced Rules

The basic rules apply with the following changes:

1. Use ALL Cat Box box cards without removing any.
2. Each player takes one set of 5 different Cat Box tokens of any one colour and one Player Aid card.
3. In your turn, in addition to playing one Cat Box card, you may choose to play at most ONE Cat Box token. Remove the played token after its effect is resolved.
4. Each unused Cat Box token is worth 1 VP at the end of the game.

Cat Box Tokens

Cat Paw: immediately play another Cat Box card.

Cat Box: place this token on any 1 quadrant in the play area. Until your next turn, no one else can play Cat Box cards to cover this token and any of the 8 surrounding quadrants.

Dried Fish: take one Cat Box card from your own hand or from another player's hand, place it in front of you (respect the public/secret side rule), and cover it with this token. From now on, only you can use this card.

Stacking: play the token before you play any Cat Box card. You may cover up to 4 quadrants of existing cards, without covering more than 3 cats.

Above example shows only some of the available options.

Toy Mouse: after playing one Cat Box card normally, you may use this token to take one uncovered Cat Box card from the play area and play it into another place, following the placement rules.