Cat & Mouse Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Rules of Play

Rules of Play

Game Equipment: Sixteen playing pieces; sixteen stickers (eight cats and eight mice).

Number of Players: Two

Set-up: Adhere stickers to playing pieces.

Object: To be the first player to have five of his own playing pieces showing.

Before Play Begins: One player chooses to be cat; the other mouse. Players sit across from each other, using an available surface (table, desk, etc.) as the playing area. Players position all eight of their pieces at their end of the playing area.

Play: Mouse moves first by placing one of his pieces toward the center of the playing area. Pieces are put into play one at a time, alternating between players. Players may start a stack with each piece or place their piece on top of another stack. Stacks may never be more than three pieces high. Any number of stacks may be formed during a game.

Moving a Piece Already in Play: At any time during a game, players may choose to move a piece already in play, rather than putting a new piece into play. Players moving a piece already in play may move their own piece or their opponent’s piece. A piece already in play may only be moved from the top of a stack.

Note: Players may never move the piece just moved by their opponent. Once a player has moved a piece or exposed another piece in the stack, the player is committed to completing the move. Each game continues until there is a winner; unlike Tic-Tac-Toe, there is no such thing as a ‘cat’s game’ in Cat & Mouse!

Winning the Game: The winner is the first player to have five of his own pieces showing.

Scoring: Rather than playing a single game, players may choose to adopt the following scoring system, with the winner being the first player to reach 100 points:

The winner of each single game receives 25 points and an additional five points for each piece (both his and his opponent’s) not yet put into play at the time a game is won.