What I'm about to say is not a joke. I was literally just now watching the review from Cat In The Box from the Dice tower and I thought: "I need to check if Watch it Played has a tutorial on this" and around 30 seconds later a notification for this video popped up. Rodney has next level audience reach
Rodney, you are by far the best game presenter on RUclips. Your videos are so clear, so comprehensive, so well prepared, your examples are always accurate, you English so easy to understand for a non native English speaker. I watch your videos just for the pleasure to understand the mechanics of a game even if I do not own it. Congrats !
Oh NOW you release this? Couldn't have done it before Christmas preventing me from skimming through the rules in a panic because everyone wanted to play my new gift right then and there? I have half a mind to use Chaz' s time machine to go back and play it correctly now... paradoxes be damned!
NOTE: When setting up, if you look at 1:38 in the video you'll see that in the Cat Cards column of the table on screen, there is a hexagon value for your number of players. You also remove any cards that don't show *that* hexagon value.
I have this game for ages but never played since I have trouble understanding the rulebook, and thanks god you did a tutorial for it and I ‘ m ready to play and teach my group now ! You are amazing! ❤
Rodney, this video showcased personality and humor more than any I've seen you do. Looked like you really had fun gawking at some of the "quantum concepts," even though you knew the rules and knew what was coming ahead. Nicely done. Enjoyable and helpful
I just muddled through learning this game on my own last week. The same thing happened with Maglev Metro. Then a week later Rodney put out a how to play! 😂 thanks Rodney! Better late than never.
The BEST definition of the word "trick" in the context of a card game I've ever heard! Lol. I played pinochle growing up and this question bothered me. I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows it's origins.
Thanks for this thoughtful, accurate and comprehensive review. This has always been my go to channel when I get a new game. I’ve tried other channels - but inevitably realize that Rodney knows best. All are humbled at the altar of W.I.P.
Absolutely bought this game after watching your video and LOVE IT. It's a great game to play with my wife and I'm looking forward to adding more players in the near future.
Absolutely amazing video!!! More trick-taking in 2023!✨💫😎💙 Also, teaching this during the Learn and Play was wild!! Also, the meaning for a trick was found by my friend Rob: The now obsolete meaning of trick was actually a hand of cards: "Many a deale I haue lost, the mores your shame, you haue seru'd me a bad tricke" (Heywood, 1607). It became more closely associated with trick taking when it was used to describe the rules for Piquet and Whist in English: "A Trick, is as many cards as is won at one laying downe either at the game of Whisk or Picket" (Holme, 1688).
Great explanation, I’m usually very skilled at learning from rule books but for whatever reason couldn’t grasp this one even though I love trick taking games. We played multiple times and had a great time, thanks!
What a tutorial Rodney ! I just wonder how I could teach this game to my family members and this is such a fantastic way to do. With love from Thailand
Wow! At first I was like “meh.. I don’t usually like these kinds of trickster game”.. but now I’m like “holy cow this looks fun! Soooo many strategies and options to mess up other players”!! 😁
At @16:46 you say to remove one token from the X's. That does not appear in the rule book... if 5 players were present that meant that the last round would be played without any possibility of color.... that is very very odd. so in the preparation for the next round we should not remove one token from the guessing card. right?
Hi Bruno, could you check that section of the video again. What I'm saying and what you're saying I'm saying doesn't seem to line up (and that might be where the confusion is coming from)?
@@WatchItPlayed well, at that point in the video you are saying that for the next round we should collect all the tokens and remove one of the 4 that are present in the player board. No?
@@Torresmos Could you do me a favor and type back the words I say that suggested that? It will help me be sure we're both talking about the same thing.
@@Torresmos No, that's not what he said unless your time stamp is wrong. He didn't say you should remove any tokens from the player boards. He said set BACK one token on each X.
Does anyone know what the cards with 4 color quadrants and 1 cat are for? They’re listed on board game geek as “player aid cards,” but they’re not in the rule book as far as I can tell.
It’s a good question! I remember looking it up at one point, and discovering (if I remember correctly) that it had something to do with an earlier version of the game, and isn’t necessary given the components in this edition.
@@anastasiafishusing them as bookmarks is exactly what we thought about after looking for their purpose in the rulebook and not finding one. 😅 However, on Boardgamegeek I found a picture of them being used as a way to declare the color of the card, i.e. instead of putting your cat card on one side of the color-and-number-of-tricks-prediction card (the player board), you just put the card on the corresponding quadrant of this card.
Great work Rodney and once again, thank you! I imagined this to be a challenging game to teach, due to its unique twist in trick-taking, but you made it look effortless. Gonna take some pointers from this video when I eventually get this game :)
The term bid might mean something different to me than it does to you, so let me put it this way: you are not required to play a high value into a trick. If you have a lower value you'd rather play, you can. So if you had a card that could win the trick, but you want to play a lower card that would lose you the trick (forcing someone else to win it), then you can. As long as you follow all the other required rules of playing into a trick (of course).
Played this last night and it felt like we either did something wrong or missed a rule, but we didn't. It's a different concept to wrap your mind around. Much thinkier than say... Scout. But really enjoy it.
I love the artwork for this game. I think it really helps with the game's initial appeal. Then you get sucked in by the gameplay and there's no looking back!!!!!
I played Hearts and Spades a lot with my parents when I was a kid, so I'm very familiar with trick taking games, but this is a very interesting twist. It sounds fun, and this would be something I could get my parents to play.
my favourite "determine first player" method, is to flip one of the cards face up and then deal out the deck whoever gets the face-up card is the first player If you're worried about card info, just replace that card with the first player card momentarily, then give that card back once the deck is dealt
No worries, let's see if I can help. In a two player game, the preparation Phase of the 3 or more player game is replaced with the procedure you'll find at 17:36 in the video. Let me know if that helps!
I’m playing with my partner but we’re still not sure about some things after watching this video… I was down to 1 card in my hand, but he still had 2 and nowhere to put a token, all spaces on the board had been filled… so does that mean a paradox (and that in a 2-player game someone will always end up with negative points at the end of a round for causing it)?
I haven't tried enough combinations of games to say that a 2player game will always end in a paradox, but I can confirm that what you described above is a paradox.
@@WatchItPlayed I've been out of board gaming since the lockdown so it was great to get out and play finally and yeah it was a clever one. Definitely thinking about buying it and spreading the love.
hello, what happen if I cant place the token to experiment board?, for example if my 5 tokens are placed in player board and my 7 tokens are placed in the experiment board and I need 1 token to play the last trick, for 4 players
They suggest you remove a token from your player board. This thread shares some thoughts on it: boardgamegeek.com/thread/2909437/running-out-player-tokens
Not sure if I missed it, but at the start, you set aside a card each that’s not revealed. What happens to this card and why should you pick one over another?
Nothing specific happens to the card, it just means that you never know exactly what cards might be possible to play (since you didn't see what others discarded). As for which one you would pick - that is something that's hard to explain, it's more that when you're playing, you'll have a sense of what card you want to remove to suit the strategies you develop as you play the game.
Rodney. Why haven't you or anybody for that matter, done a tutorial for Ravensberger Mister X? Not Scotland Yard: the search for Mister X, but the 2009 edition with the European map. Would be appreciated. Thanks for this awesome Cat in th Box tutorial.
Question: If a player Predicted they would win 3 Tricks, and did in fact win 3 Tricks, as well as create a Paradox, would the player get -3 + their adjacent run on the board, for their final score? If their longest adjacent run was 4, would their final score for that round be 1? I guess my question is, if they created a Paradox, would that negate any Prediction Score they would have won? Thanks! Love your videos!
Can a paradox occur if the board is full? Because we played with four and the board is full and we all have 2 cards left, but now the last player cant play cause its full. Does that mean he occurs a paradox or not?
@@danielvanduffelen8868 Sorry, I'm realizing there is a step I failed to clarify in the video. If you look at 1:38 in the video you'll see that in the Cat Cards column of the table on screen, there is a hexagon value for your number of players. You also remove any cards that don't show that hexagon value. I am going to ping a comment and add a note to the description of this video to further emphasize that. Sorry for any confusion that caused!
Thanks once again for a superb explenation video. Yes as usual I booked this game the first time i watched it. And yes I have watched this video several times. Really hard to get a copy of this game. Booked it in mid februari. Still no sign of it. 🙄
Now why did you do this tutorial AFTER we struggled to learn this game, Rodney!? XD Seriously, fantastic tutorial & trick-taking game. I would highly recommend it for anyone into card games who wants to step it up a notch and go for a crazy ride. It's surprisingly logical once you get the hang of it. By the way, WHERE WAS ELVIS???? And why didn't you put him in a box? XD (An open box, of course.)
@@WatchItPlayed We actually always play 2 player. We really like it. ....Full disclaimer, we play pretty much every trick-taking game we have 2 player. Usually it works if you take 2 hands, with a few extra modifications, like Love Letter, Ghosts of Christmas, and Plums.
I found a potential issue with the two player rules, and I'm not sure if it is intentional or not: When you flip over three cards out of the five you put in the middle, you can only end the game with a paradox. This is true because the board will be totally filled when one player has two cards and one player has one card. You would never meet the requirement of ending a game with all players having one card, therefore one player will always have negative points at the end of the round. My fix for this is to only flip two cards over, so the game can resolve with one card in each player's hand. If there is an explanation for why they suggested three cards flipped over, please let me know.
We house ruled the same way but also found it was almost as difficult to avoid a paradox according the listed rules in a four player game so we simply dealt one fewer card to every player.
Er.... Where did you hear that you can lead red before it is broken by declaring that you have nothing but red? The rulebook seems to explicitly forbid this! There's a discussion about this video on BGG now with no "official" word on the matter (at time of writing).
Thanks for the heads up, I've posted in that thread and I'm looking for confirmation from the publisher. I always have the videos checked by the publisher before they go live, and this interpretation of the rules got the okay, but it's possible they made a mistake as well. Keep an eye on the BGG thread to see.
What is the thread called? Edit: Nvm, found it. For those wondering Beizer Games did respond to the thread and said Rodney was right (though the majority of forum dwellers still disagrees, so take that as you will).
FWIW, in Nov. 2023 another comment on the thread, from the designer of the original Japanese game, said the rules as written are correct: You cannot choose to lead red if it is not yet played unless you cannot play any other color. The rules clearly say this and the designer confirmed it is correct.
An excellent video on an excellent game, but the question is: how many times did you have to throw the box up in the air (at the start), before you managed to catch it?? 🤔😂
Based on the final scores at the 17:24 mark, is Chaz going to use his time machine to go back in time and cheat at that game so that he wins? lol Anyway, great video as always. I wish Rodney's cat also sneaked into the video and try to get into the game box while Rodney teached the game, even through the box is way too small to fit a full-grown cat. I wonder if a newborn kitty could fit into the box instead.
So if you create a paradox, you always earn zero points right? Because your earn X points, one for each trick earned, and then lose -X points, one for each trick also. And you don't score extra points for prediction because of the paradox. This means zero points for that round, right?
let me see if I get it right: Red colour can only be chosen when someone "brakes Trump", but by doing that it loses all the access to the other colours? then once Trump is broken any starter player can lead with read, which means there is no sense in chosing another colour because you will lose that round....seems to me like the red colour strategy is pretty influencial at the long term...
I'm not sure you quite have it. You said "but by doing that (breaking trump) it loses all the access to the other colours". You don't lose access to *all* the other colors, just the one color you're saying you were out of in order to play Trump. Let's say someone leads Green, and I declare I don't have green. Now I can play any color, including trump, so I play Trump. I'm not saying I don't have "ANY" other color, I'm saying I don't have green, so now I can't play green from now on. Hope that helps!
Kristo, this has been the source of some discussion. The way it is explained in this video is what the publisher confirmed. That said, I can also see why others are unsure of this based on the wording in the rule book. I wish I could say I was certain one way or the other, but when in doubt, I take the direction I've received from the publisher - and that is what is presented here. If you would like to discuss it further, I'd suggest posting in the thread here: boardgamegeek.com/thread/3020794/leading-red-if-you-cannot-declare-any-other-color
NOTE: If you create a paradox, you do not earn any points for tokens you have on the Research board.
What I'm about to say is not a joke.
I was literally just now watching the review from Cat In The Box from the Dice tower and I thought:
"I need to check if Watch it Played has a tutorial on this" and around 30 seconds later a notification for this video popped up.
Rodney has next level audience reach
Those brain implants we installed are really paying off!
Rodney, you are by far the best game presenter on RUclips. Your videos are so clear, so comprehensive, so well prepared, your examples are always accurate, you English so easy to understand for a non native English speaker. I watch your videos just for the pleasure to understand the mechanics of a game even if I do not own it.
Congrats !
Very kind of you to say Philippe, it means a lot to know you've enjoyed the videos and found them helpful.
Oh NOW you release this? Couldn't have done it before Christmas preventing me from skimming through the rules in a panic because everyone wanted to play my new gift right then and there? I have half a mind to use Chaz' s time machine to go back and play it correctly now... paradoxes be damned!
It usually only adversely affects him, so I say go for it!
NOTE: When setting up, if you look at 1:38 in the video you'll see that in the Cat Cards column of the table on screen, there is a hexagon value for your number of players. You also remove any cards that don't show *that* hexagon value.
You know you love Watch it Played when you already own the game and have played it a ton but still watch the video ❤
Appreciate you!
I have this game for ages but never played since I have trouble understanding the rulebook, and thanks god you did a tutorial for it and I ‘ m ready to play and teach my group now ! You are amazing! ❤
So glad to hear this was helpful!
Rodney, this video showcased personality and humor more than any I've seen you do. Looked like you really had fun gawking at some of the "quantum concepts," even though you knew the rules and knew what was coming ahead. Nicely done. Enjoyable and helpful
Glad you enjoyed it Martin!
I just muddled through learning this game on my own last week. The same thing happened with Maglev Metro. Then a week later Rodney put out a how to play! 😂 thanks Rodney! Better late than never.
We're just a week out of sync :)
This is, by far, the best channel to learn how to play board games in this website. Thank you, Rodney!
Very kind of you to say - so glad you've been enjoying Rafael!
The BEST definition of the word "trick" in the context of a card game I've ever heard! Lol.
I played pinochle growing up and this question bothered me. I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows it's origins.
We start each game night collectively watching your tutorials. We watched this one today and it took all the confusion out for us. 😊 thank you!
So nice to hear that Heather!
Thanks for this thoughtful, accurate and comprehensive review. This has always been my go to channel when I get a new game. I’ve tried other channels - but inevitably realize that Rodney knows best. All are humbled at the altar of W.I.P.
Very glad you've been finding these helpful :)
Absolutely bought this game after watching your video and LOVE IT. It's a great game to play with my wife and I'm looking forward to adding more players in the near future.
It's quite a unique one, right?
Absolutely amazing video!!! More trick-taking in 2023!✨💫😎💙
Also, teaching this during the Learn and Play was wild!!
Also, the meaning for a trick was found by my friend Rob:
The now obsolete meaning of trick was actually a hand of cards: "Many a deale I haue lost, the mores your shame, you haue seru'd me a bad tricke" (Heywood, 1607). It became more closely associated with trick taking when it was used to describe the rules for Piquet and Whist in English: "A Trick, is as many cards as is won at one laying downe either at the game of Whisk or Picket" (Holme, 1688).
Mystery solved!! If you enjoy trick taking games, be sure to check out Taylor's channel here: ruclips.net/channel/UCGeRFP9_y9lA14zUZZbBf5Q
@@WatchItPlayed too kind!!! And, if i can double down, your explanation of trick-taking is so well done!! Super clear!!
Possibly my favorite video of yours I’ve seen so far. Bravo!
Thanks Even - glad you enjoyed!
I got quite confused reading the manual on this one but your explanation was crystal! Thank you so much, we really enjoyed playing it! 😊
So glad the video was helpful and that you had a good time!
Great explanation, I’m usually very skilled at learning from rule books but for whatever reason couldn’t grasp this one even though I love trick taking games. We played multiple times and had a great time, thanks!
This one is quite unique! So glad you're enjoying playing :)
I was JUST looking for more games that are travel sized. And then BOOM! Suggested video. Thank you immensely!!!
Great timing!
What a tutorial Rodney ! I just wonder how I could teach this game to my family members and this is such a fantastic way to do. With love from Thailand
So glad you found it helpful - I hope you all have a fun tie playing!
Wow! At first I was like “meh.. I don’t usually like these kinds of trickster game”.. but now I’m like “holy cow this looks fun! Soooo many strategies and options to mess up other players”!! 😁
It's quite unique, right?
Our favorite trick taking game!!!
Glad you've been enjoying it!
At @16:46 you say to remove one token from the X's.
That does not appear in the rule book... if 5 players were present that meant that the last round would be played without any possibility of color.... that is very very odd.
so in the preparation for the next round we should not remove one token from the guessing card. right?
Hi Bruno, could you check that section of the video again. What I'm saying and what you're saying I'm saying doesn't seem to line up (and that might be where the confusion is coming from)?
@@WatchItPlayed well, at that point in the video you are saying that for the next round we should collect all the tokens and remove one of the 4 that are present in the player board. No?
@@Torresmos Could you do me a favor and type back the words I say that suggested that? It will help me be sure we're both talking about the same thing.
@@Torresmos No, that's not what he said unless your time stamp is wrong. He didn't say you should remove any tokens from the player boards. He said set BACK one token on each X.
Thank you for this video teach! Awesomely put together and very clearly explained rules and flow of the game.
Thank you kindly James!
I immediately got this game after watching the "declaring card" part XD And I just noticed...another flawless box spin...flawless
*takes a bow*
Great energy and great explanation of a confusing but fun game!
Thanks Joe - I did hope I could make it as straight forward as possible!
We always have a good time with this game. Easy to get to the table.
Great video! l’ve really enjoyed Cat in the Box. It’s a great trick-taking game.
Very clever, right?
Does anyone know what the cards with 4 color quadrants and 1 cat are for? They’re listed on board game geek as “player aid cards,” but they’re not in the rule book as far as I can tell.
It’s a good question! I remember looking it up at one point, and discovering (if I remember correctly) that it had something to do with an earlier version of the game, and isn’t necessary given the components in this edition.
Thanks! I guess they’ll make some cute bookmarks, then.
@@anastasiafishusing them as bookmarks is exactly what we thought about after looking for their purpose in the rulebook and not finding one. 😅 However, on Boardgamegeek I found a picture of them being used as a way to declare the color of the card, i.e. instead of putting your cat card on one side of the color-and-number-of-tricks-prediction card (the player board), you just put the card on the corresponding quadrant of this card.
Thank you for the easy explanation. I just picked this up at gen con and I can’t wait to play it. Time to cause problems and paradoxes
Have fun messing up the timeline!
I’m going to use this to teach my dog new tricks!
Thank you Rodney I purchased this game after watching your video. I hope I can see you at Origins this year!
Great work Rodney and once again, thank you! I imagined this to be a challenging game to teach, due to its unique twist in trick-taking, but you made it look effortless. Gonna take some pointers from this video when I eventually get this game :)
I hope you have a great time playing!
Such a great introduction of rules!! Thanks Rodney!! 🤗
You're very welcome - glad you enjoyed!
Do you have to bid over in a trick? Or can you bid under to allow another player to win? Thanks for a great how to play.
The term bid might mean something different to me than it does to you, so let me put it this way: you are not required to play a high value into a trick. If you have a lower value you'd rather play, you can. So if you had a card that could win the trick, but you want to play a lower card that would lose you the trick (forcing someone else to win it), then you can. As long as you follow all the other required rules of playing into a trick (of course).
Played this last night and it felt like we either did something wrong or missed a rule, but we didn't. It's a different concept to wrap your mind around. Much thinkier than say... Scout. But really enjoy it.
Yes, it's got some real brain burny stuff going on, to be sure!
Paw-don us, this video is just purr-fect! 🐈⬛
I was hopeful there wouldn't be any cat-astrophic rules mistakes!
I love the artwork for this game. I think it really helps with the game's initial appeal. Then you get sucked in by the gameplay and there's no looking back!!!!!
Yeah, the art adds a lot of whimsy to the game :)
I played Hearts and Spades a lot with my parents when I was a kid, so I'm very familiar with trick taking games, but this is a very interesting twist. It sounds fun, and this would be something I could get my parents to play.
Glad you enjoyed checking it out!
Thanks Rodney! we are playing it this afternoon! =)
Hope you all have a great time!
my favourite "determine first player" method, is to flip one of the cards face up and then deal out the deck
whoever gets the face-up card is the first player
If you're worried about card info, just replace that card with the first player card momentarily, then give that card back once the deck is dealt
Ik im late, but im so confused. Do you still discard a card at the preperarion phase in a 2p game?
No worries, let's see if I can help. In a two player game, the preparation Phase of the 3 or more player game is replaced with the procedure you'll find at 17:36 in the video. Let me know if that helps!
I’m playing with my partner but we’re still not sure about some things after watching this video… I was down to 1 card in my hand, but he still had 2 and nowhere to put a token, all spaces on the board had been filled… so does that mean a paradox (and that in a 2-player game someone will always end up with negative points at the end of a round for causing it)?
I haven't tried enough combinations of games to say that a 2player game will always end in a paradox, but I can confirm that what you described above is a paradox.
@@WatchItPlayedThank you so much! 😊
So on the white side, the last research card with all the cats is simply unused? Even in a 5 player game?
Right, any spots showing cats can just be considered blanks (and aren't used).
I just played this at Breakout Con and had a smashing good time.
So glad you enjoyed - it's quite a clever one, right?
@@WatchItPlayed I've been out of board gaming since the lockdown so it was great to get out and play finally and yeah it was a clever one. Definitely thinking about buying it and spreading the love.
I think this is the third game I’ve bought in the past month based on your reviews
Glad you've been finding them helpful!
Great video! What sleeves are you using? They look slick!
Where did you see sleeves in this video - have a time stamp?
@@WatchItPlayed oh! The backs of the cards looked like cool sleeves I guess!
"Trick" is slang for winning money. Which for card games makes sense, since they were often betting games.
hello, what happen if I cant place the token to experiment board?, for example if my 5 tokens are placed in player board and my 7 tokens are placed in the experiment board and I need 1 token to play the last trick, for 4 players
They suggest you remove a token from your player board. This thread shares some thoughts on it: boardgamegeek.com/thread/2909437/running-out-player-tokens
As usual Rodney a great explanation.
Question have you ever played Dawn of the Zeds?
I haven't played that one.
How do you find these shirts that completely match the game?? I feel like the publishers are sending you these shirts along with the game..
It helps that collecting plaid shirts is my other hobby...
@@WatchItPlayed I just get a kick out of it. As soon as I noticed it, now I can't unsee it lol.. The shirts always match 🤣🤣
Hey I am wondering how you guys keep up so well on games that are dropping? Where do you get your information on releases?
No specific source - we just stay in touch with various publishers and watch news releases, etc.
for a 5-player game, we still play 8 tricks (if possible) with no cards left on hand, correct? Thanks
Righto!
Not sure if I missed it, but at the start, you set aside a card each that’s not revealed. What happens to this card and why should you pick one over another?
Nothing specific happens to the card, it just means that you never know exactly what cards might be possible to play (since you didn't see what others discarded). As for which one you would pick - that is something that's hard to explain, it's more that when you're playing, you'll have a sense of what card you want to remove to suit the strategies you develop as you play the game.
Ah yes, finally time to figure out how to play the game I saw everyone playing at PAX
That's where I learned and played it :)
I wonder if this was themed (the name, at least) after the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment...hmm
Yes, because of the paradox that is created when a card exists that shouldn't exist.
Rodney. Why haven't you or anybody for that matter, done a tutorial for Ravensberger Mister X? Not Scotland Yard: the search for Mister X, but the 2009 edition with the European map. Would be appreciated. Thanks for this awesome Cat in th Box tutorial.
So many games, so little time! Loads of great games I'm sure I'll never get to. Thanks for the interest though.
Question: If a player Predicted they would win 3 Tricks, and did in fact win 3 Tricks, as well as create a Paradox, would the player get -3 + their adjacent run on the board, for their final score? If their longest adjacent run was 4, would their final score for that round be 1?
I guess my question is, if they created a Paradox, would that negate any Prediction Score they would have won?
Thanks! Love your videos!
Great question Chad! If you create a paradox, you do NOT earn the adjacency scoring bonus.
@@WatchItPlayed Great! Thanks so much for your fast reply
Can a paradox occur if the board is full? Because we played with four and the board is full and we all have 2 cards left, but now the last player cant play cause its full. Does that mean he occurs a paradox or not?
That is my understanding, as they would reveal their hand and the cards they have, based on the board, should not "exist".
@@WatchItPlayed but there are 5 copies pf each number, so that makes it almost impossible to end up with one card in your hand.
@@danielvanduffelen8868 Sorry, I'm realizing there is a step I failed to clarify in the video. If you look at 1:38 in the video you'll see that in the Cat Cards column of the table on screen, there is a hexagon value for your number of players. You also remove any cards that don't show that hexagon value. I am going to ping a comment and add a note to the description of this video to further emphasize that. Sorry for any confusion that caused!
Thanks once again for a superb explenation video. Yes as usual I booked this game the first time i watched it. And yes I have watched this video several times.
Really hard to get a copy of this game. Booked it in mid februari. Still no sign of it. 🙄
Hope you're able to track it down soon!
Finally got my copy today, after only 8 and a half monts.@@WatchItPlayed
Now why did you do this tutorial AFTER we struggled to learn this game, Rodney!? XD Seriously, fantastic tutorial & trick-taking game. I would highly recommend it for anyone into card games who wants to step it up a notch and go for a crazy ride. It's surprisingly logical once you get the hang of it. By the way, WHERE WAS ELVIS???? And why didn't you put him in a box? XD (An open box, of course.)
Have you played it much two player? I haven't tried that yet, and hope to.
@@WatchItPlayed We actually always play 2 player. We really like it. ....Full disclaimer, we play pretty much every trick-taking game we have 2 player. Usually it works if you take 2 hands, with a few extra modifications, like Love Letter, Ghosts of Christmas, and Plums.
@@teejleague3838 I figured you might have been playing 2 player. I'm keen to try that player count myself.
@@WatchItPlayed This is a cool trick-taking game also just for the reason that it already scales to 2 and most don't! :)
I always say "If Rodney has a tutorial, I'm buying the game!" :D
So glad you've found them helpful Jonathan :)
I found a potential issue with the two player rules, and I'm not sure if it is intentional or not:
When you flip over three cards out of the five you put in the middle, you can only end the game with a paradox. This is true because the board will be totally filled when one player has two cards and one player has one card. You would never meet the requirement of ending a game with all players having one card, therefore one player will always have negative points at the end of the round.
My fix for this is to only flip two cards over, so the game can resolve with one card in each player's hand. If there is an explanation for why they suggested three cards flipped over, please let me know.
Hey Dustin, I’m not sure their intentions behind the rule.
We house ruled the same way but also found it was almost as difficult to avoid a paradox according the listed rules in a four player game so we simply dealt one fewer card to every player.
No wonder I hate cats!…….lol, great explanation and video. Now if it was called Dog in the box I’m in! Or llama in the box of course.
Just played this game 😍
Hope you had fun!
I’ve played this quite a bit and just now realize the design of the placement of the X on the player color boards…
I was tempted to call attention to it :)
lol
Er.... Where did you hear that you can lead red before it is broken by declaring that you have nothing but red? The rulebook seems to explicitly forbid this! There's a discussion about this video on BGG now with no "official" word on the matter (at time of writing).
Thanks for the heads up, I've posted in that thread and I'm looking for confirmation from the publisher. I always have the videos checked by the publisher before they go live, and this interpretation of the rules got the okay, but it's possible they made a mistake as well. Keep an eye on the BGG thread to see.
What is the thread called? Edit: Nvm, found it. For those wondering Beizer Games did respond to the thread and said Rodney was right (though the majority of forum dwellers still disagrees, so take that as you will).
FWIW, in Nov. 2023 another comment on the thread, from the designer of the original Japanese game, said the rules as written are correct: You cannot choose to lead red if it is not yet played unless you cannot play any other color. The rules clearly say this and the designer confirmed it is correct.
Poor Chaz. At least his score wasn't negative.
I told him 1 point wasn't so bad!
Great explanation!
Thank you kindly!
I was anxiously waiting to hear about the cards that were put aside beside the research board. Nope. No twists. 😝
THAT was the twist: No twist!
An excellent video on an excellent game, but the question is: how many times did you have to throw the box up in the air (at the start), before you managed to catch it?? 🤔😂
Are you suggesting I don't succeed on the first attempt every time???!?!!?!?
This game is so good !
Glad you've been enjoying!
Based on the final scores at the 17:24 mark, is Chaz going to use his time machine to go back in time and cheat at that game so that he wins? lol
Anyway, great video as always. I wish Rodney's cat also sneaked into the video and try to get into the game box while Rodney teached the game, even through the box is way too small to fit a full-grown cat. I wonder if a newborn kitty could fit into the box instead.
I don't imagine that would have stopped him from trying :)
Great video!
Thanks Andrew!
So if you create a paradox, you always earn zero points right?
Because your earn X points, one for each trick earned, and then lose -X points, one for each trick also. And you don't score extra points for prediction because of the paradox. This means zero points for that round, right?
Check this section on scoring, that should help: ruclips.net/video/oZFK8iQZKTg/видео.htmlfeature=shared&t=925
Cmon, Chaz, get it together with that score!
To be fair, it would be very difficult to get a score that low - so its kind of impressive in it's own way.
I like that magic part. 😅
Which part was that?
@@WatchItPlayed whe you snap them fingers and the cards been all set-up.
I have no one to play this with but now I want it anyway. I’ll find someone. 😂
A little harder to solo than Cuba Libre :)
WANT
This is like spades!
I haven't played Spades, but I do believe it's also a trick taking game!
Jsyk, the "X" marks on the tracking cards are cat butts.
Yep :)
let me see if I get it right: Red colour can only be chosen when someone "brakes Trump", but by doing that it loses all the access to the other colours? then once Trump is broken any starter player can lead with read, which means there is no sense in chosing another colour because you will lose that round....seems to me like the red colour strategy is pretty influencial at the long term...
I'm not sure you quite have it. You said "but by doing that (breaking trump) it loses all the access to the other colours". You don't lose access to *all* the other colors, just the one color you're saying you were out of in order to play Trump. Let's say someone leads Green, and I declare I don't have green. Now I can play any color, including trump, so I play Trump. I'm not saying I don't have "ANY" other color, I'm saying I don't have green, so now I can't play green from now on. Hope that helps!
@@WatchItPlayed thanks that helped me! As Im not a native speaker, I'm still trying to figure it out! amazing video!
Imagine this being your first exposure to a trick-taking game. 🤯
It's got quite a few twists on the typical, to be sure :)
Meow!!! 😺
I keep putting this game away after struggling with rules. I hope to break the curse after this video.
I hope this helps!
A strange game, Professor. It seems the only way to win is not to tell anyone whether or not you played.
Note that you CANNOT lead with red as long as you can legally lead with anything else (unless red trump has been broken, in which case you can).
Kristo, this has been the source of some discussion. The way it is explained in this video is what the publisher confirmed. That said, I can also see why others are unsure of this based on the wording in the rule book. I wish I could say I was certain one way or the other, but when in doubt, I take the direction I've received from the publisher - and that is what is presented here. If you would like to discuss it further, I'd suggest posting in the thread here: boardgamegeek.com/thread/3020794/leading-red-if-you-cannot-declare-any-other-color
As usual Chaz Lost xD
One of these days that's going to change... probably.
Does red still trump other colors after trump has been broken?
Yep!
As I see, Chaz is not a good Trick Taking Game Player
He's got some work to do!