The Isle of Cats

Here is a general overview of how to play the game, based on the provided rules.

Setup

To set up the game, place the island in the centre of the table and place Vesh's boat on space 5 of the day tracker (p. 14). Place the common treasure tiles, Oshax tiles, fish tokens, and discovery bag near the island according to your player count (p. 14). Each player takes a random boat, a permanent basket, and 20 fish (p. 14, 19). Players also choose a cat figure colour, place it on the island, and receive discovery cards through a drafting process (p. 7, 14, 19).

How a Round Works

The game is played over 5 days (rounds), and each day consists of several phases (p. 8, 23):

• Fishing: Each player takes 20 fish from the supply (p. 19).
• Explore: Players draft discovery cards by selecting cards from hands passed around the table until each player has a pile of 7 cards (p. 19, 22).
• Read Lessons: Players may read and play certain cards.
• Rescue Cats: Players simultaneously reveal rescue cards to determine turn order speed, then take turns spending fish and baskets to rescue cats from the fields and immediately place them onto their boats (p. 11, 15, 18).
• Rare Finds: Players take turns playing cards to collect rare finds or befriend Oshax tiles, placing them on their boats immediately (p. 16).

Tile Placement Rules

Whenever you rescue a cat, befriend an Oshax, or collect treasure, you must place that tile onto your boat following specific placement rules (p. 21):

• Tiles may be rotated and flipped to any orientation.
• Tiles cannot overlap each other and must fully sit within the edge of your boat.
• Tiles must always line up with the squares on your boat so no parts of a square are visible.
• Your first tile may be placed anywhere, but all other tiles must follow placement rules (p. 21).

How the Game Ends

The game ends when Vesh's boat reaches the hand symbol on the day tracker after 5 days, signaling that Vesh has arrived and it is time to set sail for scoring (p. 8). Players add up their points for cat families, rare treasures, and completed lessons, while losing points for visible rats and unfilled rooms on their boats (p. 16). The player with the highest score wins the game (p. 16).