Description
The Amusing Game of Kilkenny Cats, as it was originally called, was published by Parker Brothers in 1890, coming from the same era that brought us classics like Halma and Reversi. Somehow this game of tenacious fighters (the definition of a Kilkenny cat) got lost in the shuffle. Published in this edition simply as Kilkenny Cats, the game is essentially the same, but for using colours to identify each players’ starting and goal points on the board, instead of the cute kitten and mice drawings of the original.
To begin the game, each player selects a colour and places his or her pieces, also known as “cats,” on the corresponding spaces in the central section of the board. The goal for each player will be to land one of his pieces on each of the two spaces of the same colour on the edge of the board, the “mice.” If playing with only two, players will pick colours that sit opposite each other on the board.
Players in turn will then roll their colour die and move any one of their cats that many squares, in a straight line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. A path must be clear to move for that many spaces, unless an opponent’s piece is in the last square, in which case it is captured and removed from the board for the rest of the game. Only one piece of any colour can occupy one square. If there are only undesirable moves available to a player, that player must move regardless. If there are no eligible moves for a player after having rolled the die, that player forfeits that turn.
Players must roll the exact number of squares needed to land a cat on a mouse. The first player to land two of their cats onto two of their mice wins the game. Players may not land on other players’ mice, or land on their own mice and move off again.
I’ve expanded the rules so that if all players except one lose all cats or have their single remaining cat on a mouse and thus not able to be moved that the player who can still make moves is deemed to have won.
As long as a player has one moveable cat they are allowed to play since it is possible that they could remove all opposing cats.
Original instructions downloaded from https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/kilkenny-cats.
