Enter The World of Catnip Auction House - A Strategic Bidding Board for 3-10 Players, Ages 8+, Where Elite Cats Bid for Victory!

Watch a YouTube video to really understand the game. Written directions seemed very confusing but once we did a round with an online tutorial it got fun and super cute!

It's not a bad game, but there can be frustration when players end up in tough spots due to resource management issues. And there is an elephant in the room as well. Resource Management and Balance: It seems like the game's economy, centered around catnip as currency, can sometimes lead to players running out of resources and feeling disadvantaged for multiple rounds. This can dampen enjoyment, especially in a game with only 10 rounds. One house rule we tried was to allow players to trade in mice for catnip if they start a round with none. This could help mitigate some of the harsher moments of resource scarcity. Game Mechanics and Enjoyment: Despite the challenges, I appreciate the game's similarities to the game No Thanks, the fun cat theme, and the humorous items. The actions add a twist that keeps it engaging, and the unique art style adds to its charm. Player Count and Accessibility: The fact that it accommodates up to 10 players is a big plus for family gatherings or larger gaming groups. Simple rules make it accessible to a wide range of players, including teenagers and younger family members. My biggest problem with the game is that it appears that the "art" was created using AI. This is a BAD THING! I am not going into all the reasons why AI "art" is bad for this review. Suffice it to say that if I had known about this in advance I would not have picked it up. I docked two stars from my review because of this. So in spite of the game's good points, Bob just cannot recommend.

I've played this with a few groups and overall it was enjoyable, but a few players ended up in rough spots which kind of killed the enjoyment. As an auction game, having "money" on hand (catnip, in this case) is important to staying competitive, and this game provides a nice balance between getting items vs getting money. In theory. In each game, there was at least one or two times when a player ran out of money and based on the timing of when others took the bowl, it took a few rounds for them to build back up to even a few cubes. In some cases players would just need to pass without getting anything while already broke. This is amplified once you start factoring in cards which can steal catnip from other players, which makes getting low extra risky. Granted, this is part of the strategy and adds a push-your-luck element to the game since you always want to stay in as long as possible, but still ends up feeling a bit more punishing than it should. In a game with only 10 rounds, feeling "out" for 2-3 rounds is a bummer. Otherwise, the game reminds me a lot of No Thanks, which is a classic favorite, and the actions add a fun twist. The cat theme is fun and the items add some nice humor. I like the art style and it has a unique feel to it, which I appreciate. Overall, I like it and am looking forward to more plays, but struggle a bit with the fact that the enjoyment can be spoiled if players don't play a bit cautiously or just run into bad timing. I'm tempted to add a house rule to optionally trade in mice for cubes if you have none at the start of a round.

Who doesn’t love cats? Well if you don’t then this game is not for you! You are a cat using catnip to bid on items like a cardboard box, toilet paper roll, cat shampoo, and more. If you win, not only do you get the item, but you also acquire mice (End game scoring) and a bonus that can give you a one time use, end game use or to be used throughout the game. It could be “Steal one item” or “Take 1 mouse from another player”. To play the advanced rules, each cat has a prefurred item and if they acquire their prefurred item it gives them more bonus mice at the end of the game for scoring. You start with 8 catnip to use on bidding. During the bidding you can paws (pause) which is bowing out for that item to gain whatever catnip is in play so far. This allows you to reload your catnip bank for the next round. I really like the decision space of when to bow out to gain catnip versus winning the bid for mice and bonus items. After each item is won the direction of play flips from clockwise to counterclockwise and so on for 10 rounds. After 10 rounds you count up your mouse and the one with the most mice wins. Gameplay is around 20 minutes or so. The art is cute along with their names and their background story. The box states 14+ but I didn’t see anything inappropriate for younger children but YMMV. I gave it 3 stars because after 3 plays back to back I was ready to move on so I don’t know how long it will stay in my collection.

We play a lot of games as a family and we are always looking for new games to add to our collection. I wasn't sure I'd completely like Cat Nip after watching the game creator explain how the game is played on YouTube, but I thought I'd order it anyway. I watched the video on how to play and my wife read through the instruction manual. We played with 2 teenagers and fumbled with some of the different things that came up during play. We managed to get the end of the game with a good understanding of the rules and everyone agreed it was good game. I really like the fact that it can be played with up to 10 players. We are always looking for games like this. I will be taking this one back to my hometown for the holidays to share with my extended family. I feel like I say this a lot in my reviews. I really wish Amazon would do half star ratings. I would like to give this a 4.5 star rating. Still good, just not the best of the best. If you like games and are looking for something new, this one is good.