“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”

~ Terry Pratchett ~

It can get lonely in the big city. Which is why every cat, no matter how big, fearless, or cute, needs lots of pals. Now, it’s time to get the gang back together with Mayfair’s family-friendly title full of feline fun: Hot Tin Roof!

Hot Tin Roof is a route-building game where players are competing for the title of Top Cat. How do you get to be Top Cat, you ask? Easy! Have more fish at the end of the game than the other players…uhr, cats.

There’s lots of ways to get fish, but the most important is to build a network of routes so you can get together with your furry friends whenever possible. Of course, having lots of connections, both between friends and rooftops, pays off in other ways, as well. Sometimes other cats will want to use your rooftop routes, but they must pay for the privilege. You can also establish comfy resting spots on balconies around the city, and if other cats want to use them, again, they have to compensate you.  So make your connections of every kind, and soon you will be the envy of every cat on a Hot Tin Roof!

Hot Tin Roof uses simple mechanics to create the nighttime exploits of you and your feline rivals. There are five dumpsters in the game, and every turn you must ante five sardine cans, one onto each of the dumpsters. If you don’t have five sardine cans, you immediately end your turn and take two sardine cans from the supply.

Then, you pick a dumpster and perform its action, called ‘dumpster diving’. The available actions are placing a pair of your cats on the board, a catwalk in between two houses, or a shelter on a patio. As a bonus for dumpster diving, you will also get all the fish that have accumulated in that dumpster.

Next, you’ll move your cats along the rooftop of the city. Your cats can move any distance across the board, but they must end their movement on a patio shelter. Catwalks are important, because they allow your cats to cross from one rooftop to the next. If you’re forced to use an opponent’s catwalk, you must pay them one sardine can for every catwalk you cross. Use Patio shelters as cozy spaces to take catnaps at the end of every jaunt around the city. If you must, you may use an opponent’s shelter, but you must pay them two sardine cans for the privilege.

The purpose of all this rooftop racing is for your cats to get together and pal around. If they ever wind up on the same patio, you can remove them from the board and take a fresh fish from the supply. Fish are worth 10 sardine cans and are the primary way to win the game!

Once you’ve paired your cats together, the process begins anew, with the pair going back on the board and trying to meet up all over again. You can perform this action numerous times throughout the game, and perform this as often as you can.

Hot Tin Roof ends when the last fish is taken from the market. If you still have cats left on the board, you have two options: if you can get them together, but you gain no reward for doing so; if you can’t pair them up, you must pay the bank 15 sardine cans (ouch!).  The cat with the most sardine cans is the winner and is crowned Top Cat! (Remember, fish are worth 10 sardine cans each.)

We hope you’ve enjoyed our look at Hot Tin Roof, a fun-filled game of felines, friendship, and (of course) fish.

About Hot Tin Roof:

Hot Tin Roof was designed for 3-4 players ages 10 and up by Leo Colovini, takes between 30 and 60 minutes to play, and is published by Mayfair Games in the United States.