Game Rules
Objective
In Cats Among The Pigeons, the aim is simple – collect 7 pigeons of the same colour flock to win. But watch out for the cat cards – if you have any in your hand, you can’t win!
Sounds simple, right? Well there are also action cards in the deck, allowing you to draw extra cards to find more precious pigeons, get rid of those pesky cats, or to generally cause a lot of chaos and fun!
The Game
2-6 Players for main Game
Ages 6+
Contents: 108 Cards
8x Coloured flocks of pigeons – there are 8 pigeons per flock
8x Rainbow pigeons – these can be played as any colour pigeon
8x Cat cards – you cannot win the game with these in your hand
28x Action cards – gain extra cards, get rid of cards, sabotage others!
Set up
Thoroughly shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards to each player, face down. Place the remaining cards in the middle, also face down, to form the draw pile.
Play
The player to the dealer’s left goes first and play continues clockwise.
Each card played, or discarded, is placed next to the draw pile, face up, to form the discard pile. Make sure only the top card is visible in the discard pile. When the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile and turn over – this becomes the new draw pile.
ON YOUR TURN
PLAY:
You can do any of the following 3 moves as many times as you wish – or not at all
Play action cards and carry out their actions
Discard 2 unwanted pigeon cards of the same colour
to draw an additional card
Discard 3 cat cards but do not draw an additional card
+
PICK: Draw a card to end your turn
You don’t have to play any moves on your turn, but always draw a card to end your turn.
Ending the Game
Only on your turn, if you have collected 7 of the same colour pigeon, including any number of Rainbow pigeons, show your cards to declare victory and end the game – providing you have no cats in your hand of course!
If you draw the 7th pigeon as you are ending your turn, you can declare your victory that same turn too, of course, providing you have no cats in your hand.
Action Cards
All action cards are placed on top of the discard pile face up when played. You must always play an action card on your turn with the exception of Pigeon Sale, Wing Block and Pigeon Trap. These are outlined further below.
Each action card has a unique effect and a simple explanation of their gameplay actions are on the card for easy reference. However, for more detailed explanations here is a breakdown of each card…
Play to gain cards (and find those precious pigeons!)…
Draw 2
Play to draw two additional cards from the deck.
Recycle
After playing this card, you can secretly search through the discard pile and take one discarded card to add to your hand.
Pluck
Steal 1 card from a player of your choice. The player must fan out their hand for you to draw from, but making sure you cannot see the front of their cards.
Tidy the Nest
Shuffle the discard pile back into the deck, then draw 1 additional card from the top of the new deck. Useful to get those discarded pigeons back in play…
Pigeon Fancier
Discard any two pigeons from your hand (matching or otherwise) showing both cards to everyone. Then secretly search the discard pile to draw a pigeon card of your choice.
YOU CAN ONLY PLAY THIS CARD ON ANOTHER PLAYER’S TURN
Pigeon Sale
As soon as another player discards any pair of pigeons on their turn (including through the Pigeon Fancier action card) play this card to claim those 2 pigeons for yourself and add them to your hand. Be quick! You must play this card before that player completes another action, covering up the 2 pigeons.
Play to get rid of unwanted cards…
Double Swap
Choose a player and swap 2 cards with them. Both of you can choose the 2 cards but keep them hidden from the rest of the players.
Pigeon Mail
Choose a direction, left or right. All players choose 1 card from their hand to pass to the next player in that direction. Think carefully – who is holding a cat?
Ruffle Feathers
Each players chooses 1 card from their hand. These cards are all placed in a separate pile, shuffled by the player of this card and dealt back to all the players. You could receive anything… including your own card back!
Gift
Give 1 card from your hand to another player of your choice. It doesn’t always have to be a cat, but…
Play to sabotage others…
Miss a Turn
Choose a player to miss their next turn. Place this card in front of the chosen player. On their next turn, they must discard this card instead of playing or drawing any cards and play passes to the next player.
Fresh Start
Choose a player. They must discard their entire hand and draw 7 new cards. Heartbreaking! You could of course use this card on yourself if nothing is going to plan…
Play to protect your hand…
YOU CAN PLAY THESE 2 CARDS AT ANY TIME IN THE GAME, ON ANYONE’S TURN
Wing Block
When another player plays an action card in the game, play this card to cancel that action, whether they are targeting you with a Fresh Start or simply playing a Draw 2 for themselves. This action can also be stacked, so another player could also play a Wing Block to cancel your blocking action. Make sure to play this card straight away though, you cannot block an action once it has been completed.
Pigeon Trap
If another player plays an action card directly targeted at you, use this card to block their action and reverse the action back on them instead. Can be played on:
Pluck – Steal a card from that player instead
Miss a Turn – That player must instead miss their next turn (after completing their current turn)
Gift – That player must keep their card and you can give a card from your hand to that player instead
Fresh Start – That player must instead discard their entire hand and draw 7 new cards
To note, a Wing Block can block a Pigeon Trap card allowing the original action to be carried out. However, a Pigeon Trap can only be played on the above listed 4 cards, and not to cancel a Wing Block or another Pigeon Trap.
Tips for Gameplay
Take every opportunity to draw cards
Discard matching pigeons and play actions as much as you can to draw additional cards, helping you find the pigeons you need.
Remember you can just draw a card on your turn for a few rounds to build up your hand.
You may end up with quite a lot of cards in your hand as a result of this!
Keep an eye on the pigeons discarded
Keeping track of the cards others are discarding will help you get an idea of what others are, and aren’t, collecting.
Keeping track of the cards in the discard pile will also allow you to retrieve the cards you are after, either in play with Pigeon Sale or on your turn with Recycle or Pigeon Fancier.
Tactical card play
Action cards allowing trading or gifting cards to other players are great ways to get rid of cats, or to get unwanted pigeons from other players.
You could also play these moves to anticipate receiving cats if you are close to discarding 3 cats.