BLACK CAT
Memo game for 2 – 9 players of 4 years and older
by Steffen Mühlhäuser
Game components
5 black hats
Spielideen und Gestaltung:
Steffen Mühlhäuser
Graphische Arbeiten:
Steffen Mühlhäuser,
Bernhard Kümmelmann
Spielmaterial: Hauck
Fertigung: Ludofact
1 small piece of cheese
© 2008 by Steffen-Spiele
Zum Spielplatz 2
56288 Krastel
1 black cat
www.steffen­spiele.de
post@steffen­spiele.de
1 large piece of cheese
1 piece of chocolate
1 piece of bacon
8 colored mice
40 bits of cheese
Preparation
For to play Black Cat you need a flat surface of about 50 x 40 cm.
One player acts as the game master. He gets the small and large piece
of cheese, the piece of bacon, the piece of chocolate, the black cat,
and the five black hats.
Each of the other players chooses one colored mouse and receives
three bits of cheese to start with.
The game master keeps the remaining bits of cheese.
Play
The cat sets its trap
The game master sits on one side of the game field opposite to the
other players, who form a semicircle.
The cat lays out both pieces of cheese, the bacon, the chocolate, and
the black cat in a line with sufficient gaps between the objects so that
all mice have a clear view of their order.
A match of Black Cat consists of four rounds. Therefore the cat can set
its traps four times.
Behind each of the objects the cat places one of the black hats.
During play the game master acts as the cat and is referred to as cat
on the following pages. The other players act as mice and are referred
to as mice in these instructions.
The cat moves the hats
When the mice have thoroughly memorized the position of the five
objects, the cat covers all objects with the hats and then moves two of
the five hats. (perhaps three – see: Degree of difficulty)
A hat may be moved between two other hats or to the side next to the
laid-out line.
After the cat has moved both hats, it asks the mice about one of the
objects. It may ask about the small or large piece of cheese, about
the chocolate or about the bacon. The cat never asks the mice about
itself! The cat has to ask the mice immediately after it has moved the
hats.
Mice on the search
Have all the mice been watching closely?
If a mouse knows where the item in question is, it can sit on top of the
relevant hat. If a number of mice are of the same opinion, they can
just sit in front of it. Only one mouse can sit on top of the hat at any
one time – the mouse that made the fastest decision.
When moving the hats, the cat has to keep in mind the following
rules:
1. The cat may only use one hand to move one hat after another.
2. The hats may not be moved too fast. All mice must be able to
clearly follow the moved hat.
The cat lifts the hats
Once all the mice have positioned themselves, the cat lifts each hat,
one by one.
• All the mice that made the right choice get a piece of cheese from
the cat’s supply.
• All the mice sitting in front of an incorrect item each have to give
the cat a piece of their cheese.
• Any mice sitting in front of the black cat have to give it two pieces
of their cheese.
Once all of the pieces of cheese have been handed out, the cat lifts
the hat that had no mice chose. All five items are now visible once
again and the mice return to their home at the side of the playing
area.
Rounds two, three and four
The position of the items changes when the hats are moved. The new
order is the starting setup for the next round.
The game is played in the same way: The mice try to memorise the
new positions, the cat covers everything, moves two of the hats and
asks for ...?
It pays to be quick!
The following rule is added with the second round: The mouse that
is sitting on the correct hat gets more cheese than the mice sitting in
front of the hat.
In the second round, this mouse gets two pieces of cheese. In the
third round, the fastest mouse gets three pieces of cheese. In the
fourth round, this increases to four pieces.
All the other mice sitting in front of the correct hat always get a single
piece of cheese.
Eaten
Once a mouse has lost its last piece of cheese, the cat is allowed to
‘eat’ it (i.e. the token is removed from the game).
End of play
The mouse with the most cheese after the fourth round wins the
game. If two or more mice have an equal amount of cheese, they can
face each other in a fifth round ‘play-off.’
After some games a different person can play the black cat.
Degree of difficulty
If you want to make the game more challenging, the number of
moved hats can of course be increased. However, you can easily
take this too far.
When more than three hats are moved, most players can no
longer keep track of the movements. The brain “switches off”
and the players no longer have fun with the game.
When playing with smaller children it might be sufficient to
move only one hat. Furthermore, to make the game easier, you
can also reduce the number of hats (and objects) to four or three.
Two-player game
The more mice, the more fun you will have with Black Cat.
However, you can of course play the game with two players. In
this case you play two matches with three rounds each.
Scoring bits of cheese: A mouse at the right position scores one
bit of cheese in round one, two bits of cheese in round two, and
so on.
The player who plays the cat in the first match plays a mouse in
the second match and vice versa.
After the second match the amount of cheese of both players is
compared. The player who was able to steal more bits of cheese
from the cat is the winner.
Have fun with Black Cat!
Overview
Hints for cats
atmosphere
Black Cat is about memorizing
objects but also about playing a
role. Therefore the game strongly
relies on the atmosphere bet­
ween the mice and the cat.
It is very important that the
game master (the cat) tries to
create this atmosphere. A simple
sentence at the beginning of play,
such as “Now I am the cat and
you are mice and with this nice
trap I will try to catch you all!”
immediately creates suspension
and attracts the attention of the
mice.
But keep in mind that smaller
children may even be frightened
of a wooden black cat that hides
under one of the hats. The game
master should get a feel for the
situation and for how much sus­
pension is needed.
Basically, the cat has quite a
simple job to do as the player
actually does not have to remem­
ber which object is under which
hat, after he has moved them.
However, it is recommendable
that the cat at least knows the
position of the object in question
and the position of the black cat.
This is especially important when
mice are sitting on different hats.
When the searched­for object is
already revealed under the first
hat that the cat lifts, the sus­
pension is immediately lost as
everybody else knows that they
are sitting at a wrong position.
Furthermore, the cat should
always…
… lift hats first under which there
are wrong objects,
… then lift the hat, under which
there is the black cat,
… and only in the end lift the right
hat.
Degree of difficulty
If you want to make the game
more challenging, the number
of moved hats can of course be
increased. However, you can
easily take this too far.
When more than three hats are
moved, most players can no
longer keep track of the move­
ments. The brain “switches off”
and the players no longer have
fun with the game.
When playing with smaller
children it might be sufficient to
move only one hat. Furthermore,
to make the game easier, you can
also reduce the number of hats
(and objects) to four or three.
More mice, black noses, yummy rewards
Birthday party
Eight mice are a lot already, but
sometimes even more child­
ren come together to play. No
problem – everyone can join
in. Any number of players is
possible.
A mouse can be just everything
– stones, small pieces of wood,
or other animal figures. You
can even create mice from
paper or modeling clay.
If the cat has no cheese left, it
may of course also use “fake
cheese” of any kind.
Black nose
In the German card game
“Schwarzer Peter”, a variant
of the card game “Old Maid”,
the loser of a round gets a
black spot of make­up on his
face. You can also do this for
Black Cat. Instead of losing two
bits of cheese when a player
“meets” the black cat, the cat
uses black make­up to paint
a black spot on the respec­
tive player’s face ­ first on the
left cheek, then on the right
cheek, and finally on the tip of
the nose. The cat then eats a
mouse with three spots.
yummy
Cats can be nice, too. After
round three, the cat gives the
mouse with the most bits of
cheese a small reward. This
can be cheese, chocolate, or
whatever else the mouse likes
best. They certainly love marsh­
mallow mice or black licorice
kittens or even other things …
Changing roles
Very often, a grown­up player
will act as the cat and children
will play as mice. However,
many children like to play as
the cat, too.
There you go! The grown­up
player will soon realize how
hard it can be to keep track of
those five little black hats!