An island full of cats sounds like the dream of many a cat lover. Unfortunately, not everyone is a big fan of cats. Take the evil Lord Vesh, for example. He hates cats, but loves treasures. There is just as much treasure on the Isle of Cats as there are cats. Lord Vesh sails towards the island and threatens to kill all the cats! It is up to the players to protect the feline inhabitants. Isle of Cats, do you as well?
Goal
In the game, players assume the role of residents of Squalls End. The residents learn of the threat from Lord Vesh’s fleet and go on a rescue mission to The Isle of Cats. Like the rescue mission from Dunkirk, they gather a number of boats and rush toward the cats.
Each player must rescue as many cats as possible before the evil Lord Vesh arrives on the island after the fifth round. Each cat is represented by a unique Tetris-like tile and belongs to a specific family (one color). During the five rounds, players try to puzzle together as many cats and treasures as possible on their boat while trying to keep families intact for the most points. Precious cargo: very useful and prone to scratching.
Setup and gameplay
Put all cats (except the Oshax) and rare treasures into the large cloth draw bag. So although cats go into the bag, The Isle of Cats is definitely not a cat in the bag.
Place the island in the center of the table and the common treasures, the Oshax, the fish and pawns within easy reach of all players. Shuffle the deck of cards and give each player a boat and a cat pawn in a unique color. The order is randomly determined and players’ pawns are placed on the island in that order.
Each round of the game proceeds in a fixed order. Each player receives 20 fish and a number of cats are placed next to both sides of the island depending on the number of players. Then each player sets out to explore by drawing 7 cards. Each player receives 7 cards, chooses 2 and passes on the rest until there is 1 card left to pass.
After choosing cards, players decide which cards they want to keep by paying the required amount of fish. There are several types of cards with different bonuses and effects. For example, there are classes that earn bonus points at the end of the game. There are also public classes that apply to everyone.
During the rescue phase, players can take turns rescuing cats. At the beginning of this phase, players can play their rescue cards to determine their speed (order of players) and the amount of baskets for that round to rescue cats. To rescue a cat, you need a basket and the right amount of fish.
After rescuing cats, players can play cards to get Oshax cats (a kind of joker) or to collect (rare) treasures. There are also cards that can be played at any time.
When a player takes a tile, it must be placed on the boat and, as a main rule, next to previously placed tiles. Players can earn treasures by covering treasure cards in the correct color cat. There are also rats on the boat that earn minus points if not covered. Empty rooms also earn minus points.
Players get points for their cat families (depending on size), rare treasures and lessons earned. The player with the most points wins.
Conclusion
The Isle of Cats is a fantastic and dynamic puzzle game that combines card drawing with puzzling with Tetris-like tiles that you may be familiar with from games such as Patchwork. This combination of game elements makes for an interesting dance of game play that will have you spinning with joy.
