Quick View
The Game: Treasure Cats by Glass Shoe Games
How Many Players: 3-9
Age Range: 10+
What Type of Game: Fast-paced bluffing card game
Difficulty/Complexity: Low
Average Length: 15-20 minutes
Replayability: moderate
Geek to Geek Media was provided with a prototype copy of this game. Images may not be the same as the final product
What's The Story
You are a treasure-hunting feline looking for the highest value items.
You can search for these at either the Junkyard or Farmstead in the hopes of hitting it big. Then, you get to compare the item you found with your competitors and see who got the highest value!
What the Gameplay Feels Like
Each round you begin by drawing only 2 cards. Decide which of those cards you would like to have as your treasure and lay it on the table face up with either the item or the location covered from the prying eyes of your opponents. If you choose to have the item show, then the others will know which item you have and what it's worth. However, you will then be able to use the ability shown on the card. If you choose to show the location and hide what the item is then you cannot use the ability but you have more secrecy.
Next, going around the table each player who has the item shown can activate the ability. These may include forcing another player to discard their treasure or guessing who has which location.
Finally, the remaining players reveal their treasure. The location which had the highest values is the winning location. Then, each player who had visited that location scores a victory point. Unless, of course, if they lost their treasure from someone's ability in the prior round. The first player who reaches 5 victory points wins. Or, in the event of a tie, the game will continue until someone pulls ahead.
What I liked
This is a very fast and simple game. Definitely the opposite of my other game du jour Charterstone! It would make a great filler game, or perfect for taking on camping trips or picnics due to the small size. I also love the little tokens for keeping track of your points. They are convenient and simple but fit with the game perfectly. It is really quick to teach someone and can be played with up to 9 people. The game is made where there are some cards that only enter play based on the number of players, so the more people you have means the more cards you have to play with as well.
The art style is adorable. The overall idea of the game seems so simple yet creative. For only getting to draw 2 cards for the entire game, there are a lot of strategies that are employed. Yet, for a child or someone who didn't want to think about too much strategy, they could still have a good chance of winning by simply playing their cards and hoping for the best.
Overall, it is a really fun game which we really enjoyed.
What I didn't like
For a game called Treasure Cats, there were definitely not enough cats here. I was a little sad that the cards had no cats represented on them by graphics or in their abilities, other than the basic idea that you are playing as a cat. It felt as though thematically it dropped the ball a little.
Also, during the game, you have cards laid out in the center of the table which are not in play. While I realized eventually that this is for a strategic advantage of being able to see which cards are not in another player's hand…it was confusing at first and not well explained in the instructions. However, once I figured it out, this really is a cool feature. I just felt silly for not understanding at the beginning.
Coming to Kickstarter
Treasure Cats will be coming to Kickstarter on September 21st 2021! For only $10 you should be able to get a copy of the game…and trust me, it is totally worth $10.