The Isle of Cats

To set up The Isle of Cats, place the central island board with the red cat symbol face up, flanked by left and right fields. Place Vesh Dark Hand's boat on day five of the day track. Sort common treasures by shape below the island based on player count, and set out the six special oche axes. Fill the discovery bag with all cat tiles and rare treasure tiles. Each player receives a random double-sided boat, a permanent basket facing green-side up, and a unique colored cat token placed on the island's paw track to determine initial turn order. Shuffle the discovery card deck and keep it nearby alongside fish tokens.

The main goal is to rescue cats from the approaching threat of Vesh Dark Hand and safely place them onto your boat over five days. Players must gather fish, draft cards, secure baskets, and build cat families and collect treasures to maximize their final score while avoiding penalties from visible rats and empty rooms on their ship.

Each of the five rounds consists of five structured phases. First, players refill the left and right fields with cat tiles from the bag and take twenty fish. Second, players draft discovery cards using a hand-passing mechanic and pay fish to keep them. Third, players reveal public lessons and organize private ones. Fourth, players secretly choose rescue cards, reveal them to determine turn order via speed icons, and take turns spending fish and baskets to rescue cats and place them onto their boat. Finally, players can play rare find cards to claim oche axes and treasures.

At the end of the game, players calculate their final scores by losing one point for every visible rat and five points for each incomplete room on their ship. Players earn three points for each rare treasure, score points for colored cat families based on a reference chart, and add bonus points achieved through completed private and public lesson cards.

The game automatically concludes at the end of the fifth day when Vesh's boat reaches the hand symbol on the day track. Players then proceed to calculate and compare their total scores, with ties broken by whoever has the most remaining fish, or shared if still tied.