I like to find little card games on Board Game Arena. And one of the new ones that I’ve found is a little game called Scratch & Catch. This is a game about collecting cats and getting rid of pesky fleas. It’s a simple game to learn and play, but is it a fun game and what might it compare to, in some ways, for me? Join me as I look at all of that and decide if Scratch & Catch is going to scratch that board gaming itch for you, in a good way.

How To Play Scratch & Catch?

Scratch & Catch is a game about collecting cats, positive points, and getting rid of fleas because they are negative points. You start out with a number of flea tokens based off of how many players there are (more for fewer players) and a hand of four cat cards. Four cat cards are flipped into a center row and placed in numerical order leaving space for the missing numbers.

Your Turn

One your turn you do two things. You play two cards. Now these cards are played either from your hand or from the draw pile. If you play it from the draw pile, it is a random flip. The other thing is that the first card you play doesn’t give you anything. It doesn’t help you gain cats or get rid of fleas. And the second card will help you do one or another.

If your second card stacks on top of another number, you take the adjacent numbers, so 4 and 6 if you stacked a 5, and add them to your scoring pile. If you play a cat card and it is part of a run, and the only card in the stack, you get rid of that many fleas. But there is a third thing that can happen as well. If your second card is a Scratch card, dark border, your opponents gain a flea for each card in that number stack as well as either your run or stacking bonus.

End Game

The game ends in one of two ways. When one player gets rid of all their fleas. Then you continue around until everyone has taken an even number of turns. Or when the draw pile runs out, and same that everyone takes an even number of turns. At the end of the game all the cats are positive one point that you have collected. And the fleas, depending on how many you have, they are worth negative points.

What Doesn’t Work?

There is some luck in this game. I always talk about luck in what doesn’t work. So maybe I should just say strategy and luck section and talk about that ratio in the future. But it is possible that you’ll end up with a hand that just doesn’t do much for you, so you need to draw one or two cards off the top. And depending on how other players interact with the row of cats, a good turn can be destroyed. But this is a fast game, so I expect more luck in it.

What Works?

Let’s start with the speed of the game and it is fast. You decide between four cards and that’s it, sure you can draw off the top, but that is only if your cards are bad. The game itself is really fast to play and there aren’t that many turns for it. Which again makes it a very fast game when it comes to turns and how long the game lasts.

I think that there is a little strategy that is fun in the game as well. Scratch & Catch is very simple, but it reminds me of having clever moments like Parade does. I compare it to that one because it is a very simple and light card playing game. But as you play cards, and playing two cards, you set yourself up for some fun turns. And giving your opponents more fleas while getting a bunch of positive points, or losing a bunch of fleas yourself is fun.

Who Is Scratch & Catch For?

This is a filler game. I put it into that category of filler game where it is going to be a good one for more casual gamers or taking back for a family vacation or seeing family at holidays. I easily can teach it to anyone, people will find it fun, and they will like finding ways to give other people more fleas. The simplicity of the game, even compared to Parade which is a bit more to it, might make it too simple a filler for more of a serious gaming group. But I think it could still work even in those cases because it is that fast.

Final Thoughts and Grade on Scratch & Catch

I enjoy this game a bunch on BGA. It isn’t out in print yet, so wait for it to show up. I guess that it might be an Essen Spiele release. I expect that I will enjoy it in person as well. It is that right amount of an interesting decision or two, but not a brain burner sort of a game. While I compare it to Parade, that one definitely has more strategy to it.

Scratch & Catch is more of a game where you want to talk through it. It is one that could work well for a group at a brewery who want to play a game but want to keep drinking and talking as well. Or it is for a game night where your gamers are in a more social mood versus pulling out a heavier game. And I like owning some games like that. Plus my game group loves cats, a lot, so I can see them very much enjoying this game for the goofy cat artwork and theme.

My Grade: B
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: B+
Luck (out of 10): 4
Strategy (out of 10): 4

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