Cathood is "the period of time you spend as a cat." And right now... you are one! Spend this time as you please, walking around the neighborhood, looking for food accompanied by... other cats?! Mark your territory by visiting parks, meeting other animals, and collecting toys to gain affection points. Become the most-loved cat of the town.

Goal of the Game

Combine your actions and optimize your placements in the neighborhood. Occupy key spaces and gain as many resources as possible. The cat with the most affection points at the end of the game wins.

Gameplay Overview

The player with the Starting Cat card, François, starts and play continues clockwise. The game ends after one player has placed all of their Statues and Houses. When this happens, finish the current round and then continue to final scoring.

Each turn has 2 phases:

Phase 1: Do Cat Things

Take 1 action for each disc next to your board. Take 1 of your discs and place it on the action you want to take. Immediately activate its effect. After taking the action, you may take another action by placing another disc on any available action. Since you can unlock a maximum of 3 discs, you may take up to 3 actions on your turn.

There are 8 different actions:

1) Linear Movement Move 1 or 2 spaces in a straight line. Your cat can never leave the neighborhood; it must use secret passages to move. ("Teleport" tip: If you leave the neighborhood on one side, you will re-enter on the opposite side.)

2) Diagonal Movement Move 1, 2, or 3 spaces in a diagonal line. ("Rebound" tip: You can rebound 90' against the border of the neighborhood.)

3) Rotate a Tile Rotate any tile in the neighborhood by 90' to the left or right. If you rotate a tile adjacent to your cat, only your cat activates the effect

4) Swap Swap any 2 orthogonally-adjacent tiles in the neighborhood. There cannot be any cats between the tiles. If you swap a tile adjacent to your cat, only your cat activates the effect.

5) Pet Shop To take this action, you must be adjacent to a Pet Shop. You may gain 1 of the 3 visible Toy cards by paying the resources shown on the chosen card to the reserve. Slide the card below your board so you can see the new Toys. Each of the 3 types of Toys are worth different points at the end of the game. Finally, place the leftmost House on your board on the Pet Shop you just activated. No other cat may activate it again.

6) Building To take this action, you must be adjacent to a Building. You may gain 1 of the 3 visible Building cards by paying the resources shown on the chosen card to the reserve. Slide the card below your board so you can see the affection points.

7) Park To take this action, you must be adjacent to 1 of the 2 entrances on a tile with a Park.

You must pay 2 identical resources to the reserve depending on the color of the tree: Jacaranda: 2 purple resources. Maple: 2 orange resources. Birch: 2 green resources

8) Repeat Repeat an action you have already taken. This is the only way to take the same action twice on the same turn. This action is locked by a disc. After placing your 4th House, you will unlock the Repeat action and an additional disc for the rest of the game.

• When you move over or stop on certain spaces, you will activate different effects. Shops provide resources that you'll need to gain Toys, Buildings, or Parks. Each time you move over or stop on a space adjacent to a Shop, immediately gain a resource cube of the corresponding color. Place resources on the resource zone of your board. They are worth affection points at the end of the game. Note: You can only have 12 resources maximum. If you gain more than this amount, return the excess to the reserve.

• Special Locations - Coffee, Dog, and Bee: Activate these effects automatically when your cat stops on an adjacent space. Always activate the Coffee, Dog, and Bee effects before Shop effects. If there are multiple adjacent effects, you choose the order to activate them.
  • Coffee: Exchange 1 resource with a different resource, up to 2 times. Pay 1 resource on your board to the reserve and exchange it with any other resource. You can make this exchange 0, 1, or 2 times.
  • Dog: Mandatory The dog barks at you! Move your cat to an adjacent space. Gain resources or activate effects from the new space, unless it is adjacent to another dog. In this case, ignore the second dog.
  • Bee: Mandatory Choose 1 card from the visible Toy and Building cards. Take it, then place it face down in your play area; it is now reserved. Place the other cards on the bottom of the deck. Then refill the row with new cards. Instead of one of the available face-up cards, you may gain your reserved card by taking the corresponding action (Pet Shop or Building). If you do not gain the reserved card by the end of the game, it is worth negative affection points. You can only have 1 reserved card at a time.

• Fighting Other Felines Cats are fiercely territorial animals. If you end your movement on a space already occupied by another cat, you are invading its territory. This triggers a fight over resources. Fights are resolved by a round of rock-paper-scissors. The winning cat steals a resource from the losing cat. Choose any resource on the losing cat's board and add it to your own. In case of tie, nothing happens and the cats can cohabitate on the same space.

• Note: If you end your movement on a space with multiple cats, you must trigger a fight over resources with each cat present.

Phase 2: Sleep Cats can spend around two-thirds of their day sleeping; it's an essential activity in their routine. After taking your actions, take all the Action discs used during your turn and place them next to your board. They will be available on your next turn. Refill the Toy and Building card rows. Now the cat to your left can take their turn.

The end of the game is triggered when one cat has placed all of their Houses and Statues in the neighborhood. Finish the current round so all cats have played the same number of turns. Once the game is over, continue to final scoring. Add up all your affection points. The cat with the most affection points wins the game.