Cathood

Players: 2-4
Duration: 45 min
Difficulty: Medium
Age: 10+

Overview

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 beloved cat in the neighborhood!

Designed by Fábio Lima and Jorge Tabanera Redondo, with illustrations by Danni Loe, Cathood combines movement mechanics, resource management, and territory control in a charming thematic experience.

Game Components

  • 4 Cat Boards: One for each player
  • 4 Wooden cats: Figures to move around the neighborhood
  • 12 Statues (3 per cat): To mark activated parks
  • 24 Houses (6 per cat): To mark activated shops and buildings
  • 12 Action Discs (3 per cat): To select actions
  • 60 Resource cubes:
    • 12 pink (Butcher)
    • 12 blue (Fishery)
    • 12 yellow (Bakery)
    • 8 purple (Veterinarian)
    • 8 orange (Florist)
    • 8 green (Produce Stand)
  • 16 Neighborhood Tiles: To build the board
  • 15 Building Cards: With different point values
  • 8 Park Cards: With trees of different colors
  • 15 Toy Cards: With 3 different types
  • 1 Starting Cat Card (François): To determine who starts
  • 1 Scorepad: To calculate final points

Objective

Be the cat with the most affection points at the end of the game, combining your actions to acquire building, park, and toy cards while managing the neighborhood’s resources.

How to Score Points

  • Building Cards — Points shown on the card
  • Park Cards — Points shown on the card
  • Toy Cards — Based on how many you have of each type
  • Resources — Based on how many cubes you have at the end

Setup

Building the Neighborhood

  1. Create the neighborhood based on the number of players:
    • 2 players: 3x3 square using tiles marked with “2”
    • 3 players: 3x4 rectangle using tiles marked with “3”
    • 4 players: 4x4 square using tiles marked with “4”
  2. Return unused tiles to the box

Player Setup

  1. Each player chooses a Cat Board and takes:
    • 1 wooden cat of their color
    • 6 Houses (5 with 4 players)
    • 3 Statues (2 with 3-4 players)
    • 3 Action Discs
  2. Place the pieces on your board:
    • Houses and Statues on their designated spaces
    • 1 disc on the “Park” action with the lock side up (locked)
    • 1 disc on the “Repeat” action with the lock side up (locked)
    • The remaining disc next to your board (available)

Card and Resource Setup

  1. Place the resource cubes on the table as the general reserve
  2. Prepare the Toy and Building cards:
    • Shuffle only the cards with the corresponding player count number
    • Make 2 separate decks
    • Reveal 3 cards from each deck
  3. Organize the Park cards in descending order (highest number on top)
    • With 2 or 3 players, remove cards marked with “4”

Initial Placement

  1. The player who most recently had a cat on their lap takes the François card
  2. The last player places their cat next to a blue, pink, or yellow shop
  3. Going counterclockwise, others choose their space (must be the same color as the last player chose)
  4. There cannot be 2 cats on the same space

How to Play

The player with François starts. Play continues clockwise. Each turn has 2 phases.

Phase 1: Do Cat Things

Take 1 action for each disc you have available next to your board. Place the disc on the action space you want to take and activate its effect. There are 8 different actions.

Movement Actions

Linear Movement: Move 1 or 2 spaces in a straight line.

  • “Teleport” tip: If you leave on one side of the neighborhood, you re-enter on the opposite side.

Diagonal Movement: Move 1, 2, or 3 spaces in a diagonal line.

  • “Rebound” tip: You can rebound 90° against the border of the neighborhood to change direction.

Tile Manipulation Actions

Rotate a Tile: Rotate any tile in the neighborhood 90° to the left or right. If you rotate a tile adjacent to your cat, only you activate the effect.

Swap: Swap 2 orthogonally adjacent tiles. There cannot be any cats between them. If you swap a tile adjacent to your cat, only you activate the effect.

Acquisition Actions

Pet Shop: You must be adjacent to a Pet Shop.

  • Choose 1 of the 3 visible Toy cards
  • Pay the resources shown on the card
  • Place the card under your board
  • Place the leftmost House from your board on the activated Pet Shop

Building: You must be adjacent to a Building.

  • Choose 1 of the 3 visible Building cards
  • Pay the resources shown on the card
  • Place the card under your board
  • Place the leftmost House from your board on the activated Building

Park (locked initially): You must be adjacent to 1 of the 2 entrances on a tile with a Park.

  • Pay 2 identical resources based on the tree color:
    • Jacaranda: 2 purple
    • Maple: 2 orange
    • Birch: 2 green
  • Take the top card from the Park deck
  • Place 1 Statue on the tree you activated

Repeat (locked initially): Repeat an action you have already taken this turn. This is the only way to take the same action twice in one turn.

Space Effects

Resource Shops

When you move over or stop on a space adjacent to a Shop, gain 1 cube of the corresponding color:

  • Fishery — 1 blue
  • Butcher — 1 pink
  • Bakery — 1 yellow
  • Florist — 1 orange
  • Veterinarian — 1 purple
  • Produce Stand — 1 green
  • Supermarket — 1 pink, yellow, or blue (you choose)
  • Mall — 1 purple, orange, or green (you choose)

Important: You can only have 12 resources maximum. Return excess to the reserve.

Special Effects

Coffee: Exchange 1 resource for a different one, up to 2 times. This is optional.

Dog (Mandatory): The dog barks at you! Move your cat to an adjacent space. Gain resources or activate effects from the new space. If the new space also has a dog, ignore it.

Bee (Mandatory): Choose 1 card from the visible Toys or Buildings. Place it face down in your area (reserved). Put the other cards under the deck and refill the row. If you don’t obtain the reserved card before the end, it will cost you negative points!

Fighting Other Felines

If you end your movement on a space occupied by another cat, you are invading their territory and a fight over resources is triggered.

  • Resolve it with rock-paper-scissors
  • The winner steals 1 resource from the loser (any)
  • In case of a tie, nothing happens and the cats cohabitate peacefully

Phase 2: Sleep

  1. Take all used Discs and place them next to your board
  2. Refill the Toy and Building card rows
  3. Now the cat to your left takes their turn

Unlocking Actions and Discs

  • You begin with 1 disc: You can take 1 action per turn. Park and Repeat are locked.
  • After placing your 1st House: You unlock the Park action and 1 additional disc. Now you can take 2 actions.
  • After placing your 4th House: You unlock the Repeat action and 1 additional disc. Now you can take 3 actions.

When you unlock a disc, place it next to your board with the lock side down. You may use it this same turn!

End of the Game

The game ends when one cat has placed all their Houses and Statues in the neighborhood. Finish the round so all players have the same number of turns.

Final Scoring

Buildings: Add up the affection points from all your Building cards.

Parks: Add up the affection points from all your Park cards.

Toys (for each type of toy):

  • 0 toys — -1 point
  • 1 toy — 1 point
  • 2 toys — 4 points
  • 3 toys — 8 points
  • 4 toys — 13 points
  • 5+ toys — 19 points

Resources (based on how many cubes you have on your board):

  • 0-3 resources — 0 points
  • 4-7 resources — 2 points
  • 8-11 resources — 4 points
  • 12 resources — 7 points

Reserved cards not obtained: Cost negative points!

Tiebreaker

If there is a tie, check in order:

  1. Most Houses placed
  2. Most Statues placed
  3. Most resources on their board

If there is still a tie, the cats share the victory!

Basic Strategies

  • Plan your routes: Maximize resources by moving through spaces adjacent to multiple shops
  • Diversify toys: Having 2-3 of each type gives many more points than focusing on just one type
  • Don’t ignore parks: Park cards give many points and quickly unlock the second disc

Advanced Strategies

  • Control key tiles: Rotating and swapping tiles can block other players or open new routes for you
  • Manage tempo: Speed up the ending if you’re winning, slow it down if you need more time
  • Use diagonal rebounds: Allows you to cover great distances in a single movement

Tips for Beginners

  1. Place houses early to unlock more actions and discs
  2. Watch out for bees — If you reserve a card, prioritize obtaining it to avoid negative points
  3. Don’t hoard resources — The maximum is 12, extra resources are lost
  4. Observe other cats — Knowing what they need helps you block them or negotiate
  5. Use teleport and rebound — They’re powerful tools for moving quickly through the neighborhood

History and Trivia

  • Created by Fábio Lima and Jorge Tabanera Redondo
  • Illustrations by Danni Loe, who brings the charming cats and neighborhood to life
  • The name “Cathood” is a play on “childhood”, representing the period of time you spend as a cat
  • The game includes a special starting cat card named François
  • The “Teleport” and “Rebound” movement mechanics add a unique strategic layer allowing unexpected moves
  • The progressive action unlocking system (with Houses and Statues) creates a natural learning curve
  • Cat fights are resolved with rock-paper-scissors, adding an element of fun and social tension