Cat in the Box EN

Cat in the Box is an extraordinary trick-taking game centered around quantum mechanics and cats. Similar to the famous thought experiment by Schrödinger, the cats on the cards only assume their final state or color when they are played.

At the beginning of each round in Cat in the Box, players guess how many tricks they can win with their hand cards. Then, each person plays a card in turn - whoever plays the highest card of the led color or the trump color, which is red, wins the trick. However, the color of the hand card is determined only at the moment it is played. If a player cannot or does not want to follow the led color, they must change the color but cannot play the originally required color for the rest of the round - metaphorically speaking, they no longer have any cards of that color in their hand. Each color-number combination can only be played once throughout the entire game. This is indicated on a small game board by a player marking the corresponding field with their color marker.

When all hand cards have been played or if a player is unable to play any of their cards (leading to a paradox), the game ends. Points are then awarded based on the number of tricks won. Additionally, connected fields on the game board that are marked with a player's marker earn extra points, but only if the guessed number of tricks is achieved.