Meow Heist Review
Advert: this game was gifted by Nekuma Games, this has not affected our opinion.
Meow Heist is one of the first offerings from new regional publishing studio Nekuma. This new publisher stems from Asmodee’s acquisition of Japon Brand from CMON. Asmodee is undoubtedly the behemoth of the board game industry. Many wouldn’t realise that some of the most renowned board game publishers fall underneath their umbrella: Days of Wonder, Lookout, Repos Production, Rebel, Plan B, Libellud, Space Cowboys, now sit alongside Nekuma who have been charged with finding and introducing Japanese games to the rest of the world and vice-versa.
After such a factual introduction I feel like I should branch off on some amusing ditty, but on this occasion I am going to leave the start of this review all rather grown-up, well at least by my standards!
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Setup
Give everyone a deck of cards and matching player screen. Each players hand of cards is identical but the numbers included in it varies depending on player count.
Shuffle the deck of Safe cards and form a draw deck in the middle of the table.
Create a pile of pebbles (black gems) in the middle of the table and pass the bag of gems to the first player, you are ready to become cat burglars!
Gameplay
The lead player will turn over a Safe card, and draw the number of gems on the card from the bag. Gems come in three colours: blue, yellow and red, which are worth one, two or three points respectively at the end of the game.
From their hands of numbered cards, each player simultaneously selects one card to play. This will be the number of gems that they will be hoping to steal from the safe. These cards are revealed starting with the first player, taking gems accordingly. The catch is that if anyone plays the same card as you they steal the gems off you. Also, if there are no coloured gems available you have to take the black pebbles which are worth one negative point each.
Once everyone has revealed their cards and taken gems, players that have retained gems store those behind their player screen. The first player moves round one person to the left until everyone has had a turn at drawing from the bag (or twice at lower player counts). Scores are then tallied and the person with the most points can be crowned as the winner, or the best cat burglar!
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What it’s like
There really is no honour amongst thieves and Meow Heist exemplifies this perfectly! This game is centred around the ‘oh no’ moments where gems get stolen or negative gems get taken. With the right group of people these reactions make the game.
Fortunes can change from round to round as ultimately what cards people play is a little random, that means it is possible to have a terrible round. This game is often about trying to predict what other players will do, or mitigating risk. Where you sit in relation to the first player can make a big difference as to what card you play too. There isn’t much strategy to Meow Heist, but there are still things to ponder when selecting your card. Mostly in relation to predicting what cards everyone else will play. Weighing up this is where I think the game gets interesting. More entertaining when you get it wrong – nothing like a bit of schadenfreude!
Games are very quick, due to the simultaneous play, so even if you are having a stinker you won’t be wasting too much time. Similarly it is a little tricky to get that invested in it either.
Meow Heist is very smooth, and works especially well at higher player counts. Younger players can also easily be accommodated, and will bring some random chaos to the game.
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Table Presence
Cats and board games seem to go together better than their canine counterparts. So now when I see a feline theme I am a little sceptical. However, if you are going to create a game about cat burglars, I guess chucking in some anthropomorphic pusses makes perfectly justifiable sense.
The gems are nice, the cards are good quality and illustrated nicely. The instructions were good, but there wasn’t much to convey anyway.
There really isn’t anything to complain about in terms of production and it all packs away in a perfectly sized box.
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Final thoughts on Meow Heist
Meow Heist is quick, silly, fun. If taken at face value and enjoyed for what it is.
I could easily see it becoming an end of night staple for that fast-paced “just one more game” situation, or when you are waiting for another player to arrive before you play other things.
I guess what I am trying to say is, Meow Heist is a very good little filler game that will create great moments with the right players.
Key Facts
Number of players: 3 to 6
Board Game Review Recommended Age: 8+
Publisher’s Recommended Age: 6+
Playing Time: 15 minutes
Setting Up and Take Down Time: 1 minute
Designers: Ibuink
Publisher: Nekuma Games
RRP: £TBA
Summary
Meow Heist offers a quick dose of gem snaffling fun which creates lovely moments of schadenfreude.
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Artwork and Components
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Complexity
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Instructions
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Interaction
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Value for Money
Overall
Pros
- Lots of player interaction
- Simultaneous play
- Up to six players
- Fun family filler game
Cons
- Not lots to think about
- High randomness
- Needs right group to shine
- Another cat-themed game
Need more games?
If you already own Meow Heist and enjoy it, or are looking for other inspiration, you might also like these similar games:
- Soda Jerk
- L’Oaf
- Cockroach Poker
- The Dealer
Reviewer’s Note
For clarity: we don’t get paid for our reviews. However, we were kindly gifted this game by Nekuma Games. We have tried not to let this affect our review in any way.
