Award

Jul 31, 2023

Colossal Cat in the Box hits Kickstarter, adding enlarged components and two expansions to the award-winning trick-taking board game.

Mollie Russell

Published: Aug 30, 2023

After winning multiple Golden Geek board game awards, Cat in the Box has launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new expanded edition. ‘Colossal Cat in the Box’ features two new expansions, a sized-up version of the original game, and higher quality components. Publisher Bezier Games began its Cat in the Box crowdfunding campaign on August 29, and it’s already raised over $90,000 (£70,000).

Cat in the Box is a trick-taking game with a quantum twist. Based on Schroedinger’s Cat, the game awards you points for scoring tricks of the same color – but the color of your cards isn’t determined until you play them. Racking up combos and avoiding paradoxes is your key to scientific success.

The Golden Geek Awards named Cat in the Box the most innovative game of 2022, as well as its light game of the year. Basically, it’s one of the best board games to come out of last year. (We had high hopes for fellow nominee Blood on the Clocktower, who was up for five awards, but Cat in the Box still very much deserves its wins).

Colossal Cat in the Box features an edition of the core game that’s 400% bigger than the original (this doesn’t include the cards – which have bigger numbers but remain the same size). Cat-shaped game trays and a 3D first-player token complete the core game package.

The two new expansions, ‘String Theory’ and ‘The Doppler Effect’, apparently “change up the game in subtle yet intriguing ways”. String Theory introduces string connectors which create larger continuous areas for more tokens. Doppler Effect makes paradoxes less likely, giving more flexibility to players.

The game’s core pledge costs $59 (£46.61). Spend $79 (£62.41) and you’ll also receive a Cat in the Box plushie, while $99 ($78.20) nabs you an even bigger, ‘colossal’ cat plushie to go with your game.

Add-on pledges for the Kickstarter campaign include extra cat plushies, as well as Cat in the Box card sleeves. The crowdfunding campaign concludes on September 27.

Want more games like Cat in the Box? We can recommend the best card games, the best party board games, and the best gateway games for beginners. If you’re after something colossal, check out our Frosthaven review to learn more about the biggest game we’ve played this year (literally).