Cat Overboard

Below are the full rules for a silly game about keeping the right cats on a wobbly ship.

It was inspired by a silly thing in the “Gentleman Bastards” books about cats on a ship giving you good luck. But what if the cats are running around and try to jump off the ship? What if some types of cats actually give bad luck?

Setup

Suppose you’re playing with # players.

Draw # random tiles and place them in the center of the table. Also draw # cats off the top of the pile and place them anywhere on the starting tiles.

This game is cooperative, but every player gets their own turn. The start player is the one who looks most like a cat.

Decide your Difficulty Level: on lower difficulties, many different cat and item types are left out, which also means tiles (with higher numbers) are not in the deck.

Objective

During the game, the cats will keep trying to jump off the ship.

If # (or more) cats have jumped off, you’ve lost the game!
If not, you win the game when all tiles have been laid down!

Gameplay

On your turn, you must do one of three actions:

Action 1 => Draw a new tile: draw a tile from the top of the deck. Place it anywhere connected to the current board.

Sometimes, tiles show cats or other items. If so, immediately grab the corresponding item and place it on that location. (If the stack is empty, you don’t need to do anything.)

If it’s a question mark, you must randomly (blindly) grab something.

Action 2 => Rotate a tile: pick an existing tile and rotate it 90 degrees (clockwise or counterclockwise).

Tiles which contain heavy items can NOT be rotated.

Action 3 => Move an item: pick an existing item and move it, according to its own rules.

Unless stated otherwise, items can NOT be moved through (or over) other items and can only do one step in any direction.

Cat Movement

At the end of each round, the cats will start moving. Each cat has a number on it; evaluate the cats in that order.

Find the edge of the ship (left/right/top/bottom) that is closest to a cat. It will move in that direction as far as it can go.

If it cannot move at all in that direction (it’s blocked immediately), try the next closest edge. Keep doing this until the cat has moved.

If the cat cannot move at all, it becomes angry and will destroy the tile it’s currently on!

The tile itself and everything on it returns to the supply. This counts as one cat jumping off the ship, even if there were multiple cats on that tile.

If a cat ever leaves the current board, it has jumped off the ship.

Cat Types

Acrobatic: can jump over all obstacles (both items and other cats).
Runner: when attracted to some item (such as mice), it can move four steps at a time. It also has the run-up ability: if it has a space of three or more tiles before hitting an obstacle, it can gain enough speed to jump on top of it.
Sailor: can interact with the ship. (Steer it, change sails, control the cannons.)
Savvy: can not be attracted/distracted by anything.
Pusher: if their movement is blocked by something (another cat, an item, etc.), they will push it one block away (in the direction they were travelling). If that’s not possible, they become unhappy and take one step in a random direction.
- Alternatively: it it’s not possible to push the thing they hit, they deem this movement worthless, and will try the next closest edge instead.
Scratcher: can destroy objects and attack crew.
- When a scratcher is blocked by a movable item (not fixed to the tile), rotate that item upside down. It is now damaged. The next time a scratcher damages it, it will be destroyed and removed from the board.
- When a scratcher is picked up by a crew member, that member is removed the next round.
Fatty: considered a “heavy item”.
- You cannot rotate the tile it’s on, but it can only move at most one step at a time, whatever happens.
- Also cannot be picked up by crew members.
Kitten: just wants to play with the other cats.
- Will move towards the nearest cat it can see. If it cannot see any cat, it will conjure an imaginary friend. The kitten does not move, but you must randomly draw another cat and place it next to the kitten.

Items

Mice: if a cat can see a mouse in a straight line, it will move towards it, two steps at a time. If it can see multiple mice, pick the closest one.
Barrel: blocks cat movement. (Only Acrobatic cats can jump over them.)
Rudder (“roer”): when a Sailor cat enters a rudder during movement, its current tile must be rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
Sails (heavy): when a Sailor cat enters sails during movement, you must immediately execute another cat movement after the current one.
Cannons (heavy): too heavy to move … but it can roll with the ship! When moving a cannon, it must go vertically/horizontally as far as it can go ( = until you hit another obstacle).
- Additionally, cats are afraid of cannons. If possible, they will pause before running into the line of sight of a cannon. If not possible (e.g. the cannon has moved towards them instead), they freeze and don’t move.
Rope: if a cat can see rope in a straight line, it thinks it’s a toy and will move towards it, one step at a time.
- However, if there are two (or more) cats eying the same rope, they will fight. Move one cat to the location of the rope. Remove the rope and all other cats from the board.
Plank: blocks cat movement.
Crew: if next to a cat, they can pick it up (place it on top of the crew member). At the start of the next round, however, release all picked-up cats and move them one cell away from their crew member.
- They can not pick up the Fatty cat.
- They can pick up a Scratcher cat. After doing so, however, the crew member must be removed from the board.

Tiles

Tiles are 4x4. Most grid spots are empty, allowing cats to move there and items to be placed.

Otherwise, there are item icons (where players must place something themselves), immovable objects (fixed to tile), or special tiles (with some special power if a cat or item enters it)

Below are the full rules for a silly game about keeping the right cats on a wobbly ship. It was inspired by a silly thing in the "Gentleman Bastards" books about _cats on a ship giving you good luck_. But what if the cats are running around and try to jump off the ship? What if some types of cats actually give bad luck? ### Setup Suppose you're playing with \# players. Draw \# random tiles and place them in the center of the table. Also draw \# cats off the top of the pile and place them anywhere on the starting tiles. This game is **cooperative**, but **every player gets their own turn**. The **start player** is the one who looks most like a cat. _Decide your Difficulty Level:_ on lower difficulties, many different cat and item types are left out, which also means tiles (with higher numbers) are not in the deck. ### Objective During the game, the cats will keep trying to jump off the ship. - If \# (or more) cats have jumped off, you've lost the game! - If not, you win the game when all tiles have been laid down! ### Gameplay On your turn, you must do one of three actions: **Action 1 => Draw a new tile:** draw a tile from the top of the deck. Place it anywhere connected to the current board. Sometimes, tiles show *cats* or other *items*. If so, immediately grab the corresponding item and place it on that location. (If the stack is empty, you don't need to do anything.) If it's a question mark, you must randomly (blindly) grab something. **Action 2 => Rotate a tile:** pick an existing tile and rotate it 90 degrees (clockwise or counterclockwise). Tiles which contain *heavy items* can **NOT** be rotated. **Action 3 => Move an item:** pick an existing item and move it, according to its own rules. Unless stated otherwise, items can **NOT** be moved through (or over) other items and can only do **one step** in any direction. ### Cat Movement At the end of each round, the cats will start moving. Each cat has a **number** on it; evaluate the cats in that order. Find the edge of the ship (left/right/top/bottom) that is *closest* to a cat. It will move in that direction as far as it can go. If it cannot move at all in that direction (it's blocked immediately), try the *next closest* edge. Keep doing this until the cat has moved. If the cat cannot move *at all*, it becomes *angry* and will *destroy the tile it's currently on!* > The tile itself and everything on it returns to the supply. This counts as *one* cat jumping off the ship, even if there were multiple cats on that tile. If a cat ever leaves the current board, it has *jumped off the ship*. ### Cat Types - **Acrobatic**: can jump over all obstacles (both items and other cats). - **Runner:** when attracted to some item (such as mice), it can move *four steps* at a time. It also has the **run-up** ability: if it has a space of three or more tiles *before* hitting an obstacle, it can gain enough speed to jump *on top* of it. - **Sailor:** can interact with the ship. (Steer it, change sails, control the cannons.) - **Savvy:** can not be attracted/distracted by anything. - **Pusher:** if their movement is blocked by something (another cat, an item, etc.), they will push it one block away (in the direction they were travelling). If that's not possible, they become unhappy and take one step in a random direction. - **Alternatively:** it it's not possible to push the thing they hit, they deem this movement worthless, and will try the *next closest edge* instead. - **Scratcher:** can destroy objects and attack crew. - When a scratcher is blocked by a movable item (not fixed to the tile), rotate that item upside down. It is now *damaged*. The next time a scratcher damages it, it will be destroyed and removed from the board. - When a scratcher is picked up by a crew member, that member is removed the next round. - **Fatty:** considered a "heavy item". - You cannot rotate the tile it's on, but it can only move at most one step at a time, whatever happens. - Also cannot be picked up by crew members. - **Kitten:** just wants to play with the other cats. - Will move towards the nearest cat it can see. If it cannot see any cat, it will conjure an imaginary friend. The kitten does not move, but you must randomly draw another cat and place it next to the kitten. ### Items - **Mice:** if a cat can see a mouse in a straight line, it will move towards it, two steps at a time. If it can see multiple mice, pick the closest one. - **Barrel:** blocks cat movement. (Only *Acrobatic* cats can jump over them.) - **Rudder** ("roer")**:** when a *Sailor* cat enters a rudder during movement, its current tile must be rotated 90 degrees clockwise. - **Sails (heavy):** when a *Sailor* cat enters sails during movement, you must immediately execute *another* cat movement after the current one. - **Cannons (heavy):** too heavy to move ... but it can *roll* with the ship! When moving a cannon, it must go vertically/horizontally *as far as it can go* ( = until you hit another obstacle). - Additionally, cats are afraid of cannons. If possible, they will pause before running into the *line of sight* of a cannon. If not possible (e.g. the cannon has moved towards them instead), they freeze and don't move. - **Rope:** if a cat can see rope in a straight line, it thinks it's a toy and will move towards it, one step at a time. - *However*, if there are two (or more) cats eying the same rope, they will fight. Move one cat to the location of the rope. Remove the rope and all other cats from the board. - **Plank:** blocks cat movement. - **Crew:** if next to a cat, they can pick it up (place it on top of the crew member). At the start of the next round, however, release all *picked-up* cats and move them *one cell* away from their crew member. - They **can not** pick up the **Fatty** cat. - They **can** pick up a **Scratcher** cat. After doing so, however, the crew member must be removed from the board. ### Tiles Tiles are 4x4. Most grid spots are empty, allowing cats to move there and items to be placed. Otherwise, there are *item icons* (where players must place something themselves), *immovable objects* (fixed to tile), or *special tiles* (with some special power if a cat or item enters it)