The Best Board Games for Cat Lovers
We’ve been playing a lot of cat-themed board games around here lately, owing to the fact that we are officially a big crazy cat family now. Apparently we did a lot of cat adopting during quarantine, and now all of the sudden we find ourselves with three new feline members of our family. Obviously they are now in charge of the household, and their primary demand is that we pledge our fealty by playing family games that honor them.
Something tells me that this is probably going to be the quirkiest and most random board game list we ever make, but we are a cat family now and it must be done. After all, we’ve always been drawn towards themes for family game night, and a deep love for cats has certainly come over the kids lately. And that need for finding themes that capture the hearts and imaginations of kids shouldn’t be underestimated.
And the crazy thing about this quirky list about cat games is that there have been several truly spectacular cat-themed games made - especially lately. That’s really what inspired this list in the first place - the fact that so many of these cat games are so much fun. Some of these games are legitimately our favorite games to play together, and many of them have gotten rave reviews and been gigantic hits recently.
We can probably all take that as a lesson not to underestimate cats. Our society’s deep love for our little furry friends was bound to inspire some amazing games eventually. And can I add that many of these games are absolutely beautiful (and adorable!). In most cases either the art is hilarious or hyper-realistic with a cuteness overload. And both styles are great at grabbing the kids’ attention. Most of the games are aimed more at the age range of our 8-year-old son, but our 4-year-old likes cats so much she’s happy to team up with an adult to play.
So if you find yourself today in the sticky situation of looking for a game to placate your cat-obsessed children (or spouse) - look no further than our list of the best board games and card games for cat lovers. This is our public service to you - our fellow humans who also find themselves subservient to their feline overlords.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. Clicking on these links will lead you to view the games’ listings on Amazon.com.
Boop
Designed by Scott Brady and Published by Smirk & Laughter Games
Boop is an abstract strategy game for kids and adults alike. It’s simple enough to be a step up from tic-tac-toe for kids of all ages, and deep enough to be a fun strategy challenge for the most seasoned chess-lover. AND it features cute little wooden kittens and cats. Also, most importantly, did I mention it’s called Boop? It’s so darned cute, people gravitate towards it knowing nothing about it.
All you have to do is get 3 cats in a row to win. It sounds simple enough, but every single cat you place boops all the cats around it and pushes them 1 square away. It’s the perfect mash up for cat lovers and strategy fans. This is by far the easiest game to learn on this list, but, at the same time, it might be the most rewarding and the purest head-to-head challenge as well.
Wizard Kittens
Designed by Brendan G. Conway, Marissa Kelly, & Mark Diaz Truman and Published by Magpie Games
Wizard Kittens is a recent discovery for our family and I love it. It’s recommended for ages 7 and up which works out great for us, and I always love it when beautiful and interesting games are accessible to our little one. At the same time, the game offers a variety of options for making the game more complex, from adding special powers to each player’s cat, to an entire expansion that’s available to purchase.
This is a competitive game where you are competing to dispel the most curses and score the most points. In order to dispel the curses, you have to collect the right ingredients, because the main mechanic is set-collecting. There are certainly a few twists to the rules, but, generally speaking, collecting the right ingredients to dispel the most curses is the name of the game.
I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that one of the highlights of this game is the incredibly cute and colorful art. Simply choosing which cat to play as is a joy (I like Grumpkin). Even the names of the curses are cute. One is even the curse of having your head stuck in a slice of bread. There’s no doubt in my mind that Wizard Kittens 100% belongs on this list of games that cat lovers will very much appreciate.
The Isle of Cats
Designed by Frank West and Published by The City of Games
Even if you have to find this one secondhand or pay a bit of a premium, I absolutely believe The Isle of Cats is worth tracking down. It’s a stunning game with remarkable production value, and it revolves around cat tetronimoes that you have to fit into your ship and rescue from the island.
The game comes with two basic ways to play - the original version and the family version - which is absolutely essential for families like us. Our 8-year-old is able to understand the more complex rules of the original version, but it takes quite a bit longer to play, and having different difficulty levels to choose from can make a world of difference.
It’s adorable how invested our son gets with rescuing the cats, regardless of whether they are the right color to score a nice combo for points or not. And as a fan of spatial awareness puzzles, games with multiple ways to score points, and cats, The Isle of Cats really hits the sweet spot for me. And GIGANTIC shout out for the box lid with an actual label to show where your own cat should sit while you play. These guys get it.
Exploding Kittens
Designed by Matthew Inman, Elan Lee, & Shane Small and Published by Ad Magic
Exploding Kittens is a very trusted old favorite in our house. And if you’re unfamiliar with it, I know what you’re thinking. It sounds absolutely morbid and you might even be wondering if it’s appropriate for kids. But, I assure you, it’s appropriately recommended for ages 7 and up, and it’s much more innocent than it sounds.
The illustrations and descriptions are actually very zany and funny - and the gameplay itself is incredibly well designed. It’s a card game where you want to be the last person standing. If you uncover a bomb that can’t be defused with your cards, you’re out of the game. And nothing is better than a hilarious long combination of skip cards and nope cards to end the game. This game is always so tense and hard to predict.
Calico
Designed by Kevin Russ and Published by Flatout Games & AEG
Calico is hands down my wife’s favorite cat game on this list, and I’m inclined to agree with her. This new cat game on the scene has also gotten a lot of rave reviews, and I can easily see it joining the ranks of other favorite head to head battles between my wife and I like Azul.
Calico is one of those abstract games that’s very quick to explain - pick a tile and place it somewhere on your board - but the possibilities for maximizing your potential score quickly spin out of control in your mind. You have to pick which goals you’re going to try to achieve, and also weigh the odds of the likelihood of the tile you need showing up before the game is over.
And, best of all, Calico comes with an adorable theme of knitting quilts to attract cats to snuggle on. It’s truly fantastic and is easily one of the top tier games that will stay on our shelf forever and lead to many exciting battles. And the special attention to detail with the real-life cats that inspired the game pieces and the achievement tracker in the rule book are really nice touches.
Catlantis
Designed by Prospero Hall and Published by Ravensburger
Catlantis is quick to explain and adorable - which is a really good combo for a family game. It’s nice sometimes not having to read the rule book for an hour before playing a new game. On your turn you simply choose two cards and make an offering to another player. They choose one card and you get the other one.
The game revolves around mercats - that’s right, mercats. And you have a secret cat head and fish body that you are trying to collect. At the end of the game you’ll get points for collecting the right mercats, collecting the most legendary cat toys, and collecting coins as well.
Catlantis also features the interesting element of paying attention to which mercat cards your opponent seems to be collecting, because you could always try to prevent them from getting more. The mercat pieces and the theme is obviously incredibly cute, and it plays quickly too, so Catlantis is a winner for us.
Cat Lady
Designed by Josh Wood and Published by AEG
Cat Lady is another game that you can pick up and play pretty quickly. There are a few different ways to earn and lose points, but it’s very straightforward and easy to learn. And just look at the box of that premium edition!
Your goal is basically to collect cats and make sure they get the food they need. If you collect cats but not the food they want, you’re going to lose points for it. You can also earn extra points by collecting things like toys and catnip. In some ways it reminds us of the drafting and point scoring of the awesome Sushi Go!, and we are also much more smitten with cats than sushi.
Our 8-year-old understood this one very easily, and it only takes us about 20 minutes or less to play. The press-your-luck element of collecting more cats without knowing whether or not you’ll be able to feed them works very well, and it’s a nice reminder that our own family is just a bunch of cat ladies now too.
Here, Kitty, Kitty!
Designed by Kris McCardel Ware and Published by Fireside Games
Here, Kitty, Kitty! is the only game on this list that actually features little cat miniatures, and that certainly counts for something! When you’re trying to appease a cat-loving family and please the cat gods, it’s nice to actually have some little cats to play with on the table.
This is a competitive game about trying to attract the most cats to your house. You’re going to play cards to attract cats or somehow foil your opponents, and you’re going to score points for collecting the most cat friends and achieving certain color combos as well.
It’s definitely a funny back-and-forth affair, with opponents playing cards that might scare cats off from your yard or take them from your house. And even though it says ages 10 and up, our 8-year-old certainly handles it quite easily. And the theme of collecting cats is like looking in the mirror for us now gathering up new feline family members at record pace.
Cat Crimes
Published by ThinkFun
As is the case with a lot of ThinkFun games, Cat Crimes is more of a logic puzzle game - designed to easily be played as a collection of solo puzzles, but certainly accommodating to people working together as well.
Cat Crimes is all about logical deduction, which is why we added it to our list of our favorite logic games for kids. One of the several cats has committed a crime - like eating the bird or breaking a vase - and it’s your job to identify the culprit.
It’s a very classic deduction puzzle, where you’re given clues about who is sitting next to who, or not across from so-and-so, or not next to the fish, etc. And that makes for a spectacular introduction to deduction for kids. And the cartoon art is adorable and truly the icing on the cake.
Cloaked Cats
Designed by Connor Reid and Published by HABA
Cloaked Cats is a brilliant deduction game for families that plays quickly and is easy to learn. It also features a great, quirky theme of cats attending a masquerade ball. What I like about it is that it quickly cuts to the chase of what’s fun about deduction games like Clue - and cuts out some of the filler.
It can be played with 2-4 players, but it shines more with more players. And it’s perfectly labeled with an age recommendation of 7+. It’s perfect for our 8-year-old, who sometimes gets his deduction wrong and sometimes right.
Everyone playing gets three cards with different cat features on them (blue cat, striped cat, cat carrying a fish martini, etc.). When new cat cards are played in the center of the table, everyone has to signify if that cat has one of their secret features. On your turn, you are able to guess a secret feature of another player using your deduction, and the person with the most points at the end wins. It’s really a fantastic family game.
Rat-a-Tat Cat
Designed by Monty & Ann Stambler and Published by Gamewright
Perhaps the one game on this list that we’ve had in our home for the longest, Rat-a-Tat Cat is a classic Gamewright card game that my wife used to play with both of our kids over and over and over again.
It also makes for a very good gameschool game, with great simple math and memory and estimation to practice with the kids. You’re ultimately trying to score the lowest score possible, and the game can basically be as quick or as long as you want it to be.
Anyone can end a round at any time simply by saying “rat-a-tat cat!”. And they do so when they think they have the lowest number cards in front of them. Throughout the round you’re drawing cards and swapping cards and peaking at cards and trying to remember the cards in front of you. And whenever the game ends it’s the player with the lowest total score that wins. This classic cat game was our first and has definitely gotten renewed attention with our newfound devotion to cats around here.
Pusheen the Cat: Purrfect Pick
Designed by Steve Warner and Published by Ravensburger
Pusheen was completely new to us when this game from Ravensburger came out, and we were very quickly converts to the adorableness on display. It’s clear to see why the Pusheen comic strips are so popular, because the art is just delightful. It’s hard not to feel good while playing this game. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, we quickly made it our Game of the Month.
Ravensburger also has a remarkable track record - not just for publishing good games, but also for publishing good games based off of the intellectual property of someone else. Just like their wonderful games based off of movies, Pusheen is no mere cash grab based off of a popular character. It’s actually a very fun and well-designed game. It’s also simple, and makes it very easy to include the whole family.
The concept of the game is collecting snapshots of your weekend fun. You simply need to collect the right cards to turn them in and complete one of your snapshot cards for a certain number of points. And, as an added bonus, it comes with an adorable Pusheen figurine that’s cute enough for the kids to fight over who gets to carry it around.
Cleocatra
Designed by Ta-Te Wu and Published by Chronicle Books
It still tickles me that one of my favorite picture book publishers, Chronicle Books, also publishes board games from time to time. And I’m quite impressed that every family game of theirs we have is actually very good and popular in our household. Cleocatra is definitely no exception - and it definitely doesn’t hurt that our son is as cat obsessed as you can get.
The object of Cleocatra is rescuing Pharaoh’s lost cats from the pyramid, while simultaneously avoiding the pyramid guards. It’s an interesting and original game of tile placement, with a wide range of difficulty to choose from - depending on whether or not you want to use all of the cards’ powers or not. And our 9-year-old cat-obsessed son crushed me the very first time we played.
The art is very cute and the gameplay is strategic and interesting. The mechanics involve a bit of both tile and worker placing, and there’s a bit of room for playing defense and preventing your opponents from scoring too many points. But, at the end of the day, of course it’s the adorable cats that are the stars of the show here.
Is your family also currently subservient to your feline overlords? What’s your favorite cat-themed game? Let us know in the comments!
