Create the biggest pile of cats you can, then do it again! Soon there'll be stacks of cats everywhere.


Components

  • 83 cards
  • 1 rule book

Setup

Shuffle all the cards, then deal 5 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards together in the center of the table. This will become your deck.

Flip over the first 3 cards of the deck and lay them face up in the middle of the table. This will be your Pet Store.



The player who owns the laziest cat goes first. If no one owns a cat, the player with the dumbest dog goes first. If no one owns either, reconsider your life choices (and let the youngest player go first).


Game Play

The Words

  • Stack: A pile of Cat cards.
  • Active Stack: The area where players play Cat cards. Each player may have only 1 Active Stack at a time.
  • Inactive Stack: Any Stack that has been moved to a player's Cat Tree.
  • Cat Tree: The area in which you keep your Inactive Stacks.
  • Pet Store: The face-up cards from which players can draw.
  • Deck: The face-down cards from which players can draw.
  • Litter Box: The area where cards go when they are discarded.

The Turn

Players take turns by going clockwise around the table.

Each turn is made up of 2 phases:

  1. Draw Phase

    If you have less than 5 cards in your hand, draw cards up to that number.

    You can draw from either the face-down cards in the deck or the face-up cards in the Pet Store. If you draw a card from the Pet Store, immediately replace it by revealing a new card from the top of the deck.



  2. Action Phase

    You can choose to do 1 of 3 things during your Action phase:

    • Play a Point Cat card on your Active Stack
    • Play a Stray Cat card on another player's Active Stack
    • Shuffle your hand into the Deck and draw 5 new cards


The Cards



A. Cat Cards

These are cards that can only be played during your turn.

Cat cards are used to create new Stacks or add to existing Stacks. There are two types of Cat cards:

Point Cat Cards

These cards add points to your Stack. Each Point Cat card is assigned a value between 1 and 5.

Some of them also have a special power that you can use to help you get ahead in the game!


Stray Cat Cards

These cards have a point value of 0. During your Action phase, you may choose to try to play a Stray Cat card on any player's Active Stack.

If no one stops you by playing a Scram card, immediately take another turn.



B. Reaction Cards

These are cards that are never added to a Stack and are discarded immediately after use. There are two types of Reaction cards:

Steal Cards

These cards may be played when another player tries to add a Point Cat card to an Active Stack.

Stolen cards are immediately added to the top of your Active Stack or cause you to start a new Active Stack. If you steal a card that is able to start a new

Stack, immediately move your current Active Stack to the Cat Tree and start a new Stack with the stolen card.

If you try to steal a card that cannot start a new Stack, the card must be able to be added to your Active Stack. If you cannot add the card to your Active Stack, return the card to the player who played it and discard your Steal card.

A stolen card is awarded to the player who played their Steal card the fastest. If 2 or more players play a Steal card at the same time, the player whose Cat card is being stolen chooses who gets to take it.

Scram Cards

These cards may be played when another player tries to play a Stray Cat card on top of an Active Stack.

A Scram card sends the Stray Cat card to the Litter Box. If a Scram card is played, the player who played the Stray Cat card does not get to take another turn.

If a full round passes in which each player takes a turn and no player plays a Cat card, the game ends immediately.

Once the game has ended, move your Active Stack to your Cat Tree. To tally your points, add together the value of all Point Cat cards in your Cat Tree, then subtract the value of all Point Cat cards in your hand. The player with the most points wins!


The Stack

Starting a Stack

Each Stack starts with a 1 Point Cat card.

If you don't already have an Active Stack (or if you want to start a new Active Stack and move your current Active Stack to your Cat Tree), you may start one by playing a 1 Point Cat card.


Adding to a Stack

During your Action phase, you may play a Cat card by adding it to the top of an Active Stack. If you play a Point Cat card, it must be worth 1 point more than the top card in your Active Stack.


Stacks & Card Effects

A card's effect is only active while it is the top card of an Active Stack.

If a Stray Cat card is added to your Stack, you may only play a 1 Point Cat card on top of it.


Creating an Inactive Stack

At any time during your Action phase, you may choose to move your Active Stack to the Cat Tree.

Once a Stack has been moved to the Cat Tree, that Stack becomes an Inactive Stack and you may not add any further Cat cards to it.



End of the Game

Once the last card is drawn, the final round of the game begins. During the final round, each player has one last opportunity to play a Cat card, starting with the player who drew the last card.

Once each player has either played their final Cat card or declared their inability to play any further cards, the game is over.


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