My buddy from the board game club suggested this game, and it rang a bell; from what I remember, it caused quite a stir lately, but I was never really into these light games (and at first glance, it's obvious this one's lightweight - figuratively and literally). Managed to play it a few times with three and four players, and the gameplay lasted about 30 minutes, including rules explanation.
THEME
Let's be real, it's a wonderfully abstract game, but the creators fused a puzzle with quantum mechanics, and it's a match made in heaven. The concept revolves around the famous thought experiment called "Schrödinger's Cat," which in the context of "Cat In the Box" boils down to the fact that a played card (with a furry critter) only gets its color when played, not predetermined. The game manual describes players as experiment participants, and while it's practically irrelevant to the competition itself, it gives the game a bit of a "cat-like" edge. Half of you might still think it's a themeless card game, but for me, this nod to physics is fantastic, and I'd give the theme a solid 4 out of 5.
RULEST
hough simple, they require at least one or two rounds to grasp everything. Simplifying it, we either score points by winning tricks (rounds, like in classic "war" everyone knows), or by marking off values of played cards on the board in a way that our markers form the largest islands (the bigger, the more VP). The number of rounds depends on the number of players, and everyone needs to be on their toes to avoid a paradox, meaning being unable to play a card - resulting in negative point gains and the need to salvage the situation in the remaining rounds. No micro-rules, no exceptions, just like a family game should be. Low complexity and that's just fine, two out of five.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
I won't lie, I dig this aesthetic, though I'm not exactly sure why. The box features a cool, somewhat odd cat, the two-layer board for markers looks slick, and the cards have repetitive yet modest, very nice illustrations of furballs. Oh, and the manual is adorned with doodles suggesting scientist annotations, just rad. 4 out of 5.
COMPONENTS
Small game, but high-quality materials. I mentioned the main board earlier, which folds and unfolds depending on the number of players, and it also includes special inserts necessary for the chosen type of gameplay. Players receive small boards, which could even be skipped, but they also get a set of acrylic markers. These little beauties, looking like candy, are an incredibly sweet addition to the game; seriously, watch out for the kids playing, 'cause the ones with more (or less) imagination will want to eat them. Well done!
INTERACTION
It's there, and it's really high, though somewhat chaotic. The foundation of the game is, after all, the idea that a higher played card (or red) wins, but what far-reaching consequences it'll have are hard to determine on the spot. Sure, we'll probably strategically block each other's spots on the board less intentionally, but the presence of others still drastically affects our choices. As a result, we're invested in both our turns and those of others. Excellent balance - four out of five.
PROS
The game sets up and breaks down in a minute, the gameplay is dynamic, interesting, and despite appearances, offers a lot of room for planning and setting up your game (player order is quite significant). The playability is akin to munching on chips, where you start with a few, intending to restrain yourself from devouring the whole bag, but soon you crave more. A very good, though not the most crucial element of Cat In the Box, is creating a bet at the beginning of the round, how many "tricks" we intend to win. Experienced players will already know what strategy opponents are planning to adopt just from that declaration; there's surprisingly a lot of depth and board game sex appeal here, the whole thing looks and plays very intriguingly (all you kinky board gamers out there will know what I mean 😉). I'll also add that the price in the currently proposed pre-sale (below 100 PLN) is fair; you get a great product at a really accessible price.
CONS
I suspect the game has a winning strategy, which I won't reveal now to avoid spoiling the fun. During the last game, I deliberately executed it, winning and managing rounds as I saw fit. To console you, I'll add that it only works when only one player employs it and doesn't cause a paradox anyway. Being aware of this slightly rubbed me the wrong way when I thought about this title, but not enough to deter me from buying it myself.
FINAL VERDICT
No one's paying me for my opinion, as I underline in the era of the Polish-language version's pre-sale (on a side note - the game doesn't require reading, so you can comfortably look for a cheaper version on OLX, and I expect offers for English or other editions may come up now), but this game absolutely charmed me. I'm not a big fan of light titles (except for the incredibly popular dice game in my group, which I'll talk about someday in the future), but here we have both execution, theme, and brilliant rules. Every round is a chance for gain or loss of points, so the competition lasts until the end and is always fun. This little gem accommodates up to five people and fits easily into a backpack, so you can enjoy it in a nerdy circle somewhere during a holiday trip. It's my discovery of 2023, and I definitely recommend everyone to participate in the Cat In the Box experiment. You'll only give its result and rating after measuring it yourself (for me, it's an eight on a ten-point scale).
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