Cat in the Box (EN)

Cat in the Box is an extraordinary trick-taking game about quantum mechanics and cats. Similar to Schrödinger's famous thought experiment, the cats on the cards only take on their final state or color when they are played.

At the beginning of each round, the players in Cat in the Box guess how many tricks they can win with their hand cards. Then each person in turn plays one card each - whoever has played the highest card of the suit played or the trump suit red gets the trick. However, the color of the hand card is always determined at the moment it is played. A player who "can't" or doesn't want to play the announced suit must change the suit, but is not allowed to play the actually requested suit for the rest of the round - in other words, he no longer has any cards of this suit in his hand. Each color-number combination may only be played once in the entire game. This is indicated on a small game board by the person occupying the corresponding space with a marker of their color.

Once all the cards in the hand have been played, or if a person finds himself unable to play any of his cards (a paradox occurs), the game ends. Points are then awarded for the number of tricks won. In addition, connected squares on the game board occupied by your own markers give extra points, but only if the typed number of tricks has been reached.