Five board games for cat lovers

It stops at nothing to please its readers Weekly column He dares to offer you five titles that give pride of place to the duo in their subject matter, materials and illustrations.

As always, I tested the games below first before recommending them to you. They are often easy to find in French in many specialty stores in Quebec.

MLEM: Space Agency

• 2 to 5 players | 8 years and above | Beginner-intermediate level
• 30 to 60 minutes | $45

I admit to the cat astronaut theme and even the box art MLEM: Space Agency It left me skeptical at best, cold at worst. I quickly changed my mind when I found this 'stop or hold' style game to be dynamic, fast, stimulating and fun.

Each turn, you take one of your cat tokens to a rocket heading out into the universe. By rolling the dice repeatedly, you try to make it travel as far as possible: to the moons, to the planets in balls of wool, and so on. Will you be bold and aim for infinity or will you be careful before you crash?

I found childish pleasure in trying my luck at dice, in order to fling my intrepid cats onto a long-running rug. If you like cats or games like that Sorcerers of Blackcastlethis title of the same kind may tempt you. MLM It's my #1 favorite of 2024!

By the way, the word Privileges It would be a term born on the Internet to mean “the sound made by an animal sticking out its tongue to lick something”…

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The cat in the box

• 2 to 5 players | 10 years and above | middle
• 20 to 40 minutes | $40 (for French version)

with The cat in the box, takes the fun of trick-or-treating games (like Bridge and Joffre) to the next level. With a scientific theme inspired by Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment, we play with uncertainty in a surprising way.

In fact, no card has a specific suit; They are all black. You decide the color when you put it on the table. So everyone plays their role without knowing exactly what they have in hand. A wonderful new concept that will arouse the curiosity of card lovers!

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calico

• 1 to 4 players | 10 years and above | middle
• 30 to 45 minutes | $55 (for French version)

Excellent calico It invites players to embroider the most beautiful quilt using hexagon tiles of different colors and patterns. The goal is to attract as many cats as possible to come and lie down there. Adorable, right?

In fact, this game is a massive puzzle that will – perhaps – stress your neurons! To maximize your score, you must collect randomly drawn tiles in a very precise manner.

We love seductive simplicity calico, whose choices become more and more painful as the game goes on. When our plan succeeds, we feel like the smartest creature in the universe! Demanding, yet charming, with others or alone!

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Cat Island: Exploration and Drawing

• From 1 to 6 players | 8 years and above | middle
• 30 to 45 minutes | $50 (for French version)

If you like the game Cat Island (read below), you will definitely love his little brother Cat Island: Exploration and Drawing. This latest version ditches the cute polyomino for the cat (pieces that fit together like pieces Tetris) from the original game of using crayons on the boat board. Nothing is lost in the fun of this puzzle, quite the opposite!

suddenly, Explore and draw It becomes less bulky, less intimidating and less expensive than its spacious predecessor, while still providing the same fun. As for the topic, who wouldn't want to rescue drowning cats on an island on their boat? Excellent game I recommend it!

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Cat Island

• 1 to 4 players | 8 years and above | middle
• 60 to 90 minutes | $90 (for French version)

If we believe Cat IslandSomewhere there is an island inhabited by cats that are threatened with extermination. Your mission is to rescue these cats that are on your boat. Space is limited, of course, but fortunately these cats are able to create remarkable bends!

We take great pleasure in imagining thousands of ways to put our pieces together to find the perfect solution before time runs out. For a huge, immersive game, go for this version. To try or pay less, choose the version Explore and draw (Read above).

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What is this board games column?

Passionate about board games, I dive with you into the world of fun, taking into account the point of view of the consumer who – like me – discovers and explores this pastime.

I test board, board, dice and card games so that you can give me my recommendations and first impressions in the form of thematic ratings, suggestions for new products, meetings with creators, etc. This always provides a good place for French-language games in stores in Quebec.

Visit the web page every week lesoleil.com/vivre/passe-temps/jeux-de-societe And check out the Living section of the app sun.

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Note: Copies of some of these games were provided free of charge for our testing by Asmodee Canada, ÎLO and Randolph, who have neither received nor exercised any right to review the content of this newspaper article.