The Isle of Cats

Board

• Place the island board in the center, orange cat side face up
• Set Vesh's boat token on position 1 of the island track

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Cat Tiles & Bag

Place all colored cat tiles, Oshax tiles, and Rare Treasure tiles into the cloth bag and shake.

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Player Count Adjustments

Place all 6 Oshax tiles below the island alongside the common treasures. Rare Treasure tiles drawn during field setup do not count toward the cat total — set them aside and keep drawing.

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Discovery Deck

Shuffle all blue-backed cards together into a single face-down deck and place it beside the board.

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Player Boats

Each player takes a boat board. Boats share the same layout but vary in rat placement and treasure map colors — assign randomly or let players choose.

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Starting Player

Choose randomly. Give them the first player marker. Play proceeds clockwise.

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Fish

Players do not start with fish. Each player receives 20 fish at the start of each round during the Fishing phase.

1. Fishing

Every player receives 20 fish from the supply. Fish are your currency for the entire round — spend wisely.

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2. Explore

Each player is dealt 7 Discovery cards from the deck. Draft them using a pass-and-pick system:

• Pick 2, pass the rest left
• Pick 2, pass the rest left
• Pick 2, pass the rest left
• Pick 1 from what remains

You now hold 7 cards. Look through them and decide which to keep — each card has a fish cost in the top left corner. Pay that cost to keep it; discard anything you don't want or can't afford.

Card types you may draft: - Rescue — lets you rescue one cat from the island - Lesson — a personal end-game scoring objective - Oshax — a friendly wildcard cat tile - Treasure — a small tile to fill awkward gaps - Ancient — discard immediately for a one-time bonus

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3. Read Lessons

Place any Lesson cards you kept beside your boat:

• Private lessons go face-down — your secret personal objectives, revealed only at end-game scoring
• Public lessons go face-up — visible to all players. At end of game, every player scores a public lesson if they meet its criteria, not just the player who played it

> Public lesson cards do not count as "lesson cards" for any card effects — you cannot gain fish for them, discard them, or lose points if you fail to score them.

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4. Rescue Cats

Before rescuing, all players secretly choose which Rescue cards to play, then reveal simultaneously. The total speed (boot icons) on your played cards determines turn order — highest speed goes first.

To rescue a cat you need fish and a basket:

• Cats in the left field cost 3 fish; cats in the right field cost 5 fish
• Each player has 1 permanent basket that resets every round — it lets you rescue 1 cat without a card
• Full basket icon on a Rescue card: discard the card to rescue 1 cat
• Half basket icon: discard 2 half-basket cards to rescue 1 cat

Take turns rescuing until all players have passed or run out of baskets and fish. Place each rescued cat immediately on your boat — the first tile can go anywhere, every subsequent tile must touch at least 1 previously placed tile.

> Any cats not rescued at the end of this phase are removed from the game. Unclaimed treasures stay.

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5. Rare Finds

Players take turns playing Oshax and Treasure cards from their hand, placing the corresponding tiles on their boat.

• Oshax are cat-shaped tiles that act as any color — they just need a friend (must touch a cat tile)
• Treasure tiles are smaller shapes useful for filling gaps

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End of Round

• Move Vesh's marker forward on the island track
• Refill the island fields with new cat tiles from the bag for the next round
• Pass the first player marker clockwise

After 5 rounds, proceed to scoring.

When It Ends

After 5 rounds, once Vesh's marker reaches the hand symbol on the day tracker, the game ends and all players score simultaneously.