Cantankerous Cats Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setting Up
• Game Basics
  • Your House / Territory
  • Card Types
  • Card Rank
  • The First Bite
• The Basic Game
  • The Domestic Turn
• The Standard Game
  • The Pounce
  • The Counter
• Special Conditions
  • Instant Actions
  • The Feral Turn
  • Winning the Game
• Clarifications
  • Two Player Adjustments
• Glossary

Setting Up

Fig 1 - The Neighborhood: Food Bowl, Score Board, Turn Indicator, Litter Box (discard), Token Bank (Pounce Tokens).

To begin a new game, place the Score Board in the center of the table. Remove the Cat Cards and Turn Indicator from the deck. Shuffle the remaining cards together and place these next to the Top LEFT corner of the Score Card. This deck of cards is called the Food Bowl.

Place the Turn Indicator next to the Top RIGHT corner of the Score Card. (If this is your first game, make sure the TREE DWELLER side is facing up). The lower LEFT corner of the Score Card is the Litter Box (discard pile) and the lower RIGHT area is the Token Bank.

Distribute the following items to each player:

• ONE Cat Card (Domestic side up).
• ONE matching Cat Token on the Start Here space.
• ONE Pounce Token from the Token Bank.
• SIX Cards from the Food Bowl.

(If this is your first game, you will not use these until you learn the STANDARD GAME on page 8.)

NOTE: For added fun and chaos, each player should take their OWN six cards from the Food Bowl.

Game Basics

Your House / Territory

The space in front of each Cat is considered their House. You share this house with your pet Hoomin. Your goal is to bank Affection with this Hoomin in order to score Mischief.

If you ever score Mischief without building enough Affection, you will be banished from your house as a Feral Cat!

Fig 2 - Your House: A: Cat Card - B: Pounce Tokens - C: Play Area.

NOTE: A DOMESTIC CAT's play area is called their House. A FERAL CAT's play area is called their Territory.

Card Types

In order to carry out your mischievous machinations, you must play cards into your House or Territory. There are THREE types of Cards you will encounter as a Cantankerous Cat:

Affection Cards: The lavender cards are Affection cards. The amount of Affection each card generates is represented by a number of hearts at the top of the card. Affection Cards are Banked in your house and remain there until they are spent or discarded.

NOTE: Affection Cards do NOT make change. You must spend the entire card at once.

Mischief Cards: If you have Affection banked in your House, you may play these burgundy cards to score Mischief points. There are TWO values on these cards: Cost (represented by slashed hearts) and Score (represented by paws). In order to score the points on the card, you must pay the cost by discarding Affection cards from your House into the Litter Box.

NOTE: If you are ever unable to pay for a Mischief Card, you will lose ALL of your banked Affection and become FERAL.

Incident Cards: Green "Event" cards and Yellow "Frenzy" cards are rule breaking cards that do not cost any Affection to play. Follow the instructions written on the card.

Fig 3 - Card Types: example Affection card (Sunbathe), Mischief card (Swat the Dog), Event card (Laser Pointer), and Frenzy card (Deplorable Dog). The Mischief card example reads: "If a 'Dog' card is played, you may immediately attack that player with this card. This does not require a Pounce Token."

Card Rank

To see the RANK of a card, check the number in the bottom left corner. It will have a Rank of 1-90.

Fig 4 - Card Rank: the number in the bottom left corner of the card (example: Cat Nap, Rank 47).

The First Bite

To determine the starting player, every cat must bid one card from their hand to secure the First Bite of the food bowl. Before this bid is made, check the Turn Indicator to see what type of cards will win. If this is your FIRST game, you will notice that turns pass to your RIGHT and HIGH RANK cards win.

When you have made your decision, place your bid FACE DOWN in your House.

When everyone has played a card, all bids are revealed. The Cat with the highest card rank takes the Cat Toy. All bids are then discarded face up into the Litter Box. The game can now proceed.

NOTE: You may flip the turn indicator like a coin to determine the opening direction of play for added variety.

The Basic Game

The best way to learn the game is to play one round using the Basic Game, then introduce the Standard Game after all players feel comfortable with the core mechanics.

Fig 5 - Core Concept: BANK AFFECTION, then SPEND AFFECTION, then SCORE MISCHIEF.

All players start the game as a Domestic Cat. Your goal is to Bank Affection with your Hoomin, then terrorize them with your Hoomin with Mischief. The first cat to score NINE Mischief Points while holding the Cat Toy wins the game!

The Domestic Turn

Fig 6 - Turn Flow: MEAL TIME, FIRST ACTION, SECOND ACTION, GROOMING TIME, NAP TIME. FIRST and SECOND ACTION together form PLAY TIME.

1. Meal Time: Take the Cat Toy, then draw THREE cards from the top of the Food Bowl. (Om, nom, and nom!) Declare that you are taking cards to the neighborhood.

NOTE: In the Standard Game, you are a legal target for a Pounce as soon as you draw your THIRD card.

2. Play Time: After you have drawn your three cards, you MUST take any TWO ACTIONS from the following list:

NOTE: Every action you take in this game MUST be declared. You may not take your actions in secret. You may NOT play Actions simultaneously.

• a. Bank ONE Affection Card: Place ONE Affection card into your House or Territory. Affection remains in your House until it is spent.
• b. Score ONE Mischief Card: Play ONE Mischief card into your House. When you score a Mischief card, you must pay the COST at the bottom of the card by moving Affection cards from your House into the Litter Box. Move your Cat Token the appropriate number of spaces on the Score Card, then place the Mischief Card in the Litter Box before taking your next action.
• c. Play an Incident Card: Follow the directions on the Card. Place the card into the Litter Box when resolved.
• d. Picky Eater: Discard your entire hand into the Litter Box and take an equal number of cards from the top of the Food Bowl.

EXAMPLE: If you have FIVE cards in your hand, you must place ALL five cards into the Litter Box. You will then draw FIVE new cards from the Food Bowl.

• f. Buy ONE Pounce Token: If you are playing the Standard Game, you may buy Pounce Tokens. The cost for this is to discard any TWO cards from your Hand into the Litter Box. You may have more than ONE Pounce Token in your possession.

NOTE: The printed manual labels this action "f." (there is no "e."); it is transcribed as printed.

NOTE: You MAY choose to take the same action TWICE.

3. Grooming Time: When you are done with your two actions, discard down or draw up to the hand limit of FIVE. Declare this action to the neighborhood.

NOTE: If the Food Bowl is empty, simply reshuffle all of the cards in the Litter Box to make a new Food Bowl. You must wait until the moment a new card needs to be drawn before reshuffling.

4. Nap Time: Wake the next Cat in the neighborhood with a hearty "Meow!" before taking a well deserved nap. Pass the Cat Toy to the next player.

NOTE: If you want a simple game for younger players, you may keep playing exclusively with the BASIC GAME. If you choose to play this way, ignore all card text that refers to Feral Cats or Pounce Tokens. Remove the following cards from the deck: Enemy of My Enemy (36), Scavenger (76), Animal Control (83), Escape (4), and Adoption Day (5, 84). Skip to "Winning the Game" on page 11.

Play continues in this manner until all Cats have had one turn. If everybody feels comfortable with the rules, it's time to learn about Pounce Tokens and Feral Cats!

The Standard Game

The Pounce

You may spend your Token to Pounce on the Cat Toy by saying "Pounce!" There are two ways you can Pounce:

1. ATTACK with a Mischief Card: You may attack the Cat holding the Cat Toy with a Mischief card. The target Cat must pay your card's Cost using the Affection banked in their House. If they are unable to pay for the card, the target cat loses ALL of their Affection and becomes Feral. (See pg 10) The attacker does not score any Mischief Points.

IF the target successfully pays the cost of the Mischief Card, they score HALF of the points on the Mischief card rounded DOWN. (For example: 5 becomes 2, 3 becomes 1, and 1 becomes 0.)

2. PLAY ONE Incident Card: You may play any Event or Frenzy Card. Follow the instructions on the bottom of the card.

Fig 7 - When to Pounce: a Pounce Opportunity may occur between phases, after Meal Time and before Nap Time (MEAL TIME, FIRST ACTION, SECOND ACTION, GROOMING TIME, NAP TIME).

NOTE: All Pounces are played between phases AFTER Meal Time and BEFORE Nap Time. (See Fig. 7 above)

The Counter

If you are the target of a Pounce, you may spend your Token to Counter. You have two options to Counter:

1. BANK Affection Cards: You may bank any amount of Affection Cards from your hand to meet the cost of a Mischief card played against you.

2. PLAY ONE Incident Card: You may play an Event or Frenzy Card from your hand. Follow the instructions on the bottom of the card.

NOTE: You are never REQUIRED to Counter. You may choose to save your Pounce Token and accept the consequences of a Pounce.

There are a few rules that govern the use of Pounce Tokens:

GENERAL

1. You may have more than one Pounce Token at a time.
2. During your turn, you may purchase a Pounce Token as an Action. The cost is any TWO cards from your hand.
3. You may NOT replenish your hand if you spend cards to Pounce or Counter. You only draw new cards during Meal Time, Grooming Time, or if a card tells you to do so.

NOTE: It IS possible to have ZERO cards in your hand during your turn. If this ever happens and you must take an action, the only Action you can take is "Picky Eater" for ZERO cards.

POUNCING

1. You may only Pounce on the cat who is holding the Cat Toy unless you are FERAL. (see "See pg 10")
2. Pounces always happen AFTER a card has been resolved. You cannot cancel a card that has already been placed on the table unless an Event Card allows it.
3. If more than one Cat Pounces on the same target at the same time, cards are resolved in reverse order. (The last Pounce to be played is resolved first, then down the stack as necessary.) The instigating Cats may rearrange their cards to cause the most damage.

COUNTERS

1. Cats cannot win a game with a Counter. If you would have scored enough points to win, you score ZERO Mischief Points from the successful Counter.

Special Conditions

Instant Actions

Instant Actions are BLACK and WHITE icons along the left spine of some cards. They represent opportunities to sneak in an extra card or two during the course of the game.

Fig 9 - Instant Actions. If ANY Player uses this Card Type: Affection, Mischief, Event, Frenzy, Dog. You may INSTANTLY do this: Bank or Score in your House; Play; At No Cost.

FOR EXAMPLE: When an EVENT card is played, you may BANK or SCORE this card for NO AFFECTION COST.

NOTE: Instant Actions can trigger each other! Use this to your advantage for big plays during your turn.

The Feral Turn

If you are ever in a situation where you cannot pay for a Mischief card played in your House, you will be forced to wander the streets as a Feral Cat! Discard ALL of your banked Affection and continue the game with these modifications:

1. HOMELESS: Since you do not have a Hoomin to interact with, the following conditions apply:

   • Limited Food: Keep only ONE of your three cards during Meal Time. Place the remaining cards into the Litter Box.
   • Pounce Tokens: Pounce Tokens cost THREE cards.
   • Blameless: You cannot be Attacked with Mischief cards. You are not able to Score Mischief points.
   • Troublemaker: You may Attack any Domestic cat as an Action. You do not need a Pounce Token for this.

2. RECOVERY: If you bank FOUR Affection points in your Territory, you MUST move back into your House at the beginning of your NEXT turn. Continue your current turn as a Feral cat.

NOTE: When you move back into your House, you KEEP your banked Affection.

Fig 8 - The Cat Card: the Domestic side and the Feral side of the Cat Card.

Winning the Game

When a Cat is about to score their NINTH point, they must announce their intention to the neighborhood. There will be one final chance for any Cats with Pounce Tokens to perform a Pounce AFTER the winning card is played. If no one can deny the victory, the game ends.

The winning point MUST be scored while holding the Cat Toy.

NOTE: As usual, more than ONE Cat may Pounce at the same time. The winner-to-be must use a Pounce Token to Counter as normal.

FERAL VICTORY: In the STANDARD GAME a Feral Cat may claim victory if they manage to Bank NINE Affection points while holding the Cat Toy. If a Feral Cat is about to claim victory, they must also give every player with a Pounce token the opportunity to deny the victory.

Clarifications

Two Player Adjustments

Though we have done our very best to balance the deck for every player configuration, there are a few game optimizations you can make to streamline the two player experience.

Card Removal: There are a few cards that only serve as throw away cards in a two player game. You can eliminate them from the game without ruining the experience.

• TREE DWELLER (65): Flips the Turn Indicator.
• BUSH DWELLER (20): Flips the Turn Indicator.
• ENEMY OF MY ENEMY (36): Forces another player to Attack.

Glossary

• Action: Any of the FIVE legal maneuvers during "Play Time."
• Affection Points: Currency accumulated by Banking affection cards. Spent in order to Score Mischief Points.
• Attack: Playing a Mischief card against another cat.
• Bank: The act of placing an Affection card from your hand into your House or Territory.
• Defend: The act of banking Affection cards from your hand to nullify an Attack. Requires a Pounce token.
• Instant Action: Any action that is triggered by another card being played. Usually represented by Black and White icons on the left margin of a card.
• Mischief Points: Victory Points earned by Scoring mischief cards. 9 wins the game.
• Score: The act of playing a Mischief card to score points.
• Special Action: Any Pounce or Counter maneuver.