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Quick Look: Here, Kitty, Kitty!
Designer: Kris McCardel Ware
Artist: Tony Steele
Publisher: Fireside Games
Year Published: 2016
No. of Players: 3-6
Ages: 10+
Playing Time: 30 minutes.
Foreword:
I was generously sent a copy of this game a little while ago and due to some unforeseen events, I wasn’t able to get it to the table as fast as I normally do for my fellow designers and publishers. I just wanted to take a second to say that I was sorry about that but I got there in the end! Let’s jump into it and see what this game had to offer. 🙂
From the Publisher:
In the crazy cat-collecting game Here, Kitty, Kitty!, your neighborhood has a cat problem, the problem being that the cats don’t all belong to YOU! Unfortunately, you can’t just grab them for yourself as everyone in the neighborhood wants to claim those adorable kitties. Outwit your fellow feline fiends as you lure cats onto your property, move cats into your house, and steal cats from your neighbors. All’s fair in love and cat-collecting!
Disclaimer: The publisher provided the copy of Here, Kitty, Kitty! The opinions expressed in the review are completely my own.
Review:
Initial Impression/Components:
The art and design of this game is strongly focused on young families – at least in my humble opinion. All components are of an industry standard quality except the tiny cat minis which were amazing and a very attractive feature of the game. It’s rare that I’d say a game is centered around a component, but those cat minis truly make this game the success that it is.
Favorite:
I was happy to see how this game set itself up as a gateway game for new players and for people like me with a young family, it serves as a fun, teaching example of how some more complex mechanics work. As an example of good design techniques, they have a deck of action cards that feature 3 different types of cards (instant, defensive, and standard) and each has a unique border and look so that you know how it is used at a glance. An instant card, as the name implies, happens as soon as it is drawn. They all have a red border, and it even specifies in the rules that you draw cards at the end of your turn one at a time and if an instant comes up, it resolves and you continue to draw up to your full hand size. This simple clarification helps describe how to handle the situation but also displays the confusion of whether you keep drawing or that counted as a card in your hand which would undoubtably be an argument otherwise.
Least Favorite:
Each game, I had a few turns that felt pretty flat. If you don’t have any decent cards to use, then you need to take an action just to discard some and have the ability to draw more at the end of your turn. You only get two actions on your turn so that’s pretty punishing to try and get more cards. I would have liked to see one of these three changes to fix this:
1) you can discard cards for free at the end of your turn,
2) you can draw at the start of your turn if you have less than your hand limit, or
3) you can immediately draw up after using an action to discard
Mechanics:
– Action Points
– Hand Management
– Set Collection
– Events
– Take That
Rules:
The rules of the game are pretty simple. Players take turns taking two actions in any order or quantity:
1) discard 1-3 cards
2) move a cat
3) play a card.
Below is a link to the full rulebook which is available on Fireside’s website.
Areas they did well:
– Awesome Cat Minis
– Clever cards that are fun for kids and adults
– Interesting use of zones
– Game length and using the deck to trigger game end
– Multiple card types (standard, defensive, instant)
– Nice insert
– Small and portable
– Use of player cards as a yard/property
– Letting players affected by a “take that” style action to make their preference of outcome when applicable.
– Quick reference cards
Areas they could have improved:
– Hand Sculpting made a little easier
– Perhaps a bonus to using the discard action
– Perhaps allowing a cat straight from the neighborhood to your house if you use 2 actions (can move 1 cat up to 3 spaces or 2 cats 1 space)
Interesting moment:
I played a game with my daughter and she had a really neat combo that gave her a runaway lead. She had two grey cats in her yard and played a card that let her take 3 cats from the neighborhood to her yard. She took all grey cats and then had a total of 5 grey cats in her yard. Next, she played a card that let her take all cats of one color from her yard and put them directly into her house and earned a total of 25 points in one turn! For reference, without using a card, 3-4pts is the max you can achieve and getting 10pts in a turn using cards is great. 25 points was a shocking, but brilliant, usage. As a side note, she’s 7 years old. Even though the recommended game age is 10+, I can play this easily with my 5- and 7-year-old (except I have to help my 5-year-old with reading the cards).
Overall:
This is a quick and snappy game that is sure to be a hit with families. The short and clear rules help you set up fast and finish without conflict. That in itself goes a long way to make Here, Kitty, Kitty! enjoyable.
Final Thoughts:
I do think this game is intended for young families or pre-teens/teens. I’d say the ideal age is 7-12 and I’m guessing the 10+ age rating may have something to do with industry regulations on having small plastic parts that would be considered a choking hazard in younger age groups. With my two little ones, that should grant me about 5 years of enjoyment out of this game. My girls loved it, and I’d expect it to be an easy hit with other small gamers.
I’ll see you next time, back here at The Game Table,
Brad Hiscock, aka Zerility
Here’s a link to their website:
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Brad Hiscock, aka “Zerility”, is a construction project manager and electrician by trade who was the owner of a 6-time award winning electrical company. His passion for board games has led him from playing hundreds of original titles to creating a design and publishing company of his own, Convivial Games. As an up and coming collaborator on many projects, he is always eager to try new games and meet new people.
Find him reviewing on the socials too!
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All of Brad Hiscock, aka “Zerility”‘s reviews can be found HERE.
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