The Happiest Cat in the World Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
  • Amenity Tile Anatomy
• Board Setup
• Player Setup
• Course of Play
  • Moving the Cat Token
    • Having a Snack
  • Placing a Tile in the Apartment
    • The Cat Combo
  • Buying an Amenity Tile
    • The Mouse Token
  • Drawing 5 New Tiles
• End of the Game
• Goal Tiles
  • Bowls (A and B)
  • Sum (A and B)
  • Shelves – A
  • Shelves – B
  • Cat Beds – A
  • Cat Beds – B
  • Mice – A
  • Mice – B
• Bonus Tile Variant
  • Setup
  • Course of Play
  • End of the Game

Goal of the Game

Throughout the game, you will be placing cat beds, shelves, toy mice, and bowls of snacks in your apartment, with only one goal in mind: to make me happy!

I will be walking by your side, checking if the amenities you provided made me happy, and granting you Happiness Points if they did. The thing is, my friends across the street will be undergoing the same procedure with their owners. In the end, the cat whose owner scores the most points will be known as THE HAPPIEST CAT IN THE WORLD. It better be me!

Components

• 1 game board
• 4 Apartment boards (showing 5 tiles in a cross shape)
• 4 Starting tile sets (10 tiles per set)
• 80 Amenity tiles (28 level-1 tiles, 28 level-2 tiles, 24 level-3 tiles)
• 5 Goal tiles
• 5 Bonus End Game tiles
• First player token
• Cat token (in 4 colors)
• 4 two sided Happiness markers (in 4 colors)
• 4 two sided Mouse tokens

Amenity Tile Anatomy

Each Amenity tile shows a Coin Value, a Label with Cost, a Type and Color, and Happiness Points.

Board Setup

1. Place the game board in the central part of the play area.
2. Divide the Amenity Tiles into 3 separate decks, one for Tiles with costs 3-4, one for costs 5-6 and one for Tiles with a cost of 7. Shuffle each deck separately. Then, place each deck on its designated space on the game board.
3. Draw 3 tiles from each deck and place them face up on the designated spaces below their respective decks. They create the Cat Market.
4. Place the 5 Goal tiles on the designated spaces in the middle of the game board, with a random side facing up. During your first playthrough, I recommend you choose side A of each tile. In subsequent games, you can either choose or randomly pick sides. There is only one variant of the Bowl and Sum tile.
5. Place 2 randomly selected End Game Goal tiles on their designated spaces at the bottom of the board. (Not recommended for your first game.)

I will allow you to use these A side goals for your first game... if you insist.

Player Setup

Each player completes the following steps:

1. Choose a color and take an Apartment board of that color and place it face up in front of you. This board, along with every tile you'll add to it throughout the game, will be called your Apartment.
2. Take the Cat Token and Happiness marker of your chosen color along with 1 Mouse token.
   • Place your Cat token on the central space of your Apartment (the one with a bowl).
   • Place your Happiness marker on the zero space of the Happiness track.
   • Turn the Mouse token to the side showing the mouse icon, and keep it ready at hand.
3. Take a set of 10 starting tiles that have a paw print symbol on their back that match the one on your Apartment board and shuffle them. Place them face down in a stack next to your Apartment – this will be your draw pile. Leave some space next to it for a face-up discard pile.
4. Draw 5 tiles from your draw pile and add them to your hand.
5. The player who has most recently seen a lazy cat chilling on a sofa takes the First Player token. They keep it for the rest of the game.

You are ready to play! I mean… to make me the happiest cat in the world!

Course of Play

The player with the First Player token takes the first turn of the game. Then, the next player clockwise takes the next turn, and so on. This continues until one player reaches 60 happiness points, at which point, keep playing until all players have had the same number of turns. I.e., until the player to the right of the start player has taken their turn. Then, all players, in order, get 1 more turn.

Cats are careful not to overwork themselves, so make sure those extra moves are worth my while.

On your turn, carry out the following 4 steps in this order:

1. Move the Cat token (optional)
2. Place a tile in the Apartment (optional)
3. Buy an Amenity tile (optional)
4. Draw 5 new tiles (mandatory)

Moving the Cat Token

At the start of your turn, you may move your Cat token to a horizontally or vertically adjacent tile. You can move the token any number of tiles; however, only the first 2 moves are free. For any subsequent move during the same turn, you must discard 1 tile from your hand and place it face up in your discard pile.

During its movement, the Cat may not enter any tile it has already been to during or at the start of that turn. The Cat may, however, return to a tile it has been to on a previous turn.

Note: Moving your Cat is optional—you can leave it where it is and skip this step.

Having a Snack

Each time the Cat token enters a Bowl tile, you gain Happiness points as printed in the bottom right corner of the tile; move your Happiness marker on the Happiness track on the game board accordingly.

Example: Martha moves the Cat token by 3 tiles. The first 2 moves cost her nothing. To move it once more, Martha places 1 tile from her hand into her discard pile. During that movement, she has moved her Cat through a Bowl tile, so she gains 1 Happiness Point.

Placing a Tile in the Apartment

Next, whether you moved your Cat or not, you may add 1 tile from your hand to your Apartment as follows:

If it is a Bed, Mouse, or Shelf tile, place it in an empty spot that is orthogonal (horizontally or vertically adjacent) to the tile containing your Cat token.

If it is a Bowl tile, place it on top of an existing tile that is orthogonal to the tile with your Cat token, thus covering the previous tile. You may not place a Bowl tile on top of another Bowl tile or a tile containing tokens.

Note: There is no limit to how big your Apartment can grow in any direction.

You're not required to add a tile into your apartment but, if you don't, how am I supposed to become the happiest cat in the world?!

Example: Martha places a Mouse tile from her hand into her Apartment, placing it to the right of the tile with her Cat token.

After placing a tile, check if you gain any Happiness points from it. A tile can provide Happiness points in two ways:

• Printed points: Gain the amount of Happiness points printed in the bottom right corner of the tile, if any. Not all tiles have printed points.
• Points from goals: Gain Happiness points for the type (symbol) of the newly placed tile according to the corresponding Goal tile on the game board. (The various goals are explained in detail in the Goal Tiles section below.)

When gaining any amount of Happiness points during the game, move your Happiness marker on the Happiness track on the game board accordingly.

Note: Some Amenity tiles that you can buy from the Cat Market (see Buying an Amenity Tile) show two types of symbols instead of one. If these are different, score them in any order. If they are the same, score them together but only once.

Example (continued): For the Mouse tile she just placed, Martha gains 1 Happiness point, as shown on the tile, and 4 additional Happiness points from the effect of the Goal tile (see the Mice goal tile section for details). In total, Martha has gained 5 Happiness points from placing that tile.

The Cat Combo

Placing a tile in a way that forms a straight line of 3 tiles of the same color (horizontally or vertically) sets off a Cat Combo. When this happens, you may immediately place an additional tile anywhere in your Apartment. It does not have to be adjacent to the tile with your Cat token!

Check if you gain any Happiness points from placing the new tile. Placing that tile can set off yet another Cat Combo. If it does, continue placing tiles from your hand until you run out of tiles in hand or do not set off another Cat Combo.

Note: Extending an existing Cat Combo with additional tiles of the same color does not set off another Cat Combo!

Details:

• A diagonal line does NOT create a combo.
• Except for the fact that you can place a tile from a Cat Combo anywhere in your Apartment, the other placement rules still apply: you must place a Bed, Mouse, or Shelf tile in an empty spot that is horizontally or vertically adjacent to any of your tiles, and you must place a Bowl tile on top of an existing non-Bowl tile.
• Covering a tile from a Cat Combo with a Bowl of the same color does not set off another Cat Combo. You can, however, cover one end of an existing Cat Combo with a Bowl of a different color and then extend the line on the other end with a new tile of the same color to set off a new Cat Combo. (The game does not keep track of previous Cat Combos that are no longer visible.)
• It is possible to create a 4 or even 5 tiles long Cat Combo if you place a Bowl in such a way that it combines two separate same-colored lines of lengths 1-2.
• It is also possible to set off two Cat Combos - one horizontal and one vertical – with just 1 tile. In this case, carry out one Cat Combo after the other and any additional Cat Combos created from that afterwards.
• You are not required to place a tile from a Cat Combo, as this reduces the number of tiles in your deck, which may limit your future options.

Example: Martha places a Bowl tile as shown, which creates a new line of 3 red tiles. After she gains 3 Happiness points for the Bowl, Martha may place another tile from her hand for the Cat Combo.

Example (continued): 1. For her Cat Combo, Martha decides to place a Shelf tile as shown, gaining a total of 6 Happiness points (1 from tile and 5 from shelves). By placing this tile, Martha sets off yet another Cat Combo made of 3 blue tiles. 2. For this, Martha decides to place a Bed from her hand, gaining a total of 6 Happiness points (2 from tile and 4 from beds scoring variant B). In fact, this new line is 4 tiles long, but it has been part of a Cat Combo before, so it does not set off another Cat Combo, so Martha must proceed with step 3 of her turn.

Buying an Amenity Tile

If you wish to buy an Amenity tile, reveal the remaining tiles in your hand and total their coin values, i.e., the numbers on the money symbol in the top left corner of each tile.

This is how much money you can spend on new Amenity tiles this turn. To do so, choose one or more tiles from the Cat Market whose total cost you can afford and place the newly bought tiles on top of your draw pile.

You will draw those tiles on your next turn. I can't wait to try out the new stuff you bought me!

Example: The tiles in Martha's hand are worth 4 coins. Unfortunately, all tiles in the middle and the right rows of the Cat Market are too expensive. So, she chooses the tile worth 4 coins and places it on top of her draw pile. Finally, she draws a new tile from the top deck to fill the empty spot.

After you finish buying, replenish the Cat Market by drawing new tiles from their respective decks and placing them face up on the empty spaces. If a deck runs out, simply do not replenish that row.

Note: You are not required to buy new tiles, this step is optional.

Remember why you are doing this … I wouldn't be happy if you didn't buy me anything!

The Mouse Token

Once per game, at the start of step 3 of your turn (Buying), you may flip your Mouse token. If you do, immediately remove all 3 tiles from exactly one row in the Cat Market and return them to the bottom of the respective deck, in any order. Then draw 3 new tiles from the top of that deck to fill the empty spaces. This can be done no matter where your mouse token is.

Drawing 5 New Tiles

At the end of your turn, discard all tiles in your hand to your discard pile and draw a new hand of 5 tiles from your draw pile. If, at some point, your draw pile runs out, shuffle your discard pile to create a new draw pile and then continue drawing tiles, until you have 5 tiles in hand.

Note: If there are not enough tiles in your draw and discard pile to draw 5 tiles, draw as many as you can and play your next turn with fewer than 5 tiles in hand.

Your turn is now over and the player on your left takes their turn.

End of the Game

Once a player gets 60 or more Happiness Points, the end of the game is triggered. At which point, keep playing until all players have had the same number of turns. I.e., until the player to the right of the start player has taken their turn. Then, all players, in order, get 1 more turn.

Once all players have completed their final turn, players then total up all Happiness points printed on all the tiles they still have in their hands, discard and draw piles and adds it to their Happiness totals. This is due to the effect of the Sum Goal tile.

The player with the most Happiness points wins. What is more important, that person made their cat the happiest one in the world!

In case of a tie, enjoy your shared victory!

Note: Once you gain more than 60 points, flip your Happiness Counter to its 60 value side and continue from the start of the track.

Goal Tiles

Amenity tiles, including those from your starting sets, show one or two of the following symbols: Bowls, Shelves, Beds, and Mice. The Goal tiles on the game board define how each of these symbols score when placed in your Apartment. Except for Bowls, each symbol can score in one of two ways, which is determined during setup and does not change during the game. The following sections explain how each symbol scores.

Note: There is a fifth tile type, on your Apartment boards - the cat tree - which does not score any Happiness points. None of the goal tiles refer to this symbol. Its color may be relevant for Cat Combos, however.

Bowls (A and B)

Bowls differ from the other tiles in both the way they are placed (see Placing a Tile in the Apartment) and that they score in only one way—their Goal tile is therefore identical on both sides.

When placed and each time your Cat token moves onto or through a Bowl tile, score Happiness points equal to the number printed in the bottom right corner of the tile. This does not apply if the Cat token is on a Bowl and does not move that turn.

Note: This also applies to the starting Bowl on your Apartment board. You do not score its points for placement, but you do every time your Cat token moves through or onto it.

Example: Martha places a Bowl tile on top of another tile, immediately gaining 3 Happiness points as shown on the tile. From now on, every time her Cat token moves through or stops on this tile, Martha will gain another 3 Happiness points.

Rude people claim cats know no moderation and eat whenever they stumble across something in their bowls, but that is a lie! We choose deliberately what and when we eat. I wouldn't just eat anything.

Sum (A and B)

This goal is identical on both sides of the tile.

After the final round, players total up Happiness Points printed on all the tiles they still have in their hands, discards, and draw piles.

Example: At the end of the game, Martha gathered all the tiles she had left and gained 6 Happiness Points from them.

Shelves – A

After placing a tile with at least 1 shelf symbol, you gain 1 Happiness Point for each shelf symbol within the same group of vertically and/or horizontally adjacent Shelf tiles.

Note: If the newly added tile shows 2 Shelf symbols, it simply adds 2 Happiness points to the score, it does not trigger the Shelf scoring twice.

Example: Martha adds a tile with 2 Shelf symbols to an existing group of Shelf tiles, increasing the number of Shelf symbols in that group to 5, so she immediately scores 5 Happiness points. (She does not score any additional happiness points from the tile, as this one does not show any in the bottom right corner.)

Shelves – B

When placed, score 1 Happiness point for each Shelf symbol within a group of shelves connected in diagonals including the new tile.

Note: If the newly added tile shows 2 Shelf symbols, it simply adds 2 Happiness points to the score, it does not trigger the Shelf scoring twice.

Example: Martha places a tile with 1 Shelf symbol as shown, increasing the size of the existing diagonal group of Shelves to 5. She scores 1 Happiness point as printed on the newly placed tile and an additional 5 Happiness points for the group of Shelves.

Cat Beds – A

When placed, score 2 Happiness points for each Bed symbol in your Apartment that is the only Bed symbol in its row and column.

Example: 1. If Martha places a Bed tile as shown in the top example, she will score 6 Happiness points, as each of the 3 Bed symbols in her Apartment is alone in its row and column. 2. On the other hand, if she placed the Bed tile as shown on the bottom example, the two bottom Beds would cancel each other out and she would score only 2 Happiness points (for the Bed at the top left of the Apartment).

Cat Beds – B

When placed, score 2 Happiness points for each Bed symbol in the same row and column as the newly placed tile, including itself.

Example: Martha places a Bed tile as shown, scoring 6 Happiness points for it, as it "sees" itself and another Bed above and to the right of it.

Mice – A

When you place your first Mouse tile in the game, place your Mouse token on that tile (with its current side up—do not flip it in the process!).

Each time you place a new Mouse tile, move the Mouse token there, taking the shortest path of vertically or horizontally adjacent tiles (if there are multiple equally short paths, choose one of them.) Then count how many tiles the Mouse token has crossed, including the new tile, and gain 1 Happiness per tile moved through.

Example: Martha places her second Mouse tile, and immediately gains 2 Happiness points, as printed on the tile. Then she moves the Mouse Token from its previous tile to the newly placed tile and gains 5 Happiness points.

Note: You do not gain Happiness points when the Mouse crosses Bowl tiles. Only your Cat scores from Bowls.

Mice – B

This goal tile works in exact the same way as goal tile 'Mice - A', however instead of earning only 1 Happiness point per tile passed through, you score the two highest happiness value tiles on your path. See example below.

Example: 1. Martha places her second mouse tile, and after immediately gaining 2 Happiness points as in the previous example, 2. she then moves her Mouse Token from its previous tile to the newly placed tile. As she moved through 5 tiles, 2 with value 2, 1 with value 5 and 1 with value 1, she chooses the 2 highest value tiles and therefore scored 2 + 5 = 7 Happiness.

Bonus Tile Variant

Before trying out this variant, we recommend that you play a few regular games first.

Setup

As step #5 of board setup, draw 2 Bonus End Game tiles at random and place them face up on the game board, in the top left corner.

Course of Play

Nothing changes during the course of the game. The Bonus End Game tiles take effect only at the end of the game and they apply to all players.

End of the Game

At the end of the game, i.e., after the final turn, but before declaring the winner, each player scores additional Happiness points for the two Bonus End Game tiles on the game board.

Further explanation for each of the 5 tiles is below. Note that only two of these tiles will be available in any given game.

• Surrounded Beds. Gain 4 Happiness points for each Bed symbol in your Apartment that is orthogonally (vertically or horizontally) adjacent to 4 tiles (on the top, bottom, left, and right).
• Accessible Bowls. Gain 2 Happiness points for each empty space that is orthogonally adjacent to at least one Bowl symbol.
• Squeaky Neighbor. Gain 3 Happiness points for each pair of orthogonally adjacent Mouse symbols. Each mouse can be only be used in one pair. Note: Each mouse can only be used for 1 pair. i.e. 3 mice orthogonally adjacent is only 3 points and 4 mice orthogonally adjacent in separate pairs is 6 points.
• Walls of Shelves. Gain 3 Happiness Points for each Shelf tile in the leftmost and rightmost column of your Apartment. Tiles with 2 Shelf symbols in the leftmost or rightmost column are still worth only 3 Happiness points – not 6.
• Rainbow Rows. Gain 6 Happiness points for each row in your Apartment, in which all four colors (pink, blue, green and yellow) are present. Remember, gray is not considered a color.