Whoever said your deeds will be revisited unto you surely had this game in mind – any time I thought I was getting ahead in my quest to hinder my opponent I found myself knocked back again myself. Building a clowder of cats while attempting to ward off the spells of your opponent, and also the nefarious cotter and his wife, require planning ahead and good hand management. While the base mechanics are simple, gameplay is anything but. Even fully laid out it has a small footprint. Familiarity with text isn’t necessary, although it may help you understand the macabre theme. Steeped in the style of horror only Cthulhu-style games can evoke, Cats of Ulthar is a deceptively simple pattern building game with art like something from a nightmare. Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur! Gameplay Impressions:

Play continues until a player surrounds their spellcaster and lays a ‘kill’ card on the cotter and his wife.

These cards usually directly target the players’ cats. If a cat is killed, a card must be pulled and played from the Ancient Gods deck, likely affecting the attacking player or causing other twists.Īfter both players take their turn, then cotter and his wife get a turn! Cards from the Cotter deck are played. On a turn, players can lay a cat down around their card or attack an opponent. Cat icons on each side of a player’s card illustrate which types of cards can be placed adjacent – colors and numbers should match. Players are attempting to surround their spellcaster card with cats, then finish off the cotter and his wife. To each side is a spellcaster card representing the youngest and oldest players. Players sit across from each other with the Cotter + Wife card between them. The game plays to a tableau in the center of the table. The Cats of Ulthar is a 2 player press your luck style horror card game. When the travelers left, all the cats of the town disappeared, and the cotter and his wife were discovered to be nothing more than bones… In Ulthar, an evil cotter and his wife are exterminating cats until the day when travelers who worshiped the Egyptian cat god came to the town. For the cat is cryptic, and close to strange things which men cannot see.”

“It is said that in Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, no man may kill a cat and this I can verily believe as I gaze upon him who sitteth purring before the fire. This post was a paid preview, you can find out more information here. What you see here may be different from the final, published game. Note: This preview uses pre-release components and rules.

The cat of ulthar