If you have a set of all kittens or a mixture of cats and kittens, remove one of these sets from the gameboard and your supply gains 3 Cats. Note in case of a mixture all cats and kittens are still removed, with the kittens replaced by cats before being returned to your pool. If you have multiple groups of 3-in-a-row, only ONE group can be aged each turn Ryan Lambert and Adam Rehberg’s Planet Unknown found victory in the Strategy Game category, coming out on top amongst board games where complexity takes higher precedence and sessions tend to last a bit longer than a lunch break. The committee explained that while Planet Unknown is a busy “grab bag of interesting features and gameplay” all of it synchronises with a surprising ease that sets it apart from the other nominees. Boop. clinched the win in the Early Gamers category, which highlights shorter games aimed at younger audiences or those new to the hobby. The committee praised the marriage of an irresistible theme with an abstract strategy that runs deeper than it appears at first blush. Designed by Scott Brady and published by Smirk & Laughter Games, Boop. caught the attention of the Dicebreaker team when we first saw it at PAX Unplugged 2022.

BOOoop. | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

Once again I went for simpler, which as is turns out is what makes the game so elegant. A six-by-six square grid was my final selection, and I was leaning towards seven pieces for each player. (I had narrowed it down to two players by this time.) Multiple playtests showed that seven was too few as players ran out of pieces too soon. One more was added, and I found that the eighth piece got played only around 10% of the time; this is when having eight-on-the-board became an alternate win condition (in addition to three-in-a-row). Manage cookie settings Maddie gives her thoughts on playing Boop at this year's PAX Unplugged Watch on YouTube Board size was something I fought with a lot. Remember, at this stage I had no constraints. A larger board would accommodate more pieces, but would also increase the manufacturing cost. Additionally, I wanted to allow pieces to fall off the edge of the board instead of clogging it up, and a larger board made that happen rarely.

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Boop comes from publisher Smirk & Laughter, which previously put out the exceptional abstract strategy game Shobu in 2019. Where Shobu played the serious part of a traditional chess-a-like, its rustic components gathered together from wood, rope and pebbles, Boop hides its diamond-hard tactical gameplay under the soft, fluffy dressing of cats on a bed. This small change took the game to 20-30 minutes and really amped up the strategy. In the middle of 2020, I submitted both of these versions to Gigamic, which began testing them in earnest. In September 2020, they sent the game to their mathematicians for their opinions. By January 2021, they stated they preferred the shorter version ( Gekitai) and would let me know more soon.

Boop – The Dice Cup Boop – The Dice Cup

Theme: Of course you'll also want to consider the theme and mechanics of the game. "What kind of theme are you interested in? There are two-player games set in all sorts of different worlds, from historical to fantasy to sci-fi," he continues, adding that you'll also need to consider just how competitive you really want to be with the other player.The collection option is only available for those that are able to come to the store during our opening hours. The first convention to resume was Gen Con in September 2021. While I did attend and had "Pounce House" (and other games) to pitch, I didn't. I wasn't 100% after my health scare and preferred to skulk around the demo hall watching people play Hues and Cues. This was the first time I had gotten to see retail versions being played in person. I sat in with a few groups without disclosing my relationship, soaked up the laughter, and took note of unique clues. Take turns placing one of your Kittens onto the bed, in any open space available (stitched squares). Graduate your Kittens into Cats by forming a 3-in-a-row line (horizontally, vertically or diagonally). Then line up 3 of your Cats to form another 3-in-a-row to WIN the game! But it isn’t that simple... Much like the name, the theme needed to relate to the mechanism and not just be slapped on. I considered a number of options: meteors from space, sumo wrestlers in a ring, drops of water raining down. Then the obvious hit me: CATS! The Shobu connection is more than familial, too. Boop is effectively a spiritual successor to Shobu - originally considered by the publisher as a ‘Shobu 2’ and briefly known as the wonderful pun Pounce House, though I’d have personally preferred Shobuup - building on that game’s sneakily intense battle to push your opponent’s pieces off the board.

boop. - TGG Games boop. - TGG Games

Adding an additional twist is the fact that neither player starts with full-grown cats. Instead, you’ll be placing kittens - getting three in a row lets you trade them up to cats, like a cross between Candy Crush and Pokémon evolutions. These kittens are naturally smaller and lighter, too, so they can’t push around the bigger cats, making later turns even more tactical as you line up combos of immovable chonk and flying feline.Kittens can't boop the larger cats, making later turns even more tactical. | Image credit: Smirk & Laughter Games