BOOoop (Halloween version)

In BOOoop., the cats will make the players go “aaaw!!!” while the ghosts make the cats go “aaargh!!!”.

Setup

Each player starts with eight kitten pieces and one ghost cat piece available for use, as well as eight adult cat pieces placed to the side.

The board is prepared by flipping over the game box and placing the 6×6 quilted grid on top (the “bed”).

Basic Gameplay

At the start of the game, you begin your turn by placing a kitten on any square on the bed. Then, if you placed it next to one or more other kittens (yours or your opponent’s), these get pushed (“booped”) one square away from the newly placed kitten. If a piece gets pushed off the bed, it’s returned to its player.

You can only boop a piece if there is a free space for it to move into.

If after all boops have been resolved you have managed to get three of your kittens in a row, you remove these from the board, place them to the side, and move three adult cats to your pool of available pieces.

Kittens cannot boop adult cats but adult cats can boop both kittens and other adult cats.

You win the game by having three of your adult cats in a row by the end of your turn.

You can also win by getting all your kittens converted to cats and then having all eight cats on the bed at the same time.

Ghost Cats

Thus far the rules are the same as the rules to regular boop., which you can play without issues using this Halloween edition. However, there is also a new addition to the rules, which is where you use the ghost cats:

At the end of your turn, you may choose to place your ghost cat on any of the seams pointing inwards around the edge of the bed.

On each of your subsequent turns, until it moves off the bed, the ghost cat moves one space towards the opposite side of the bed and boops any kitten or adult cat it moves next to. Unlike regular boops, pieces booped this way will always move to the next open space in the direction it is booped, no matter if this means it will have to jump across other pieces or even off the bed.

Play Experience And Replayability

BOOoop. is similar to other abstract board games such as Chess or Checkers in that the board state at the start of the game is always the same and winning or losing is entirely to do with what the players do, no element of chance. Each different placement of the first kitten on the bed will require a different approach, which may very from player to player and play style to play style. This makes BOOoop. highly replayable.

The game requires players to think multiple steps ahead in order to line up your kittens and cats in just the right ways, and in ways that your opponent cannot just destroy, sending you back to square one.

The added element of the ghost cat brings out this aspect even further as you know the ghost cat will move every turn and can plan for it, while that of course also applies to your opponent.

Even if you (like me) aren’t amazingly good at abstract games, BOOoop. is still a lot of fun. I like to at least attempt to strategise and I think this is a great game to get better at that, as the rules are simpler than in, for example, Chess, but conversely there’s a bit more to take into account than in something like Checkers. Additionally, the cute theme and art makes the game feel very friendly, even if it is hard.

Component, Art, And Theme

I love the Halloween theming of this game. I specifically held out on getting the original boop. game because I knew the Halloween version was coming.

As in the original game, the cats and kittens are adorable and this is only enhanced by their little hats and their little pumpkins. I especially love that the pieces have tails painted on the back. It’s a small detail, but it means that you aren’t just looking at the blank shape of your opponent’s pieces.

The bed, too, is glorious. It is soft enough to feel like a tiny mattress while still firm enough that the pieces don’t fall over all the time.

Finally, while I have yet to figure out what the ideal ways to use the ghost cat are, I find the way it is included in the game so clever thematically. I love that it moves on the seams between the squares, in a different realm to the rest of the cat so to speak. Felt but not seen.

Similar Games

If you like the rules of BOOoop. but either don’t care for the Halloween theme, don’t think you’ll enjoy the ghost cat rules, or do feel more attached to grey and orange cats than white and black ones, you could get the original boop. game instead.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for an abstract game of pieces moving on a grid but with even more (and changing) rules as well as a bit of story, I would recommend that you try That Time You Killed Me.

Final Thoughts

BOOoop. is exactly what it says on the tin (well, box): deceptively cute and very “thinky”. The setup is quick, the rules are easy to learn and teach, and despite all the strategising and thinking multiple steps ahead, each game is pretty short too. I only started playing a couple of weeks ago and it is already one of my favourite two-player games. I recommend it wholeheartedly to you too!