Overview

Cat in the Box is a trick-taking game. Your goal is to get the most points by winning tricks. You receive bonus points for successfully predicting the number of tricks you win. However, you lose points if you cause a paradox!

The game includes:

• 45 cards: 1-9 (5 copies each)
• Research board with colors: blue, yellow, green, red (trump color)
• Player boards

Preparation

1. Cards are dealt evenly to each player
2. After checking their hand, each player selects one of their cards and places it facedown near the research board
3. Predict number of tricks in clockwise order on your player board
   • Note: In a two player game there is no prediction

Game Play

A game consists of as many rounds as there are players. A round is made up of individual hands where one player will win the trick. During a hand each player will take one turn with the following steps:

1. Play a card and declare the observed color (see below)
2. Place a player token on the corresponding space on the research board

Declaring the Observed Color

Rules to follow:

1. In the row of the color you are declaring on the research board, the played card number's space must be empty.
2. On your player board, X of the color you are declaring is not revealed.

Follow these rules depending on your position:

• Start Player: You may only declare blue, yellow, or green. Exception: if any tokens are on the red row of the research board, you may declare red. In other words, the start player can lead with trump if it has been broken.
• Following Players: You may declare any color (following the above rules). If you declare a color other than the led color, remove your player token of the led color on your player board, revealing X. For the rest of the round, you will not be able to declare that color.

Check the winner of the hand

Once all players have played a card determine who one the trick.

• The player who played the highest rank card in trump (red) wins the trick.
• If no trump was played, the highest rank card in the led suit wins the trick.

The player who wins the trick collects the cards and places them face down in front of them.

Complete the round

The player who played the winning card leads the next trick.

If everyone only has one card left the round ends and move on to scoring.

Paradox

A paradox occurs when declaring the observed color rule cannot be met. Immediately proceed to the scoring phase.

Round Scoring

Gain 1 points for each trick won that round.

Points for predicting correctly:

• Gain 1 point for each token in the largest group of your player tokens connected adjacently on the main board
• Note: In a two player game there is no prediction phase. In a two player game if any player wins 4 or fewer ticks they recieve a bonus score according to the number of tokens in their largest group of connected tokens.

If you caused a paradox:

-1 point for each trick won and any bonus score is forfeited.

End of Game

The game ends after all players have been the round start player. The winner is the player with the most total points.