Mi Gato pieces available online

Thanks Josh. I'll agree that it's a new, hot genre. You might even say it's on fire.

The pawns. They're fine for the players, but please please include a token that represents the flaming cat. One with a picture of a flaming cat on it, preferably. It could be two-sided. One side, non-flaming. The other side, cheerily ablaze. The token flips over when the cat is ignited/extinguished.

That's an excellent idea, and one that I am still toying with. My biggest problem is that I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler, let alone scribble off a quick feline BBQ. Any suggestions for those of us who are challenged in this area? Hiring an artist is out because well, I'm pretty much sans cash. Any volunteers would be welcome, and of course would get full credit and a hefty share of the profits from this free game.

I dig. This is pretty much how I see it too. But I wasn't prepared to go into this quite yet, as I didn't know if the game would even really work. That and my above stated inability to draw anything but stick figures. I actually pictured more of a backyard (or several backyards joined by fences).

Yeah, the rulebook is something I litterally cobbled together this afternoon while picking through the rubble of my playtesting notes. I eventually envision a pdf file that a.) doesn't repeat itself a lot and b.) looks really nice, perhaps with a bug eyed semi-smoldering feline on the front cover.

The tracker (which I freely admit is not layed out very well on the proto board) is to not only keep track of the cat's current amount of lives, but also to distinguish between a burning and non-burning cat. So hot when the cat's incendia, and cold when it's not. The cat moves via the event cards which are drawn at the end of every turn. This also determines if the cat is hurt and on fire. I hope to have some sample card pdf's up soon which help illustrate this. There are also action cards (played by players) which can help heal the cat a bit, so to prolong it's life. In our play tests so far (about 7 games total) the cat has never died, although it's come very close in one game.

I hope I haven't been too overbearing with these comments, I just like your idea and I want to understand it better. Thanks,

~Josh

Not at all overbearing. In fact, this is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for. We all play games and I'd like to design and eventually publish games that we'll all enjoy playing.

We're having another play test session tomorrow with some newly designed cards and the rules published on my dinky little website. I'll let folks know how it goes in the playtest board tomorrow.

Cheers!
Ben

There are similarities now that you mention it. But I guess the main difference is that Dr. Lucky isn't a burning cat. :)

Ben

You can get the complete game at:

http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~bgerber/gato/MiGato.zip

This includes instructions, the board game (in both large format and in 4 sections) and both decks of cards.

The file is about 3.2MB in size.

I'm open to all opinions, questions and suggestions. Please just remember that this is a beta version. You may find some spelling and/or formatting mistakes. Also the graphics are rough and either clip-art or very low quality.

At this point I'm more interested in mechanics and gameplay than I am in the look of the game. Although any donations of artwork for the game will be welcome, and earn you a credit on the cover of the rules and the board, and up to 25% of all of the profits from this free game. (i.e. 0).

Cards are sized to fit avery business card template #8371.

Cheers!
Ben