Cats are a rather popular board game theme these days.
Already this year, The Meeple Guild has reviewed Sanctuary: The Game of Cat Rescue and Cat Earth, which, while wildly different in terms of gameplay, have been among the top tier of games new to us in 2026.
This week, it’s more cats, but again in a very different game format.
Cat Sudoku: Summer Festival, from designer Ta-Te Wu, is a small-box card game where cats provide the artwork. A follow-up to the 2019 Cat Sudoku roll-and-write game, this one accommodates two to four players, although it really comes across as far better with two, given the limited card supply and how utterly chaotic four players would make it.
The main goal is to place numbered and coloured cards on a 3×3 grid, ensuring that each number and colour is unique within its respective row and column. Additionally, players strive to strategically place cards in their designated areas to collect reserve tokens and accumulate points.
Where the interest lies is that not only are you restricted in placement based on the number and colour of each card, with no duplication of either in a row or column, but each card also has a twist. If you manage to place it according to its special ability, you gain important game tokens.
Those tokens let you play extra cards from your personal supply, a must since cards held at the end of the game count as negative points.
This little game from Sunrise Tornado Game Studio (www.sunrisetornado.com) took a couple of plays to really grab Trevor and me.
It has a distinctly Japanese look, with a visual style that seems focused on kids, but it gradually grew on a couple of old guys.
The game plays quickly, with rules that are simple enough to grasp. That said, you need to pay attention, as it is surprisingly easy to forget the colour and number restrictions when placing cards.
The extra powers, if you will, are really the heart of this one. Those special placement requirements add another layer of strategy, and it was through those little twists that the game grew beyond our initial expectations.
What initially appeared to be a rather straightforward exercise in matching numbers and colours turned into something requiring a little more thought and planning.
This is one of those games I had not imagined would hold my interest, but it turned out to be one where I repeatedly wanted to play just one more.
And for a small-box card game featuring cats, that is a pretty good accomplishment.
About Author
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
Lining Up the Cats to Score at Sudoku
Already this year, The Meeple Guild has reviewed Sanctuary: The Game of Cat Rescue and Cat Earth, which, while wildly different in terms of gameplay, have been among the top tier of games new to us in 2026.
This week, it’s more cats, but again in a very different game format.
Cat Sudoku: Summer Festival, from designer Ta-Te Wu, is a small-box card game where cats provide the artwork. A follow-up to the 2019 Cat Sudoku roll-and-write game, this one accommodates two to four players, although it really comes across as far better with two, given the limited card supply and how utterly chaotic four players would make it.
The main goal is to place numbered and coloured cards on a 3×3 grid, ensuring that each number and colour is unique within its respective row and column. Additionally, players strive to strategically place cards in their designated areas to collect reserve tokens and accumulate points.
Where the interest lies is that not only are you restricted in placement based on the number and colour of each card, with no duplication of either in a row or column, but each card also has a twist. If you manage to place it according to its special ability, you gain important game tokens.
Those tokens let you play extra cards from your personal supply, a must since cards held at the end of the game count as negative points.
This little game from Sunrise Tornado Game Studio (www.sunrisetornado.com) took a couple of plays to really grab Trevor and me.
It has a distinctly Japanese look, with a visual style that seems focused on kids, but it gradually grew on a couple of old guys.
The game plays quickly, with rules that are simple enough to grasp. That said, you need to pay attention, as it is surprisingly easy to forget the colour and number restrictions when placing cards.
The extra powers, if you will, are really the heart of this one. Those special placement requirements add another layer of strategy, and it was through those little twists that the game grew beyond our initial expectations.
What initially appeared to be a rather straightforward exercise in matching numbers and colours turned into something requiring a little more thought and planning.
This is one of those games I had not imagined would hold my interest, but it turned out to be one where I repeatedly wanted to play just one more.
And for a small-box card game featuring cats, that is a pretty good accomplishment.
About Author
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
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