Cat Rescue Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objective
• Game Components
• Game Setup
• How to Play
  • Phase 1: Deliver a Cat to the Shelter
  • Phase 2: Get Cats Ready for Adoption
  • Phase 3: Manage Overflow or Adoption
  • Phase 4: Check for End of Game
• Scoring

Game Objective

Players work together as a team to score points by rescuing cats, placing them in a shelter, getting them ready for adoption and sending them to loving homes. The game ends when all cats are off the street or when three cats are in a single foster home. Your final score determines your victory level.

Game Components

• 26 Stray Cats (6 of each color, 2 wild cats)
• 1 Delivery Card (double-sided: Street / Foster Home)
• 4 Shelter Tokens
• 1 Pouch
• 1 Rulebook

Game Setup

1. Shuffle all stray cats to form a street draw deck and place the deck face down on the side.
2. In the middle of the table, measure an area large enough to fit a 4 x 4 grid of cards, and use the shelter tokens to mark each corner.
3. Take the four top cards from draw deck and randomly place them face up in the middle four spaces of the grid, one card per space.
4. Deal two stray cats face up in front of each player. This is each player's foster home.
5. Place the delivery card on the top of the lower right cat with the street side (cat in a box) face up and the arrow pointing toward the cat.
6. The player who last held a cat is the starting player.

How to Play

Each player takes a turn in a clockwise direction. Each turn has four phases.

Phase 1: Deliver a Cat to the Shelter

1. Draw the top cat from street deck or choose a cat from your foster home. You can show the cat to the other players.

   Restriction: When a player draws a cat from his or her foster home, the next player must draw from the street deck.

2. Place the cat face up in an empty space above, below or to either side of a cat that is already in the shelter.

3. Push the new cat one space toward the adjacent cat. You can push horizontally or vertically (never diagonally). Any connected cats in that row or column also move one space.

   There are two restrictions when pushing a new cat.

   • You can't push a cat that is currently under the delivery card.
   • You can't push in the direction indicated by the arrow on the delivery card.

4. After pushing the new cat and any cats in its path, place the delivery card on top of the new cat. Flip the delivery card if necessary to reflect where the new cat came from (street or foster home) and the direction you pushed.

Phase 2: Get Cats Ready for Adoption

5. If there are three or four face-up cats of the same color (e.g. all blue, all yellow) connected in a row or column, flip all of the cats in the middle of the group face down. Once cats are face down, they are ready for adoption!
   • A cat between two same-color cats but with a space between them cannot be flipped for adoption. There can't be any face-down cats or empty spaces between cats.
   • A face-down cat cannot be flipped again, even though it is a face-down cat between two other same-color cats.
   • A wild cat can be flipped because it is between two same-color cats. A wild cat can act as different colors for flipping multiple groups of cats on the same turn.
   • Two cats can be flipped because they are between a colored cat and a wild cat.
   • A cat cannot be flipped while it is under the delivery card. It can be flipped on a future turn when it is between two matching cats and not under the delivery card.

Phase 3: Manage Overflow or Adoption

6. When a cat is pushed outside of the shelter, one of two things can happen:
   • If the cat is face down, it's adopted. Any face-down cats connected to the pushed out cat are also adopted. Place the adopted cat(s) off to the side for scoring at end of the game.
   • If the cat is face up, it's not ready for adoption and must be placed in your foster home. It can be placed back in the shelter during a future turn.

Phase 4: Check for End of Game

The game ends when, at the end of a player's turn, the street deck is empty or the player has three cats in his or her foster home. If either happens, proceed to Scoring. Otherwise, play continues with the next player.

Scoring

Are you a good friend to felines? Calculate your score as follows:

1. Each adopted cat (including wild cat) is 2 Points
2. Each ready-to-adopt cat (flipped but still in the shelter) is 1 Point

Your final score determines your victory title:

• 0 to 9 points — Cat Got Your Tongue? Please try harder next time.
• 10+ points — Cat Burglar. There are so many stray cats in the street, people's fish are disappearing.
• 20+ points — Cat Nap. Thanks to you, many cats have a home, where they nap comfortably day and night.
• 25+ points — Cat Whisperer. You have a way with cats they seem to love and attract to you easily. Now your shelter is booming with potential adoptables!
• 30+ points — You're the Cat's Meow! Everyone in town has heard about your shelter and wants to adopt. You are a natural.