Designer: Frank West (The City of Kings, Vadoran Gardens)

Artists: Dragolisco, Frank West (Vadoran Gardens)

Publisher: The City of Games (The City of Kings, Vadoran Gardens)

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, pattern building, set collection, tile placement

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, The Isle of Cats is already fully-funded.  In fact, pledges currently total over 24x the initial funding goal, with 3 days left to go on the campaign!

Player Count: 1-6

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About:  Explore the island, find treasures, befriend Oshax, study ancient lessons, and most importably, rescue cats… by fitting as many as you can Patchwork-style into your boat, before the evil Lord Vesh arrives on the scene.

How It Works: Players are citizens of Squall’s End on a mission to rescue as many cats as possible before the approaching armies of evil tyrant Vesh Darkhand arrive on the island. The game is played over 5 days; players will gather fish, explore the island, learn lessons, rescues cats, find rare treasures, and try to fit it all into their boats. Every morning, the fields are filled with a number of cats dependent on player count, and then play proceeds over 5 Phases: Fishing, Exploring, Reading Lessons, Rescuing Cats, and Rare Finds. During Fishing, each player takes 20 Fish from the supply. During Exploring, players engage in a draft that nets them 7 new Discovery Cards; players then pay the fish cost of any or all cards the wish to keep. During Reading Lessons, players play Public Lesson Cards, giving benefits and rewards to all player, as well as playing their Lesson Cards face-down. During Rescue Cats, players reveal their Lesson Cards and take turns rescuing cats, paying the required number of Fish and Baskets for each, and placing the Cats in their boats. During Rare Finds, players similarly collecting Oshax Cards or Treasures until everyone passes, and placing the Oshax Cats and Treasures in their boats. At the end of this last phase, any cats that weren’t rescued are returned to the box. After five Days (rounds), the game ends and player receive: a number of points for the number of cats in each colored group, 3 points for every Rare Treasure, points for completed Lesson Cards, points for completed Public Lessons, -1 points for each visible Rat, and -5 points for each room with unfilled squares. In case of a tie-breaker, the player with the most remaining Fish wins.

Comparisons:  A few other similar popular & well-rated tile-laying games include Barenpark, Cottage Garden, A Feast For Odin, Indian Summer, Patchwork, and Spring Meadow.

What Should I Pledge?:
$63 The Isle of Cats: the game, the Kickstarter pack, and all stretch goals.
$88 The Isle of Cats 5 & 6 Player Expansion: everything in The Isle of Cats pledge level, plus the 5 & 6 Player Expansion.

Add-Ons:
None.

KS Exclusives:
The Kickstarter Pack, which includes 6 Large Cat Meeples with silk-screen printing, 62 Wooden Fish with silk-screen printing, 17 additional tiles, 12 additional cards, and 3 Lesson Modules.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S. you’re looking at $88 for the The Isle of Cats 5 & 6 Player Expansion, which includes free shipping.

The Isle of Cats completes its Kickstarter on Thursday, July 25th and tentatively ships in March 2020.