Mouse families such as these do not have a very easy life so it's not surprising that they wish they could live in a cheesy paradise.
For this reason, the four mouse families decide to go on an expedition to find this fantasy land. Roast duck that melts in the mouth and sausages that grow on trees are hardly likely to attract mice.
Their idea of paradise is a world made of delicious pieces of cheese. There are lots of places on the way there where they can help themselves and the nearer they get to their destination, the more cheese there is.
There's really only one problem for the mice on this expedition and it's a big one! A very hungry cat has heard about their journey and is following them.
The mouse families can consider themselves very lucky if most of their members manage to get to, or anywhere near paradise. The winner of the game is the player whose mouse family have collected the most cheese.
Components
- 1 Game board
- 1 cat
- 20 Mice in four colors
- 20 pieces of cheese
- 1 dice
- Instructions
Setup
The game board and the dice are placed in the middle of the table.
The mice are shared out between the players: two players each receive 5 mice in their chosen color, three or four
players receive only 4 mice, again each player with a different color. The mice are placed on start in the middle of the board.
The pieces of cheese are placed according to size in the mouse houses (see which size is illustrated there).
In each house there will be four pieces of cheese: In the first house, the smallest pieces; in the second house, the cheese with two slices; in the third house, the cheese with 3 slices and in the fourth house, the biggest pieces. The final destination contains whole cheeses with 6 slices.
The cat is placed on the cat symbol with the number of the players playing. (e.g. if there are two players, the cat symbol with "2". If there are three players, the cat symbol with "3" etc).
Before you start, please look at the route the cat will take. There is a cat symbol on some of the spaces on the course and this is where the cat can move. To begin with, when the dice show a cat and a number, the cat moves forward one space at a time.
In this way, the cat jumps from space to space to catch up with the mice. The cat moves in a spiral around the board. The cat can, in the course of the game, land on space more than once and for this reason, you will find two cats on one space.
As the game progresses, the cat also moves faster, jumping two spaces. The starting position for this is marked with an arrow on the board.
Game Play
The player who likes cheese the most throws the dice first. If the dice shows a number, the player should move any one of his mice forward on the board in a clockwise direction.
He may not share the points on the dice between the mice.
There is only room for a maximum of 4mice on each field of the board. If a mouse lands on a space where there are already 4 mice, the player must forfeit the surplus points so that the mouse stays on a space where there is room.
If the dice shows a cat and number 1, the player can first move a mouse one space forward, then the cat should be moved one place on his route in a clockwise direction.
The next player can throw the dice after the mouse and the cat have been moved.
The cat passes start although there are still mice there...
Any mice still at the start when the cat comes past are automatically out. They will have no further opportunity to try to go on the expedition to the cheesy paradise.
A mouse could overtake the cat.
At the beginning of the game, there is a chance that a mouse could come up behind and overtake the cat. This is not to be recommended though. It is better to move another mouse forward so that it is still behind the cat.
The mice run away.
It is, of course, quite possible for the mice to run away to safety. They can escape to their friends and relations in the mouse houses where they will find delicious pieces of cheese as a consolation.
They can only enter the houses when they come to one of the two entrances (marked by an arrow) on their turn. The step into a house also counts as a point on the dice and the mice may only move forwards in a clockwise direction.
They may not go back to a house. Again, they can forfeit points in order to stay in safety but once in the house, they cannot come out again.
There is plenty of room for lots of different colored mice in the houses but only a limited amount of cheese. When a mouse enters a house, the player may take a piece of cheese as long as there is some left otherwise he will go empty-handed.
The further a mouse travels around the board, the bigger the pieces of cheese and when they succeed in arriving in paradise their perseverance is rewarded with a whole cheese with 6 slices.
The cat catches up with the mouse...
When the cat lands on a space where mice are, the mice on this space are all removed from the game.
The same applies to any mice that the cat overtakes.
Unfortunately, all mice removed in this way have no further chance to complete the expedition to paradise nor to find safety in a mouse house and they finish the game empty-handed.
A player has no more mice left...
When a player has lost all his mice, either to the cat or into the mouse houses, he can still continue in the game. The numbers on the dice don't count anymore but the cat symbol does and the cat can continue its journey.
End of the Game
The game ends when all the mice on the board have arrived in paradise or are in safety in the houses. Now you can see who was most successful on the expedition to the cheesy paradise.
Every player should count up how many slices he has. The whole cheeses in paradise have 6 slices and the cheeses from the houses have 1,2,3 or four. The player with the most cheese is the winner.
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