Stack O' Cats
Stack O' Cats Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Catlike Composure Variant
Objective
Be the best at encouraging the cat-related mischief, by having the most points at the end of the game!
Setup
Pull 4 colorful cats at random from the Big Bag o' Cats, and wedge them into the Cat Base.
| If you have | Pull randomly and remove from play |
|---|---|
| 2 players | 0 cats |
| 3 players | 1 cat |
| 4 players | 0 cats |
For more players, add the black cats from the small bag into the big bag.
| If you have | Pull randomly and remove from play |
|---|---|
| 5 players | 1 cat |
| 6 players | 0 cats |
Grab a score sheet and a pen or pencil. You're ready to go!
The Black Cat Variant
Are you ready to make your cat-wrangling more competitive?
- Add the Black Cats from the Small Bag to the regular cats in the Big Bag.
- Note: If you're playing with 5 players, leave one non-black cat out of the bag. Otherwise use all the cats!
- Draw 4 cats of any color (including black) from the bag and wedge them into the base.
- Play according to the rules on the other side of this card. If you draw a black cat, place and score it normally. HOWEVER, any cats placed afterwards that touch the black cat meeple will lose 2 points, in addition to regular scoring! You don't want a black cat crossing your path!
How to Play
The person who most recently tried to pick up a cat gets to go first.
Players take turns drawing a wooden cat figure from the big Bag o' Cats, and balancing it anywhere on top of the cat stack, then gaining points for that cat's placement.
On most turns, you'll count the least number of cats between the cat you placed, and the wooden base. Multiply by 2, add that value to your score. (This will always be at least 2 points.)
Example: a cat placed on top of a stack where the least number of cats counted down to the base is 5 is worth 10 points. A cat placed where the least number of cats counted down to the base is 3 is worth 6 points.
If placing your cat causes the cat tower to collapse (Oh No!), you lose one point for each cat that fell, of any color. Subtract those points to your score, then put the fallen cats aside.
You'll then pick up the cat you tried to place this turn and give it another try!
NOTE: Every turn, you must successfully place a cat on the stack without it collapsing, then score that cat. Sometimes this might mean multiple collapses in the same turn! You'll need to subtract the points from each collapse from your score. Cats can be real jerks like that...
Keep taking turns placing cats until the big Bag o' Cats is empty. The person with the MOST points wins, and is crowned Cat Whisperer!
A Few Notes
The tower may very well shift as you're putting cats on. That's part of the game! If you like to play a risky game, you can use your wooden cat figure to make the tower MORE precarious for the next person!
Hanging cats are not only allowed, they're encouraged! Cats should be as mischievous as possible!
The Patient Paws Variant
Objective
Be the best at reining in the cat-related mischief, by having the fewest points at the end of the game!
Setup
Pull 4 colorful cats at random from the Big Bag o' Cats, and wedge them into the Cat Base.
| If you have | Pull randomly and remove from play |
|---|---|
| 2 players | 0 cats |
| 3 players | 1 cat |
| 4 players | 0 cats |
For more players, add the black cats from the small bag into the big bag.
| If you have | Pull randomly and remove from play |
|---|---|
| 5 players | 1 cat |
| 6 players | 0 cats |
Grab a score sheet and a pen or pencil. You're ready to go!
The Black Cat Variant
Are you ready to make your cat-wrangling more competitive?
- Add the Black Cats from the Small Bag to the regular cats in the Big Bag.
- Note: If you're playing with 5 players, leave one non-black cat out of the bag. Otherwise use all the cats!
- Draw 4 cats of any color (including black) from the bag and wedge them into the base.
- Play according to the rules on the other side of this card. If you draw a black cat, place and score it normally. HOWEVER, any cats placed afterwards that touch the black cat meeple will gain 2 points, in addition to regular scoring! You don't want a black cat crossing your path!
How to Play
The person who most recently pet a cat gets to go first.
Players take turns drawing a wooden cat figure from the big Bag o' Cats, and balancing it anywhere on top of the cat stack, then gaining points for that cat's placement.
On most turns, you'll count the least number of cats between the cat you placed, and the wooden base, and add that value to your score. (This will always be at least 1 point.)
Example: a cat placed on top of a stack where the least number of cats counted down to the base is 5 is worth 5 points. A cat placed where the least number of cats counted down to the base is 3 is worth 3 points.
On some turns, placing your cat will cause the cat tower to collapse (Oh No!), you GAIN one point for each cat that fell, of any color. Add them to your score, then set them aside.
You'll then pick up the cat you tried to place this turn and give it another try!
NOTE: Every turn, you must successfully place a cat on the stack without it collapsing, then score that cat. Sometimes this might mean multiple collapses in the same turn! You'll need to add the points from each one to your score. Cats can be real jerks like that...
Keep taking turns placing cats until the big Bag o' Cats is empty. The person with the LOWEST number of points wins, and is crowned Cat Whisperer!
A Few Notes
The tower may very well shift as you're putting cats on. That's part of the game! If you like to play a risky game, you can use your wooden cat figure to make the tower MORE precarious for the next person!
Hanging cats are not only allowed, they're encouraged! Cats should be as mischievous as possible!
The Clowder Collaboration (Solo and Cooperative Play)
Objective
By yourself, or with a team of confident, capable cat lovers, stack as many cats as you can and claim the high score in the Colonnade of Competent Clowders!
Setup
- Pull out and set aside the black cat figures AND the cat figures of any one other color. Put them on the table around your cat base where everyone can access them. The rest of the cats go in the big cat bag.
- Pull 4 cats from the big cat bag and wedge them in the base.
- The person who most recently fed a cat goes first. Take turns picking up the cats you've placed on the table, and balancing them on the cat stack.
Once you've stacked all the cats from the table, the real challenge begins!
- Players continue taking turns adding cats to the stack, BUT - the cat figures will now be randomly drawn from the bag. Every cat successfully balanced on the stack from this point onward earns your Clowder 1 point!
Game End
The game ends when either: The stack o' cats collapses OR you run out of cats in the bag. (Really hard to do!) Either way...
Congratulations! Record your name(s) and your score in the 'Colonnade of Competent Clowders' (a table on the back of the card with columns "Cats in the Clowder" and "High Score").