Once upon a time, 3 big cats became exhausted fighting to be top cat. They agreed to quit the fight and spice up their 9 lives with a hot spice eating contest! Alas, everyone was soon cheating, so the cats invented a very hot, often tearful, bluffing game.
Components
- 100 Spicy cards (black)
- 3 Trophy cards (white)
- 1 World's End card (teal)
- 6 SPICE IT UP! cards (red)
- instructions
Setup
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Shuffle all spicy cards (black) and deal 6 cards to each player as their hand.
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The ing spicy cards create the draw deck.
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Hold the World's End card (teal) upright next to the draw deck. Then, slide it into the deck at the approximate height determined by the number of players as indicated on the card.
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Place the 3 trophy cards (white) next to the draw deck.
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For a standard game, set aside the SPICE IT UP! cards (red). They will not be used in this game.
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The youngest player takes the first turn.
Game Play
Play proceeds clockwise until a card is challenged.
You can either play a spicy card or pass. Players play their cards on top of the spicy stack and start a new spicy stack after each challenge.
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Do not look at any facedown cards! (Penalty: Draw 1 card to your hand).
Play a Card
Play 1 card from your hand facedown on the spicy stack and declare its number and spice trait.
Note: Your declaration may be true, but it doesn't have to be.
First card of each spicy stack: Declare a 1, 2, or 3 in a spice of your choice. Example: "2 chili".
Cards played on top: Declaration needs to be a higher number following the suit (spice).
After 10 is declared, a 1, 2 or 3 in the same suit must be declared next.
Note: If you make an invalid declaration (e.g., wrong spice), you must take back your card and pass.
Pass
Instead of playing a card, a player may say "pass" and draw 1 card from the draw deck. Then, the next player takes their turn.
Challenge a Card
The topmost card of the spicy stack can always be challenged. If someone passed, the player of the topmost card can still be challenged.
Any player can challenge by laying their paw on the spicy stack and specifically calling either a wrong number or wrong spice.
Example: "9 chili". "Not chili!!"
Note: If you reveal the card without declaring number or spice, you immediately lose the challenge.
Wilds
Wilds show either all numbers or all spices, but they are always wrong if challenged for their missing trait.
Resolving a Challenge:
Reveal the top card of the spicy stack. Only the challenged trait (number or spice) matters. If the named trait is indeed wrong, the challenger wins. Otherwise, the challenged player wins.
Example: After the challenge "Not chili!", a chili 5 is revealed. The player of the card wins the challenge.
As challenge winner: Collect the whole spicy stack and put it facedown in front of you as points, without looking at the cards.
As challenge loser: Draw 2 cards into your hand. Then, start a new spicy stack.
Trophies
After playing the last card from your hand, you must announce it aloud.
Note: If you forgot to declare your last card, you must take the card back into your hand and pass (draw 1 card).
The next card can only be played after all players decide not to challenge.
Collect a Trophy:
- If your last card is not challenged.
- If your last card is challenged and you win the challenge (the loser of the challenge draws 2 cards into their hand as usual).
Note: If you lose the challenge the game continues as normal.
Put the trophy card next to your won spicy cards to score as points at the end of the game.
Trophy Effects:
Trophies can end the game:
- If a player collected their 2nd trophy.
- If all 3 trophies have been collected.
Otherwise, the game continues, and the player who collected a trophy draws 6 cards into their hand.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately in 3 cases:
- A player takes their 2nd trophy card.
- A player takes the last trophy card.
- The World's End card is revealed on top of the draw deck.
Note: If the World's End card is revealed, immediately stop drawing cards. Do not draw the World's End card!
Scoring
If a player has two trophies, they immediately win. Otherwise, all players score their won spicy cards (1 card = 1 point) and trophies (10 points each). Subtract one point for each card still in hand.
Example: 1 trophy + 24 won cards - 4 cards in the hand: 10 + 24 - 4 points = 30 points.
The player with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, all tied players win.
Spice It Up! Variant
In addition to the normal setup, place a random SPICE IT UP! card faceup next to the draw deck. The SPICE IT UP! card changes the basic rules for the entire game. Advanced players may add 2 cards.
Spice It Up! Cards
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We Love Chili! (1-3 Chili)
If you can legally declare 1, 2, or 3, in any spice, you may declare chili instead of the required spice. This changes the suit of the spicy stack to chili.
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Start It Up! (1-3)
After an 8, 9, or 10, you can also declare a 1, 2, or 3. The spice may not be changed.
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Spice Raider(4)
If you declare a 4, put your paw on the spicy stack. As soon as the next card is played, you win all cards under your paw.
The game then continues with only the newly played card in the spicy stack.
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Change your Luck (5)
When you declare a 5, immediately add up to 2 extra cards from your hand under your 5 card on the spicy stack,
then draw that many cards from the draw deck into your hand. These extra cards are not affected by a challenge.
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Turn It Up! (6, 9)
You can declare a 6 as 9 and a 9 as 6. In other words: If a 9 is challenged, a revealed 6 or 9 will win the challenge.
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Copy Cat (1-10)
After another player has played a card, you can copy their turn by declaring the exact same card yourself.
The game continues with the player to the left of the copy cat. Another player can copy a copy cat. (You cannot copy your own turn).
Special Challenge After a Copy Cat
In this case only, the challenger simply says "Wrong!" and reveals the challenged card. For a copy cat to win the challenge, both traits (number and spice) must be correct.
The challenge does not affect any previous copy cats, or the original copied card.
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