The Basics:
- Ages 4+
- Players 2 – 5
- 10 minutes
Geek Skills:
- None (seriously, we couldn’t identify any)
Learning Curve:
- Child – Easy
- Adult – Easy
Theme & Narrative:
- Play as a cat who is collecting mice to eat for meals
Endorsements:
- Father Geek rejected!
- Child Geek approved! [sigh] Yes, again.
Overview
In Feed the Kitty, each player takes the role of a cat, and as a cat, you are looking for dinner in the form of mice (apparently, you do not have an owner to feed you). Each player starts with an equal number of mice that are doomed to be a meal.
Play is simple. On your turn, roll 2 dice and then perform 2 actions. Your two and only actions are determined by the symbols shown on the dice. Possibilities are limited to:
- Arrow – a mouse escapes your holding pen and decides to vacation in the the next player’s holding pen to your left
- Bowl – you eat one of your mice and remove it from the game
- Mouse – a new victim appears, and is added to your stock
- Sleeping Cat – you’re tired and take a catnap, so nothing happens (which, ironically, is exactly what you want to roll)
The game ends when only one player has mice in front of them, and is declared the winner.
Only one of the 12 dice sides puts a mouse into the game; five of the dice faces remove a mouse from the game. This means the game will inevitably end.
Final Word
The game publisher’s suggested age range for this game is 4 years old and up. I think the age range is more likely ages 2 to 4. Any kid older than 4 should never be playing this game for fun unless there truly is no other activity available to them. There simply is nothing to this game at all for older players. It’s like a roll-and-move game without the move part. Roll, repeat, roll, repeat.
There is absolutely zero decision making to be made and not even anything remotely fun to look at short of some little purple wooden mice. The best I could do to spice this up was to make little death sounds when the mice get eaten, but on second thought, that will probably traumatize my son. On third thought, this is a good thing, because then maybe he won’t ask me to drag out this game again.
I know I am doomed with a young boy to play bad games. The best I can hope for right now is to instill in him a sense of joy when playing any game with his father, regardless of how good or bad it is. One knows a game is bad when one chants to themselves repeatedly, “please roll a bowl, please roll a bowl….end it, please!”
Just a couple more years and we can play some more complex games!
<“…don’t look at my watch…don’t look at my watch…it must have been at least 15 minutes by now. Doh!! Only 3!…”>