Game: ¡Mi gato se arde! (My cat is on fire!)

Hey folks,

I'd thought I'd bring my first game design to the table (cough) and see what you all think.

The working title is "¡Mi gato se arde!" (My cat is on fire!).

It's a board game for up to 4 players and I'm still in the early stages of developement and testing out mechanics.

Basic premise: A cat is loose in the neighborhood and you're one of four characters trying to catch it. Owner, Little Timmy, Animal Control and Bruce - the genetically engineered dog/DOD project gone wrong.

The game board is a series of 25 interconnected squares through which you and the cat can move. The cat's movements are driven by both a series of random events (cards drawn at the end of each turn) and cat-physics, which state that a startled cat will travel in a straight line as rapidly as possible until stopped or forced to turn.

Directions you and the cat can move are North, South, East and yes, West. If the cat hits a 'wall' (the end of the board) it continues it's movements in a randomly determined direction.

Every turn the players can move 1 square, and also play cards which can influence the cat's movements, their own movements and the movements of other players.

At the end of every turn an event card is drawn which can cause the cat to move, stay put, lose a life or some combination of those events. The cat has 9 lives. If all 9 lives are lost, the game is over with no winner.

Players start the game with a hand of 5 cards, and draw a card at the beginning of their turn. Their cards can increase their movement, alter the movement of the cat, hinder other players and of course, put a burning cat out.

The object is to be the only player on the same square as the cat (and the cat can be just passing by) and have the ability to capture it. You cannot capture a burning cat.

So those are the basics. I'm still working on a rough out playing board and cards.

I know this is still pretty early in this game's life but I'd welcome comments and questions.

Ben