Cathood Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
  • Setup example for a 3-player game
• Gameplay Overview
  • Phase 1: Do Cat Things
    • 1) Linear Movement
    • 2) Diagonal Movement
  • Effects
  • Coffee, Dog, and Bee
  • Fighting Other Felines
  • 3) Rotate a Tile
  • 4) Swap
  • 5) Pet Shop
  • 6) Building
  • 7) Park
  • 8) Repeat
• Phase 2: Sleep
• Turn Example
• End of the Game
• Final Scoring
• Tie
  • Final scoring example
• Unlocking Actions and Discs with Houses
• Toy Cards
• Glossary
  • 1) Linear Movement
  • 2) Diagonal Movement
  • 3) Rotate a Tile
  • 4) Swap
  • 5) Pet Shop
  • 6) Building
  • 7) Park
  • 8) Repeat
  • Coffee
  • Dog (Mandatory)
  • Bee (Mandatory)
  • Shop icons

Contents

• 4 Cat boards
• 4 wooden cats
• 12 Statues (3 per cat)
• 24 Houses (6 per cat)
• 12 Action discs (3 per cat)
• 60 resource cubes (12 pink, 12 blue, 12 yellow, 8 purple, 8 orange, and 8 green)
• 16 Neighborhood tiles
• 15 Building cards
• 8 Park cards
• 15 Toy cards
• 1 Starting Cat card, François
• 1 scorepad

Goal of the Game

Combine your actions and optimize your placements in the neighborhood. Occupy key spaces and gain as many resources as possible. The cat with the most affection points at the end of the game wins.

Setup

1. Create the neighborhood.

   • 2 players: Create a 3 x 3 square of random tiles using all the tiles with a 2.
   • 3 players: Create a 3 x 4 rectangle of random tiles using all the tiles with a 3.
   • 4 players: Create a 4 x 4 square of random tiles using all the tiles with a 4.

   Return unused tiles to the box. They will not be used this game.

2. Each player chooses a Cat board and takes the following pieces: 1 wooden cat, 6 Houses, 3 Statues, and 3 Action discs.

   Important: 3 players: Only take 2 Statues. 4 players: Only take 2 Statues and 5 Houses.

   Place your Houses, Statues, and Action discs on the respective spaces on your board. Place 1 disc on both the Park and Repeat action spaces, with the lock side up (they are unavailable at the start of the game). Leave the remaining disc without a lock next to your board.

3. Place the resource cubes on the table to form the general reserve.

4. Prepare the Toy and Building cards.

   • 2 players: Shuffle all the cards with a 2.
   • 3 players: Shuffle all the cards with a 3.
   • 4 players: Shuffle all the cards with a 4.

   Make 2 decks and reveal 3 cards from each deck, face up, in a row on the table near the resource reserve.

5. Organize the Park cards in descending order (the highest number on top) and make a face-up deck near the Toy cards. Important: With 2 or 3 players, remove all cards with a 4.

6. The player who most recently had a cat on their lap takes the Starting Cat card, François.

7. Place your wooden cat in the neighborhood. The last player places their cat next to a blue, pink, or yellow store. They gain a resource of the corresponding color. Going counterclockwise, the other cats choose their space, which must be the same color that the last player chose. There cannot be 2 cats occupying the same space.

Setup example for a 3-player game

The rulebook illustrates a full 3-player setup: the 3x4 neighborhood tile grid, each player's board with Houses, Statues, and Action discs placed, the revealed Toy and Building card rows, the face-up Park card deck, and starting cat positions.

Paw prints: These are spaces that cats can occupy. Cats will constantly move around the neighborhood to gain resources and control spaces. They always move between tiles. These are the only available spaces; cats can never stop at an intersection.

Gameplay Overview

The player with the Starting Cat card, François, starts and play continues clockwise. The game ends after one player has placed all of their Statues and Houses. When this happens, finish the current round and then continue to final scoring.

Each turn has 2 phases:

Phase 1: Do Cat Things

Take 1 action for each disc next to your board. Take 1 of your discs and place it on the action you want to take. Immediately activate its effect. After taking the action, you may take another action by placing another disc on any available action. Since you can unlock a maximum of 3 discs, you may take up to 3 actions on your turn.

There are 8 different actions:

1) Linear Movement

Move 1 or 2 spaces in a straight line. Your cat can never leave the neighborhood; it must use secret passages to move.

"Teleport" tip: If you leave the neighborhood on one side, you will re-enter on the opposite side.

2) Diagonal Movement

Move 1, 2, or 3 spaces in a diagonal line.

"Rebound" tip: You can rebound 90° against the border of the neighborhood.

Effects

When you move over or stop on certain spaces, you will activate different effects.

Shops provide resources that you'll need to gain Toys, Buildings, or Parks. Each time you move over or stop on a space adjacent to a Shop, immediately gain a resource cube of the corresponding color. Place resources on the resource zone of your board. They are worth affection points at the end of the game.

Note: You can only have 12 resources maximum. If you gain more than this amount, return the excess to the reserve.

• Fishery: Gain 1 blue resource.
• Butcher: Gain 1 pink resource.
• Bakery: Gain 1 yellow resource.
• Produce Stand: Gain 1 green resource.
• Florist: Gain 1 orange resource.
• Veterinarian: Gain 1 purple resource.
• Supermarket: Gain 1 pink, yellow, or blue resource (you choose).
• Mall: Gain 1 purple, orange, or green resource (you choose).

Example: You take the Diagonal Movement action with the rebound tip. You move 3 spaces and gain 4 resources:

[1] 1 blue from the Fishery.

[2] 1 pink from the Butcher + 1 yellow from the Bakery.

[3] 1 orange from the Florist.

Coffee, Dog, and Bee

Activate these effects automatically when your cat stops on an adjacent space. Always activate the Coffee, Dog, and Bee effects before Shop effects. If there are multiple adjacent effects, you choose the order to activate them.

Coffee: Exchange 1 resource with a different resource, up to 2 times. Pay 1 resource on your board to the reserve and exchange it with any other resource. You can make this exchange 0, 1, or 2 times.

Dog: Mandatory. The dog barks at you! Move your cat to an adjacent space. Gain resources or activate effects from the new space, unless it is adjacent to another dog. In this case, ignore the second dog.

Bee: Mandatory. Choose 1 card from the visible Toy and Building cards. Take it, then place it face down in your play area; it is now reserved. Place the other cards on the bottom of the deck. Then refill the row with new cards. Instead of one of the available face-up cards, you may gain your reserved card by taking the corresponding action (Pet Shop or Building). If you do not gain the reserved card by the end of the game, it is worth negative affection points. You can only have 1 reserved card at a time.

Fighting Other Felines

Cats are fiercely territorial animals. If you end your movement on a space already occupied by another cat, you are invading its territory. This triggers a fight over resources. Fights are resolved by a round of rock-paper-scissors. The winning cat steals a resource from the losing cat. Choose any resource on the losing cat's board and add it to your own. In case of tie, nothing happens and the cats can cohabitate on the same space.

Note: If you end your movement on a space with multiple cats, you must trigger a fight over resources with each cat present.

3) Rotate a Tile

Rotate any tile in the neighborhood by 90° to the left or right. If you rotate a tile adjacent to your cat, only your cat activates the effect.

4) Swap

Swap any 2 orthogonally-adjacent tiles in the neighborhood. There cannot be any cats between the tiles. If you swap a tile adjacent to your cat, only your cat activates the effect.

5) Pet Shop

To take this action, you must be adjacent to a Pet Shop. You may gain 1 of the 3 visible Toy cards by paying the resources shown on the chosen card to the reserve. Slide the card below your board so you can see the new Toys.

Finally, place the leftmost House on your board on the Pet Shop you just activated. No other cat may activate it again.

Example: You are adjacent to a Pet Shop and you take the corresponding action (1). She decides to gain the rightmost Toy card (2). She pays the resources shown to the reserve: 1 purple and 2 other different colors (3+4). She slides the card below her board (5). Finally, she places the leftmost House on her board on the Pet Shop she just activated (6).

Toy scoring table (number of Toys of a given type owned → affection points): 0 → -1, 1 → 1, 2 → 4, 3 → 8, 4 → 13, 5+ → 19.

Each of the 3 types of Toys is worth different points at the end of the game, as shown on the table above.

6) Building

To take this action, you must be adjacent to a Building. You may gain 1 of the 3 visible Building cards by paying the resources shown on the chosen card to the reserve. Slide the card below your board so you can see the affection points.

Finally, place the leftmost House on your board on the building you just activated. No other cat may activate it again.

Example: To gain this Building card, your cat must be adjacent to a Building without a House. Use an available disc to take the Building action, then pay 4 resources to the reserve: 1 green, 1 orange, 1 blue, and 1 pink. Take this Building card and slide it below your board. Finally, place the leftmost House on your board on the Building symbol on the tile you just activated.

7) Park

To take this action, you must be adjacent to 1 of the 2 entrances on a tile with a Park.

You must pay 2 identical resources to the reserve depending on the color of the tree:

• Jacaranda: 2 purple resources.
• Maple: 2 orange resources.
• Birch: 2 green resources.

Then take the top card of the Park deck and place it next to your board.

Finally, place 1 of your Statues on the tree of the Park you just activated. No other cat may activate it again.

Note: This action is locked by a disc. After placing your 1st House, you will unlock the Park action and an additional disc for the rest of the game.

Note on Pet Shops, Buildings, and Parks: You may only take Pet Shop and Building actions if you have Houses, and you may only take the Park action if you have Statues. If you don't have any of the necessary components on your board, you cannot take these actions.

8) Repeat

Repeat an action you have already taken. This is the only way to take the same action twice on the same turn. This action is locked by a disc. After placing your 4th House, you will unlock the Repeat action and an additional disc for the rest of the game.

Phase 2: Sleep

Cats can spend around two-thirds of their day sleeping; it's an essential activity in their routine. After taking your actions, take all the Action discs used during your turn and place them next to your board. They will be available on your next turn.

Refill the Toy and Building card rows. Now the cat to your left can take their turn.

Turn Example

It's your turn. You have 2 discs next to your board, so you can take 2 actions this turn.

(1) You place your first disc on the Diagonal Movement action and move 3 spaces using the Rebound tip. (2) On the first space, the Mall provides any 1 resource. You choose 1 orange resource. (3) On the next space, you gain 1 purple resource. (4) Then you rebound onto the final space where you gain 1 blue resource.

(5) You want to gain the Building card worth 10 affection points. (6) Since you are adjacent to a Building without a House and (7) you have the required resources, you can take the Building action.

(8) You place your second disc on the Building action. (9) You take the Building card worth 10 affection points by paying the resources shown to the reserve (1 purple, 1 orange, 1 blue, and 1 yellow). (10) You slide the Building card below your board, then (11) place the leftmost House on your board onto the Building you just activated. (12) Since you just placed your 4th House, you unlock your 3rd disc and the Repeat action.

You can immediately take a third action. (13) You choose the Rotate a Tile action and rotate the tile where you just placed a House. (14) Then you activate the Veterinarian effect and take 1 purple resource. (15) Finally, you refill the Building card row with the top card of the deck. You place your discs next to your board, then you end your turn.

End of the Game

The game end is triggered when one cat has placed all of their Houses and Statues in the neighborhood. Finish the current round so all cats have played the same number of turns. Once the game is over, continue to final scoring. Add up all your affection points. The cat with the most affection points wins the game.

Final Scoring

Buildings: Add up the affection points on all of your Building cards.

Parks: Add up the affection points on all of your Park cards.

Toy: Add up the affection points separately for each type of Toy. Depending on how many of each type of Toy you have, gain the corresponding affection points shown in the table.

Toy scoring table: 0 → -1, 1 → 1, 2 → 4, 3 → 8, 4 → 13, 5+ → 19.

Resources: Depending on how many resources are on your board, add up the corresponding affection points: Between 0 and 3 resources: 0 points. Between 4 and 7 resources: 2 points. Between 8 and 11 resources: 4 points. 12 resources: 7 points.

Tie

If there is a tie after adding up all your affection points, review the tied cats, in order, according to the following criteria to break the tie and determine the winner:

1. The most Houses placed.
2. The most Statues placed.
3. The most resources on their board.

If there is still a tie, the tied cats share the victory.

Final scoring example

• 3 Park cards: 12 points (7+3+2).
• 4 Building cards: 23 points (8+7+4+4).
• 1 Feather: 1 point.
• 3 Yarn balls: 8 points.
• 0 Mice: -1 point.
• 6 resources: 2 points.

You end the game with a total of 45 points.

Unlocking Actions and Discs with Houses

Place Houses, from left to right, when taking Pet Shop and/or Building actions. For example, you may place all of your Houses on Buildings, without placing any on Pet Shops.

You begin the game with only 1 disc. This means you can only take 1 action per turn. The other 2 discs lock 2 actions: Park and Repeat.

After placing your 1st House, you unlock the Park action and 1 additional disc for the rest of the game. This means you can now take 2 actions per turn with your 2 discs. You may also take the newly-available Park action.

After placing your 4th House, you unlock the Repeat action and 1 additional disc for the rest of the game. All actions are now available and you can take 3 actions per turn with your 3 discs.

IMPORTANT: When you unlock a new disc and action, place the Action disc next to your board, lock side-down. You may use this disc this turn.

Toy Cards

Toy cards show their cost using icons above the shopfront:

• 2 specific resources and 1 other (your choice).
• 2 identical resources.
• 1 specific resource and 2 others (your choice). They must all be different.
• 3 different resources.

Glossary

1) Linear Movement

Move 1 or 2 spaces in a straight line. "Teleport" tip: If you leave the neighborhood on one side, you will re-enter on the opposite side.

2) Diagonal Movement

Move 1, 2, or 3 spaces in a diagonal line. "Rebound" tip: You can rebound 90° against the border of the neighborhood.

3) Rotate a Tile

Rotate any tile in the neighborhood by 90° to the left or right. If you rotate a tile adjacent to your cat, only your cat activates the effect.

4) Swap

Swap any 2 orthogonally-adjacent tiles in the neighborhood. There cannot be any cats between the tiles. If you swap a tile adjacent to your cat, only your cat activates the effect.

5) Pet Shop

You must be adjacent to a Pet Shop. Gain 1 of the 3 visible Toy cards by paying the resources shown on the chosen card to the reserve. Then place the leftmost House on your board on the Pet Shop you just activated.

6) Building

You must be adjacent to a Building. Gain 1 of the 3 visible Building cards by paying the resources shown on the chosen card to the reserve. Then place the leftmost House on your board on the building you just activated.

7) Park

You must be adjacent to 1 of the 2 entrances on a tile with a Park. Pay 2 identical resources to the reserve depending on the color of the tree. Then take the top card of the Park deck. Finally, place 1 of your Statues on the tree of the Park you just activated.

8) Repeat

Repeat an action you have already taken. This is the only way to take the same action twice on the same turn. Note: This action is locked by a disc. After placing your 4th House, you will unlock the Repeat action and 1 additional disc for the rest of the game.

Coffee

Exchange 1 resource with a different resource, up to 2 times. Pay 1 resource on your board to the reserve and exchange it with any other resource. You can make this exchange 0, 1, or 2 times.

Dog (Mandatory)

Move your cat to an adjacent space. Choose any direction. Gain resources or activate effects from the new space, unless it is adjacent to another dog. In this case, ignore the second dog.

Bee (Mandatory)

Choose 1 card from the visible Toy and Building cards. Take it, then place it face down in your play area. Place the other cards on the bottom of the deck. Then refill the row with new cards. Instead of one of the available face-up cards, you may gain your reserved card by taking the corresponding action (Pet Shop or Building). If you do not gain the reserved card by the end of the game, it is worth negative affection points. You can only have 1 reserved card at a time.

Shop icons

• Fishery, Butcher, Bakery, Florist, Veterinarian, Produce Stand: Gain 1 resource of the corresponding color.
• Mall: Gain 1 purple, orange, or green resource (you choose).
• Supermarket: Gain 1 pink, yellow, or blue resource (you choose).

The designer would like to thank Charlotte and Elio, the main inspirations for this idea, as well as Bruno Miguel Domingues for believing in the game from its very first version. Thanks to everyone who tried it and believed in its potential, especially: Ana Teixeira, Beatriz Querido, Catarina Inácio, Cátia Santos, Daniela Santos, David Braz, Diogo Martins, Gyuri Torok, João Marcelo, João Policarpo, Luís Costa, Maria Mota, Mariana Ferreira, Marlene Cunha, Nuno Cruz, Pedro Santos, Peter Heudtlass, Raquel Raimundo, Raimu.