Everyone loves cats, including board gamers and board game designers. Naturally, therefore, there are a plethora of cat-themed board games available. They are as quirky as the feline companions we all love. Many of them are simple (and thus, often overlooked by the heavier board gaming crowd), while others have surprising depth for such a light subject. More are coming all the time as well. As of this writing, I am still awaiting Kickstarter fulfillment on Kittens in Space and Tiny Toe Beans. They represent a wide variety of games, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are 100% adorable. Interesting side note: there seem to be a lot more cat-themed board games than dog-themed board games. CATS WIN AGAIN. Anyway, let’s check out some of my favorites…
Top 10 Cat-Themed Board Games
10. Exploding Kittens
This first pick really sets the stage for the overall theme of the games on this list: ridiculous, random chaos. In other words, basically like living with a cat. With distinct and memorable art from Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal, it features a variety of absurd cats. The Cattermelon. The Beard Cat. The Hairy Potato Cat. And, of course, the Tacocat. Each game is a desperate attempt not to lose by drawing the Exploding Kitten. There are ways to defuse or delay the eponymous kittens’ appearance, but eventually one comes out and blows up the game. If you’re looking for high strategy, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for chaos that matches real life with a cat overlord, this just might be one to look into.
2-5 Players • Ages 7+ • 15 minutes • $20
9. May Contain Butts
This one is a bit of a cheat, since it has a wider variety of animals than just cats. However, I’m going with it, because it has a cat on the box cover, and it is a sight all us cat-servants have seen: the backend of our beloved overlords. The tagline for the game really sells it here: the fast-paced butt-matching card game. You take turns placing cards from your deck in piles around the board, and once you see a matching “front” and “backend”, everyone tries to smash their hands on those piles, the winner claiming the cards. There are various ways to lose cards on the “poop patch” in the middle of the board, and a couple of minor card abilities, but that’s really it. Is it a deep game? No. It is extremely silly and won’t win any awards for game design. Anyone can really play, though, and it’s a funny way to spend some time. Plus, it has cat butts. The box cover really sells it.
2-6 Players • Ages 6+ • 15minutes • $7
8. boop
There’s an argument to be made that Boop is barely a cat game. Sure, it has cat meeples, and the cats are booping each other around, as cats do, but at the end of the day, it is fairly abstract. The cat aspects are painted on top of the gameplay. In Boop, you take turns placing your kittens on the board (cleverly, the back of the box), attempting to line them up either diagonally or orthogonally in a set of 3 in your color. Doing so lets your kittens “graduate” to adult cats. The tricky thing is, kittens do love to boop one another. When a kitten is placed on the board, it moves all the kittens next to it away 1 space. Your opponent can wreck your plans with a timely boop. Which actually sounds a lot like real life cats come to think of it. The much bigger adult cat meeples can’t be booped in this way, and are also your win condition (lining up 3 adult cats or having 8 adult cats on the board gives you the win). This game is very component light, and despite its somewhat tenuous feline connection, it is a good one for every cat-servant.
2 Players • Ages 10+ • 20-30 minutes • $24
7. Kittens in a Blender
It is easy to look at a game with a title like “Kittens in a Blender” and be put off by the title. I was at first. After playing it, though, I realized it’s not about the kittens in the blender; it is about saving the kittens from the blender. Cats are naturally adventuresome, and living with 4 of them, you do see them get into things they shouldn’t. This is kinda like that, and that makes it a bit more palatable. Cats are in the blender, and you need to move them to the safety of the table and eventually the box. Your opponents are trying to do the same with their cats, though, so things don’t always work out as you expect. Like many games on this list, it is easy to pick up and learn, and is quite portable. It’s a favorite airplane game of mine, particularly with the deluxe version I have that comes in a tin (cat games have a tendency to have this sort of fancied-up version… people like cats).
2-4 Players • Ages 8+ • 30 minutes • $20
6. Hissy Fit
Truly, the most traumatic experience of any cat-servant is taking your feline overlord to the vet. This cooperative game realizes that epic struggle in board game form. Throughout the game, players need to coax their cat into the carrier so they can go to the dreaded vet. Various cat cards work against you by moving your progress backwards or causing you to get scratched, and there are human cards that allow you to solve the cat cards’ various cattitudes (angry, sneaky, and stubborn). You win when the cat is in the carrier. You lose when you’ve been scratched too many times, or the cat has had too many of the eponymous hissy fits. This is a surprisingly challenging game when played on Cat Mode, and you’ll probably rack up more losses than wins. It also has a Kitten Mode that’s a good learning experience and could be good for younger players. Though let’s be honest, more losses than wins is probably accurate to the real-life experience here.
1-4 Players • Ages 8+ • 20 minutes • $25
5. Pack the Essentials
Cats love enclosed spaces. As any cat-servant knows, this makes packing an extra challenge as your cat overlord annexes your suitcase. Pack the Essentials is that struggle, but in tile-laying board game form. Your goal at the end of the game is to have the highest score based upon certain criteria. Scoring includes variable “to-do list” items which make each game’s goals a little bit different (for example, extra points for underwear or socks). Throughout the game, you’re able to potentially flip your different tiles to their cat side. That can be a bit of a challenge, as you need to collect tokens to enable it, and not every tile will always fit when flipped, but it does look adorable. Oh, and that’s a bit of a way to score points too, so winning and all that might be relevant. More importantly, though, it has cats in suitcases, so hard to go wrong here.
1-4 Players • Ages 12+ • 20-30 minutes • $10
4. You Gotta Be Kitten Me
The concept (and components) of this one are pretty simple. Everyone has a hand of cards depicting various cats and (sigh) dogs wearing differently colored apparel—bow ties, hats, and glasses. You take turns guessing/one-upping each other on the total amount of that apparel that is in everyone’s hands, culminating with someone deciding the number is too ridiculous and declaring, “YOU GOTTA BE KITTEN ME!”. It is a very basic game, so it is easy for anyone to pick up. I’ve never not had a great time playing it, usually spending half the game laughing. The biggest win here is the art direction on the cards. The cats all look absolutely silly, which is, of course, the point. It is a game that, if you take it seriously at all, you’re doing it wrong.
2-10 Players • Ages 10+ • 30 minutes • $12
3. Here, Kitty, Kitty!
I’ve gotten the impression that this one is a lower-key release that many people haven’t heard of (as opposed to, for example, Exploding Kittens, which is in every Target everywhere). Everyone who lives somewhere warm knows that cats are prolific breeders when there’s no winter to slow them down. Of course, those of us who live in such areas can’t help but feed and take care of them as well. Hence, this game. Throughout the game, you (and your neighbor adversaries) are attempting to coax cats into your yard, porch, and house for progressively more points, as well as bonuses for the most of each color and such. What really sets this game apart from any other cat-themed game is the miniatures. Instead of meeples like most games in this little sub-genre (which are still great), it has 40 miniature cats that really sell the theme of a neighborhood overrun with our feline friends. It’s got a bit of backstabbing with some of the action cards, but it does have a degree of strategy to it that isn’t quite there in a lot of the other picks on this list, while still being an easy game for pretty much anyone to pick up and learn.
3-6 Players • Ages 10+ • 30 minutes
2. Calico
At the end of the list, things are a little bit more strategic than most cat-themed games. Calico is a puzzle tile-laying game (which gives it some similarities to Pack the Essentials). The thematic gist of the game is that you are sewing a quilt, and are looking to make it both the most aesthetically pleasing and the most likely to attract cats. The highest score wins, as determined by tiles with design goals, granting points based on how well they are completed, as well as cat tiles that have specific requirements to attract cats and contribute further to your score. The cat connection here is somewhat tenuous, and the quilt-making aspect is more front-and-center. However, it is a well-liked game by cat-servants for a reason. Unlike a lot of the really light, mostly party-ish games earlier in the list, which constitute most cat-themed games, there are strategic decisions here, and the puzzle aspect keeps you engaged through the whole game.
1-4 Players • Ages 10+ • 30-45 minutes • $39
1. The Isle of Cats
The top entry here, like Calico, is one of the weightier entries on the list when it comes to cat-themed board games, or at least relatively so. On the titular Isle of Cats, there are many cats that you need to rescue. However, your boat has a limited amount of space. Cats are on polyominoes of various shapes, and as you discover them (and treasure), you have to find the best way to fit them onto your boat to maximize your score by the end of the game. There must be something about cats and polyominoes, given that this isn’t the first game with the mechanic on this list. Seems to be a great match. Isle of Cats is a really good game, even if you aren’t a cat-lover (I’m not sure who that would be, though). It has a family mode and an advanced mode, so the depth of the game can be tailored to suit your group. There’s everything you want from a cat-themed game here: fast, fun gameplay; adorable cat art; and cat meeples!
1-4 Players • Ages 8+ • 60-90 minutes • $45
