Cat-Opoly How to Play Quick Link: | Objective | Setup | Playing the Game | Board Spaces | Purchasing Cat Houses and Pet Spas | Selling Properties | Mortgages | Bankruptcy | Winning the Game | Shorter Game | FAQ | Components
Objective of Cat-Opoly
The objective of Cat-Opoly is to collect properties and earn money so you are the last player remaining with cash at the end of the game.
Setup for Cat-Opoly
- Choose a banker. The banker can play the game, but they need to keep their properties, cash, etc separate from the bank.
- Each player chooses a token and places it in the center of the gameboard.
- Separate the Purrrfect and Cat-astrophe cards and shuffle each set of cards separately. Place each set of cards face down on their corresponding spots on the gameboard.
- The bank gives each player the corresponding cash:
- 2 – $500
- 3 – $100
- 3 – $50
- 5 – $20
- 5 – $10
- 5 – $5
- 5 – $1
- All of the players roll the dice. The player who rolls the highest number goes first. The number they rolled is used to move them on their first turn.
Playing the Game
To start your turn you will roll the dice. The number you roll on the dice determines how many spaces you will move your token. You will move your token clockwise around the gameboard.
To start the game your token will be in the center of the board. You will first move to the SCAT! space which counts as one space. You will then continue moving clockwise around the board.
After you have finished moving your playing piece, you will look at the space that your token is on. You will take an action corresponding to the space that your token landed on.
After you have taken the action corresponding to the space that you landed on, your turn ends. The next player clockwise/left takes their turn.
The one exception to this is if you roll doubles. If you roll doubles you will take the normal action corresponding to your first roll. You will then roll the dice again and take another turn. If you roll doubles three times in a row, you will move your token immediately to the Water space. You will not receive money for passing the Scat! space. Your turn then immediately ends.
Paying/Receiving Money
Whenever players receive money from passing/landing on the Scat! space, from Purrrfect or Cat-astrophe cards, and from mortgages; they are paid from the bank to the player.
When players owe money to a player, they will directly pay that player. If you purchase a property or pay off your mortgage, you will pay the money to the bank. Any other money you owe is placed in the center of the board.
Board Spaces in Cat-Opoly
Unowned Properties
If you land on a property that no one owns in Cat-Opoly, you have the option to purchase it. The price printed on the space is how much you need to pay the bank to purchase the property. If you choose to purchase the property you will pay the bank the corresponding amount of cash. You will then take the corresponding deed for the property.
If you don’t want the property, the bank puts it up for auction. All of the players can bid on the property. You can bid however much you want. There is no turn order to the auction. The player that bids the most for the property pays the amount they bid to the bank. They will then take the deed for the property.
Owned Properties
Should you land on a property that is owned by another player, you will owe them rent. The amount of rent you owe them is printed on the corresponding deed card. If a property is mortgaged, you owe no rent to the owner of the property. If the owner doesn’t ask for rent before the next player rolls the dice, you also don’t owe them the rent.
Should the owner own all of the properties of the corresponding color, you will owe twice the normal rent. This only applies if there are no Cat Houses or Pet Spas on the space you landed on.
If a property has a Cat House(s) or a Pet Spa, you will be charged the corresponding amount from the deed card.
If you land on a property that you own, you will take no special action on your turn.
Cat-astrophe
When you land on the Cat-astrophe space in Cat-Opoly, you will draw the top Cat-astrophe card from the draw pile. Read the card and take the corresponding action. Then return the card face down to the bottom of the Cat-astrophe pile.
Fall in Water
If you land on the Fall in Water space, immediately move your token to the Water space. You do not receive money for passing the Scat! space. Your turn then ends.
While in Water you can buy/sell properties, buy/sell Cat Houses and/or Pet Spas, and you can collect rent.
On your next turn you will roll the dice. If you roll doubles, you will move your token out of the Water space with the number you rolled. You will take the action corresponding to the space you landed on. Your turn then ends.
You have three turns to try and roll doubles. If you fail to roll doubles within three rolls, you will pay $100 to the center of the board. You will then move your playing piece the number of spaces you rolled on your third roll.
The rules do not state if you can just pay the $100 to get out of Water without having to try to roll for doubles three times. Therefore the players should agree to whether you can pay early in order to get out of the Water quicker.
There is also one Purrrfect card that lets you get out of the Water for free. To get out of the Water use the card and take your turn normally.
Free Catnip
When a player lands on the Free Catnip space, they will collect all of the money added to the middle of the gameboard. This money comes from spaces that players landed on as well as Cat-astrophe and Purrrfect cards.
Just Prowling
If you land on the Water/Just Prowling space while moving around the board, you are safe. Make sure you place your token on the Just Prowling section. On your next turn you will take your turn like normal.
Purrrfect
If you land on a Purrrfect space, you will draw the top Purrrfect card from the draw pile. You will read the card and take the corresponding action. You will then put the card face down on the bottom of the Purrrfect pile.
Scat!
When a player lands on or passes the Scat! space, they will collect $200 from the bank.
Purchasing Cat Houses and Pet Spas
Once you have acquired all of the properties of a color, you may start purchasing Cat Houses for those properties.
The cost to purchase a Cat House is printed on each deed card. You will pay the cost to the bank.
When purchasing Cat Houses you need to equally spread them among all of the properties in the color set. For example you cannot place a second Cat House on a property until all of the properties in that color have their first Cat House.
Once you have placed four Cat Houses on each property in a color set, you can start placing Pet Spas on those spaces. The cost of the Pet Spa is printed on the deed card. You will pay the cost to the bank. You will then return the four Cat Houses from the space to the bank and replace it with the Pet Spa. Only one Pet Spa can be placed on each property.
Selling Cat Houses and Pet Spas
If you need to sell Cat Houses or Pet Spas back to the bank, you can sell them back to the bank for half the price you purchased them for. You must sell them evenly from the properties in a color set. For example you need to sell all of the third Cat Houses from the properties before you can sell the second Cat House from a property in the color set.
If there are no Cat Houses or Pet Spas in the bank, you can’t purchase one until some are returned to the bank. You cannot purchase Pet Spas before Cat Houses are available for purchase.
Selling Properties in Cat-Opoly
At any point in the game you may trade or sell property to another player. You can make any trade you want as long as both players agree to it. If you sell a property you can sell it for whatever price both players agree to.
You may not sell or trade a property if there are Cat Houses or Pet Spas on it. You must sell the Cat Houses and Pet Spas to the bank before you can sell/trade the property.
Mortgages
If you need some money, you may mortgage some of your properties in order to make some money. You cannot mortgage properties that have Cat Houses or Pet Spas on them. You must sell the Cat Houses and Pet Spa before you mortgage the property.
When you mortgage a property you will flip the deed card to the back side. You will receive the amount printed on the back of the deed card from the bank. If you mortgage a property, you can’t receive rent from it until you pay off the mortgage.
To pay back the mortgage you need to pay the bank the amount of the mortgage plus 10%.
Bankruptcy
If you owe money to either another player or the bank and don’t have enough to pay everything you owe, you most likely will have to declare bankruptcy.
You will sell any Cat Houses and Pet Spas back to the bank at half price. Mortgaging properties is also an option. You will give the money to the player/bank that you owe.
If you still owe money, you will declare bankruptcy. You will give any cash and property you own to the player or bank that you still owe money to. Mortgaged properties will stay mortgaged unless the new owner pays off the mortgage plus 10%.
Should you give property to the bank, the bank immediately auctions it off. The player that bids the most in the auction pays the bank and takes the property.
Once you declare bankruptcy, you are eliminated from the game.
Winning Cat-Opoly
The last player left in the game with money, wins the game.
Shorter Game
If you would like to play a shorter game of Cat-Opoly you can use this variant rule.
Shuffle all of the deed cards and randomly give four to each player. They will pay the bank the cost of the properties that they were dealt.
The game is then played normally. If an hour has passed and no one has won the game, the game will end. Each player counts up their total net worth. You will calculate your net worth as follows:
- Cash
- Properties at the price printed on the board.
- Mortgaged properties at half their printed price.
- Cat Houses and Pet Spas at their purchase price.
The player with the highest net worth wins the game.
Cat-Opoly FAQ
If you have any questions about how to play Cat-Opoly, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.
Cat-Opoly Components
- 28 Property Deeds
- 14 Purrrfect Cards
- 14 Cat-astrophe Cards
- 28 Cat Houses
- 12 Pet Spas
- 6 Playing Pieces
- 2 Dice
- Gameboard
- Instructions
- Play Money (these are the amounts my copy had)
- 34 – $1
- 33 – $5
- 34 – $10
- 42- $20
- 28 – $50
- 28 – $100
- 14 – $500
Year: NA | Publisher: Late for the Sky Production Company | Designer: A. Butner
Genres: Economic, Family, Roll and Move
Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 2-6 | Length of Game: 1 hour+
Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High
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