Good Kitties Board Game Kickstarter Preview

🐈Good Kitties 🐈‍⬛ | 🏢 Publisher: Pink Hawk Games

🧑🏻‍💻 Designer: Emily Vincent | 🎨 Artist: David DePasquale, Maia Valdez

👥 Players: 1 to 4 |  ⏳ Playtime: 50–80 minutes | ⚙️ Mechanics: cooperative play

⚠️ Disclaimer: this preview is based on a prototype copy provided by Pink Hawk Games for review coverage. I was not paid for this coverage, and all opinions are my own. Since this is a prototype, components, artwork, and rulebook details may change before final production.

I'm starting to think this is the year of the cat in board gaming. There seem to be so many cat themed games coming out lately, and I'm here for it! I have a soft spot for cooperative games. Playing against your friends is fun, but there's something special about working together toward a common goal

Good Kitties is my third game from designer Emily Vincent this year. All three have been very different experiences. Knitting Circle is cozy, High Teas makes you want something sweet, and then there's Good Kitties with its 3D furniture. The board starts with a flat layout of the house, and you add raised furniture pieces that the cats can climb on and interact with. I think it's a really clever touch. My niece is growing up and loves cats, so I'm already thinking about her next birthday gift

What Is Good Kitties?

In Good Kitties, you and your fellow players take on the roles of house cats trying to live your best bad cat life while the humans are asleep. Your goal is to cause trouble while maintaining the appearance of being perfectly innocent pets. After all, when in doubt, blame the dog

The game is divided into individual missions, each housed in its own tuckbox. There are six cats to choose from. Each cat is unique, has six action cards, and its own special abilities. You'll work together to complete mission objectives, manipulate items, navigate the house, catch mice, and frame the dog for your questionable behavior

Setup and Components

There's a decent amount of stuff in the box, including the board, raised furniture pieces, Kitty pawns and player mats, action cards, supplies, mice, and a dog. The furniture fits into matching holes on the board, creating different levels throughout the house. I really like this detail. It gives the board a 3D look and lets the cats climb on and interact with the furniture. The meeples for the mice, cats, and dog are adorable and chunky

There are six individual mission packs, each with its own objectives and setup instructions. The missions increase in difficulty, giving you something to work toward as you progress. Setup takes around 10 minutes, and you'll need good table space to fit everything

How It Plays

Good Kitties is a cooperative game where players work together to complete mission objectives while keeping the mice and dog under control. Each round is tracked using the Action Track, which is divided into two halves. Every Kitty gets two turns per round, one in each half. Players use Action Cards to move around the house and perform different actions

• 🐈 Action Cards: each card has a movement value and an action, such as increasing your Catitude, building items, or moving supplies around the board

• 🤝 Turn Order: players can swap positions on the Action Track within the same half of the round, allowing the team to coordinate their actions

• 🐭 Nuisance Cards: after every two Kitty turns, a Nuisance Card activates the mice and dog, determining how they move and what they’ll do around the house

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The mice are trying to steal supplies and bring them back to their mouse holes, while the dog chases the cats around the house. If a Kitty encounters either, dice are rolled to determine the outcome. The raised furniture also comes into play here, since cats can use elevated spaces to avoid the dog

Each mission has its own objectives, which involve collecting supplies and building specific items. Completing objectives also makes the mice and dog stronger, so the challenge increases as you make progress and move up in mission number. The goal is to complete all required objectives before the Nuisance deck runs out, the mice reach their victory space, or a Kitty runs out of Action Cards

Who Is This Game For?

Good Kitties is a good fit for families and groups who enjoy cooperative games with a puzzle solving element. The individual missions provide variety, while the different cats and their abilities give players opportunities to approach objectives in different ways.

It's also an easy sell for cat lovers. Between the artwork, cat personalities, and 3D furniture, there's plenty to appreciate beyond the gameplay itself. That said, don't go into this expecting a lighthearted cat themed filler game. There's a fair amount to coordinate, and the randomness can make things more complicated than you initially planned. Groups who enjoy discussing their moves, planning ahead, and figuring out a puzzle together will probably get the most out of this one

Conclusion

I'm curious to see how Good Kitties develops between the prototype and final production. There's a lot happening in this little house, and I think the combination of the cat theme, individual missions, and 3D furniture gives it a distinct personality. And while I still need to see how my niece feels about it, I have a feeling this one will be on her 2027 birthday gift list

Good Kitties is currently on Kickstarter and was funded in under an hour, so there's clearly plenty of interest in these mischievous little cats 😻