Playful Pets encompasses a range of pet themed board games made by Atikin Games. This Kickstarter is for the first 3 games which are all cat and dog themed and come together in one box: Feline Felonies, Canine Capers and Animal Alliance. The first two are also available as stand-alone mint tin games for those who like travel games and/or for cat and dog lovers alike to take their pick.
Many of us have strong connections to our pets and other animals we’ve encountered, Playful Pets throws these wonderful creatures into a fun make believe world where cats can be felons and dogs can be keen investigators. Think of children playing cops and robbers and you’re basically there, but with our sweet furry friends instead.
These games will be hand crafted from my home office with only the printing and dice being outsourced. The game boards, boxes, inserts, resin playing pieces, etc will all be put together by hand. As these games are hand crafted – and not lab tested – the age range on the box will say 14+. Many of the games’ reviewers have put their suggested age range at 8+ and 10+.
All three games are quick to learn and the similarities between them make it easy to switch to the other games in the box without a lot more to take in. Their differences, both in theme and gameplay, make each game stand out as fun and unique from the others.
In all three games you are fetching and retrieving either toys or clues. Players roll dice to determine their ‘Purr/Paw Points’ for each turn. Using these they traverse the board, pick up and drop off items, utilise special spaces on the boards and use ‘Special Actions’ which are different for each dice roll and for each pet in each game.
The range of actions and Special Actions available to the player each turn means that despite the use of a die to determine points to use, these games aren’t all about luck. You’ll need to develop your tactics and have a good strategy in mind to give yourself the best chance of winning.
In Feline Felonies you take charge of a neighbourhood cat whose goal is to be the greatest thief around. You’ll steal toys and other items cats believe to be toys from around the board as well as from other cats. Get the most highly valued toys home to win and be crowned most felonious of the felines.
Players roll dice to determine their ‘Purr Points’ for each turn. Using these they traverse the board, pick up and drop off toys, steal toys from other cats and even increase the value of their toys. Whenever a cat tries to steal from another, dice are rolled to determine the ‘reflexes’ and ‘stealth’ for each to determine whether the theft was successful or not.
Special Actions linked to each number on the die allow players to move toys on the board, add new toys to the board, increase or decrease the value of toys by flipping the token or take a cat nap to save Purr Points for use later in the game.
In Canine Capers you play as a determined dog who is investigating their neighbourhood, sniffing out clues and to solve the imagined capers going on in their little country village. Work together to reach clues in time and secure them at Canine P.D. to earn points and solve the caper of the day.
Clues will pop up around the village based on the outcomes of dice rolls. Players roll dice to determine their ‘paw points’ for that turn. Using these they traverse the board, pick up, drop off, give, take clues and even increase the value of their clues.
It’s a race to get to clues before a new one would be generate in that spot as if the previous clue is still on the board the new clue will be stolen by a sneaky cat and taken away to their toy chest. Not to worry, with a bit of help from the sly foxes on the board you can enhance other clues by swapping them with higher value clues from the toy chest.
Special Actions linked to each number on the die allow players extra abilities that can allow for diagonal movement, enhance clues, move a clue, jump to home, swap two clues on the board or return clues to the resource pool, which can extend your playing time as once the resource pools are empty it’s time to take your final turn then tally up your points to see if you’ve won this time!
In Animal Alliance felines are doing their felonious best to steal toys and canines are returning toys to the lost and found. The twist is each player takes control of a cat and dog team who live in the same house, they have different goals but a combined score.
Players roll 2 dice and assign one to their cat and another to their dog for that turn (purr points and paw points). Using these they traverse the board, pick up, drop off, give and take toys, steal toys from other pets and even increase the value of their toys. Whenever a pet tries to steal from another, dice are rolled to determine the ‘reflexes’ and ‘stealth’ for each to determine whether the theft was successful or not.
Special Actions linked to each number on the die allow players extra abilities which are slightly different for the cats and dogs so pay close attention when assigning your dice to each pet. Special Actions can allow diagonal movement, move toys on the board, add new toys to the board, increase or decrease the value of toys by flipping the token or take a cat nap to save Purr Points for use later in the game.