The Isle of Cats Duel

The Isle of Cats Duel is a 2-player polyomino game. You take turns claiming polyominoes from a common board to place on your personal player board. At game end you score points based on how well you have filled your player board.  

On the common board there are both polyominoes (cats in various colours and poses) and scoring cards. On your turn you must move the white cat token two steps. You then claim the item it is on or the item it has just passed through. Scoring cards specify various conditions. You score points if you fulfil them at game end. Cats are placed on your player board (boat). Every cat you place must be adjacent to an existing polyomino. 

Certain sections on your boat are rooms. Every room that you fully cover is worth points. Some spaces are rats. Any that you don’t cover will cost you points. You want to keep cats of the same colour together, because you score points for doing that. Certain spaces when covered by a cat of a specific colour give you extra polyominoes. That helps you fill your boat. During the game you can collect fish, which can be spent for special actions, e.g. you can move the cat marker an additional step, or you can make it jump anywhere. Fish give you extra flexibility. 

This game offers a spatial puzzle. You have multiple goals. Completely covering rooms, covering rats and grouping cats by colour are just the basics. The scoring cards give you many more goals. Sometimes you claim a scoring card for the sake of denying your opponent. The main board is refreshed three times. You don't always take everything. When both players pass in succession (passing means not taking any item), the board is refreshed. 

You will be constantly competing for items with your opponent. You have to watch out for what they need and which scoring cards are useful to them. Even though you can't directly interfere with their board, you can take the items they need, which can certainly spoil their plans. There are quite many polyomino games in the market and I have played many of them. The Isle of Cats Duel is decent but I did not find it particularly outstanding. If you like polyomino games and you often play 2-player games, this will work well.