Gouda! Gouda! Cat Attack
Gouda! Gouda! Cat Attack Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Warning
The rules have been designed so that you can play a first game to understand the basic working of the game. From your second game, start to include the optional rules and, more particularly, the rules on powers (see below, Optional Rules section). That is how the game reveals all its richness.
Game Components
- 1 game board
- 5 special dice
- 6 mouse markers
- 6 sets of 5 mouse pawns in different colours
- 6 cheese pawns
- 30 power markers
Object of the Game
Get your mice to eat cheese.
Setup
- A cheese pawn is placed on the space at the "top" of the game board. The race runs from the "bottom" to the "top" of the board. The top consists of a single space: a table on which the cheese pawn is placed.
- Each player chooses a colour and places the corresponding mouse marker in front of them to remember the colour they control. They also take the 6 mouse pawns of the colour they chose and place them in one of the first three spaces at the bottom of the board (the big jug and the two crates). The youngest player starts the game. Players then take turns clockwise.
Course of a Turn
On their turn, each player:
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Designates a space on the board where at least one of their mice is present.
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Rolls as many dice (maximum 5, since there are only 5 dice in the game) as there are mice present in the space they designated (the opponents' mice are also counted).
Examples:
- In the space designated by Dominique, who plays the yellow mice, there are 7 mice: 3 yellow, 2 green and 2 blue. Dominique must therefore roll 5 dice.
- In the space designated by Victor, who plays the red mice, there are 3 mice: 1 red mouse, 1 green mouse and 1 yellow mouse. Victor must roll 3 dice.
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Applies the result of their roll, following these rules:
- Each green result obliges a mouse (any mouse) to move forward to the first space toward the top. Note that, given the layout of the board, it is sometimes possible to move a mouse forward to a lateral space.
- Each red result obliges a mouse (any mouse) to move back to the first space toward the bottom. It is sometimes possible to move it back to a larger lateral space.
- Each yellow result has no effect on the mice in the space.
The player may move any mouse present in the space, their own as well as those of their opponents. It is they who choose which mouse must be moved and who actually moves it. There is no limit to the number of mice that may be present in a space.
Example: Dominique rolled 5 dice and got 1 green face, 3 yellow faces and 1 red. She decides to move forward, thanks to the green result, one of her 3 yellow mice present in the space, and to move back, thanks to the red result, an opponent's mouse (a red mouse, for example, belonging to Victor). Applying the results of the dice rolls is mandatory. You cannot decide to "pass".
Example: Victor designated a space in which one of his red mice is all alone. He rolls 1 die and gets a red result. He must move his mouse back.
End of the Game
The game ends as soon as a mouse reaches the space where the piece of cheese is.
Optional Rules
1 - Use of Powers
At the start of the game, the power markers are shuffled and placed in the centre of the table, face down. Each player, starting with the youngest and continuing clockwise, takes 3 markers at random, looks at them, and places them face down in front of them. The other markers are removed from the game (put in the game box, for example).
Power markers, as their name indicates, give players particular powers. Each marker may be used by a player during their own turn or during another player's turn. Once used, a marker must be removed from the game (and joins those that were put in the game box).
There are 6 types of power:
Re-roll
This power allows the player either, after one of their own dice rolls, to re-roll one or more dice of their choice themselves, or to oblige an opponent to re-roll one or more dice that they designate.
Example: Rolling 5 dice, Dominique gets 3 reds, 1 green and 1 yellow. This result does not suit her. She plays a Re-roll marker and decides to re-roll the 3 red dice. She thus gets 2 greens and 1 yellow. Her roll is now made up of 3 greens and 2 yellows. Victor thinks Dominique's roll is really too good for her. He plays a Re-roll marker and obliges her to re-roll her 3 green dice. Dominique gets 2 reds and 1 green. Her roll finally consists of 1 green, 2 reds and 2 yellows.
Extra Turn
This power allows the player to immediately play a second turn, or to oblige an opponent to immediately play a second turn by designating a space for them.
Example: On her turn, Dominique has managed to move 3 of her mice forward. She is now only two spaces from the cheese. She wants to take a little lead and plays her Extra Turn marker, designating the space where her 3 mice are alone. She can immediately re-roll 3 dice.
Transfer
The result of a dice roll is transferred to a space different from the one to which it was to apply. The player of the marker designates the new space, which must contain at least as many mice as the space initially chosen.
Example: Dominique has just rolled 4 dice for a space where there are 3 of her mice and one mouse of Victor. She got 3 greens and 1 red. Victor plays a Transfer marker and indicates another space in which there are 2 of his own mice, one mouse of Léon and one mouse of Dominique. Dominique is obliged to apply her 3 greens and 1 red to that space.
Upgrade
The result of a dice roll can be improved. Reds can become yellow and yellows can become green (greens cannot be "upgraded"). The number of dice affected is at the discretion of the marker's player.
Example: Dominique rolled 3 dice for a space where she has 2 mice and Léon has 1. She got 1 green, 1 yellow and 1 red. She plays an Upgrade marker and decides to transform only the yellow die into green. She can thus move her 2 mice forward and move Léon's back. Victor got, by rolling 4 dice, 1 green and 3 yellows for a space where he has 2 mice and Dominique also has 2. Dominique plays an Upgrade marker and decides that the 3 yellows become green. The 4 mice must be moved forward by Victor.
Downgrade
The result of a dice roll can be worsened. Greens can become yellow and yellows can become red. The number of dice affected is at the discretion of the marker's player.
Cancel
The result of a roll, or of one or more dice of a roll, is cancelled. One can also cancel the effects of a power marker.
Example: Dominique has just rolled 4 dice for a space in which she has 3 mice and Victor 1. She got 3 greens and 1 red. This displeases Victor, who plays a Cancel marker to oblige Dominique to re-roll the dice. But she defends herself by immediately playing a Cancel marker, which has the effect of cancelling Victor's. She is therefore not obliged to re-roll the dice.
2 - A Cheese Festival
At the start of the game, not 1 piece of cheese but 3 are placed on the space at the top of the board. When a mouse reaches this space, it eats a piece of cheese. Its player therefore takes a cheese pawn from this space and removes their mouse from the game. The game ends when all the pieces of cheese have been eaten. The winner of the game is the player whose mice have eaten the most pieces of cheese. In case of a tie, the players are ranked by order of arrival on the space where the cheese pawns were.
Remark
Other variants are possible. You can, for example, distribute more than 3 power markers to each player at the start of the game, or even distribute to each a complete series of the 6 powers. You can also place pieces of cheese here and there along the course. The essential thing is that you have fun in your own way!
Note from the Game's Creator
This game has a tactical dimension which limits the effects of chance (especially with the power markers). It is possible to hinder opponents by making their mice move back or by leading them toward lateral spaces. But opponents can also lend their help, since they are obliged to apply the result of the dice. A bit of negotiation is therefore sometimes useful. In any case, it is wise to stick as closely as possible to the leader's mice and, above all, not to scatter your mice.