Felicity: The Cat in the Sack
Felicity: The Cat in the Sack Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 50 Pet Cards (5 sets with cats: -8, -5, 3, 5, 8, 11, 15, rabbit: 0, dogs: large, small)
- 4 Mouse Cards (2, 3, 4, 6)
- 1 Cat in the Sack Card
- 1 Start Player Marker
- 76 Mice Money (68 x black worth 1, 8 x green worth 5)
Preparation
The following are the game preparation and rules for 4 and 5 players. The modifications for 3 players are located at the end of the rules.
Each player takes a set of 10 Pet Cards in their player color. Each player selects one Pet Card at random from the player to their right and discards it unseen back into the box.
Additionally, each player takes 15 Mice Money (1 x 5 and 10 x 1).
Use the remaining Mice Money to create the bank: 33 Mice Money for 5 players and 27 Mice Money for 4 players. Return the rest of the Mice Money to the box.
Place the Mouse Cards in a row in numerical order on the table in easy view and reach of all players. In games with 4 players, the »3« Mouse is not used and should be returned to the box. Place the Cat in the Sack Card to the left of the »2« Mouse Card.
Now place Mice Money from the bank on the Mouse Cards equal to the number on each card Mouse Card (e.g. 6 Mice Money on the »6« Mouse Card).
Return unclaimed player color Pet Cards to the box (i.e. the 5th player set in a 4 player game). Choose a starting player who takes the Start Player Marker.
Playing the Game
The game runs for 9 rounds. In each round, a group of face down Pet Cards (the »cats in the sack«) are auctioned off to the players.
Beginning with the start player, and then continuing clockwise with all other players, each player selects any one of their Pet Cards, which they place face down in the middle of the table. The start player positions their face down Pet Card under the Cat in the Sack Card. Creating a row of Pet Cards, the next player positions their face down Pet Card to the right of the start player's Pet Card under the »2« Mouse Card, etc. This row represents the »cats in the sack«, which are available to be claimed by the players.
With four players, the game setup should look as follows:
start player — player 2 — player 3 — player 4
After all players have each placed one Pet Card, the start player turns over his Pet Card (the first Pet Card in the row). The start player begins the auction by bidding any amount of Mice Money (not 0) and placing this amount on the table in front of them, or they may pass. The next player in turn order must now bid more Mice Money or pass.
If the bid returns to a player who has already bid, they must increase their bid by adding more Mice Money or pass.
Whenever a player passes, they take back all the Mice Money they have bid so far this round and claim the Mice Money from the lowest valued Mouse Card still in the row. The passing player cannot bid any more in this round.
Example: the player who is first to pass in each round takes his bid back and the Mice Money that is on the »2« Mouse Card.
Each time a player passes, the players reveal the next left-most Pet Card from the cats in the sack row, so that the players have more information to help them decide whether they want to continue to bid on the sack.
When all the Pet Cards are turned over, there will be only one player who has not passed. That player pays their bid to the bank and claims the contents of the cats in the sack (all Pet Cards in the row). If exactly one dog was in the face up row of Pet Cards, it will scare one cat away. If the large dog was in the row, the highest positive value cat and this dog are returned to the box. If the small dog was in the row, the highest negative value cat and this dog are returned to the box. If more than one dog of any type was in the row, they are all returned to the box.
The player places all remaining claimed Pet Cards separately from the Pet Cards in their hand and also takes the Start Player Marker.
Example: the small dog chases the »-5« cat away and the player receives 11 points. With a large dog, the player would receive -5 points, as the dog would chase the »11« cat away.
Note: with more than one dog in the row, the dogs create their own mischief amongst themselves without effect on the cats and are returned to the box. This also occurs if small and large dogs are together in the row.
Finally, the Mouse Cards are filled again with the appropriate amount of Mice Money and the second round begins with a new selection of Pet Cards and auction, according to the rules above. All further rounds run the same way.
Game End and Scoring
The game ends after the ninth auction, when all players have played all Pet Cards from their starting hand. The last winning bid must still be paid to the bank and the winning player takes the Pet Cards from the row as in the other rounds.
Now all players add the points on the cats they won at auction (the yellow numbers are positive and the red numbers are negative). To this, they add the Mice Money they have left (each Mice Money is worth 1 point). The rabbits are worth nothing and the dogs are out of the game.
The player with the most points is the winner!
In the case of a tie, the player with most Pet Card points is the winner.
Rules for 3 Players
Use only the »3« and »6« Mouse Cards. Place the Cat in the Sack Card to the left of the »3« Mouse Card. Place Mice Money worth 21 in the bank. Return the rest of the Mice Money to the box.
Take a fourth card set and shuffle it face down. Remove one Pet Card randomly and place it back in the box without looking at it. Now place the fourth card set, as a dummy player, face down below the Cat in the Sack Card.
dummy player — start player — player 2 — player 3
At the beginning of the auction, before the start player begins bidding, turn over the top-most Pet Card of the dummy player.
After a player passes, the Pet Card of the start player is turned over, so that the two remaining players will see two face up and two face down Pet Cards. When there is just one player left, turn over the last two face down Pet Cards in the row.
Special Cases
- If at the beginning of the auction, all players but the last player pass, turn over the last Pet Card (with 3 players, the last two Pet Cards will be revealed). The last player can now see the entire row of Pet Cards and may buy all remaining cats in the row for 1 Mice Money after resolving all dog interactions.
- If the last player also passes, remove all Pet Cards from the row and begin a new round with the same start player. The next round is played with no Mice Money added to the Mouse Cards.
- If a large dog chases a cat from the row and there are no positive value cats in the row, instead it chases the highest-valued negative cat from the row (e.g. the »-5« and not the »-8«). If a small dog chases a cat from the row and there are no negative value cats in the row, it chases the lowest-valued positive cat from the row.
- Players may make change with their Mice Money and the bank at any time.
- If, at the end of a round, there is not enough Mice Money in the bank to distribute Mice Money on all the Mouse Cards, no Mice Money is placed on the Mouse Cards at all. In this round, only the player winning the auction gets something: the cats in the row. All players who pass, receive no Mice Money from the Mouse Cards.
- Players keep their Mice Money secret during the game.
A Tactical Note
The last player to pass each round will receive the Mice Money on the »6« Mouse Card. This can often be worthwhile as it allows a player to have cash they may need for a later auction. Additionally, these 6 Mice Money are also worth 6 points. If a player spends all their remaining Mice Money on an auction, they must pass immediately on the next auction and will probably receive only 2 Mice Money. Thus, this is likely not a good idea.
If all players (except one) bid high amounts throughout the game, that player could win without ever winning an auction.
Credits
Author: Friedemann Friese Graphics & Layout: Maura Kalusky Production: Henning Kröpke Rules Editor: Paul M. Incao Rules Proofreaders: Anne Incao, T.R. Knight
© 2017, Stronghold Games, All Rights Reserved