Cat Says Moo
It looks like a children's card game and, indeed, that's exactly wha Cat Says Moo is. It's a Snap! variant that can be played enthusiastically by pre-school children but there's more to it than meets the eye, or the ear...
Cat Says Moo is a light card game designed by Matt Loter (aka Matt Fantastic) and published by Wacky Wizard. It's described as a 'tongue twisting party game' for 2-8 players. The cards have cute cartoon pictures of various animals plus an animal sound (ie: 'moo', 'meow', 'ribbet' etc). The sound, however, does not on most cards match the picture; a card depicting a frog may show the word 'baa' or 'moo' rather than 'ribbet'. In Snap! you win cards by being the first to spot a matching card. In Cat Says Moo, you're looking out for matching pictures and matching sounds: spot a pair of cats and you need to call out 'meow' but spot a pair of cards with 'meow' on them and you need to call out 'cat'. Play until one of the players runs out of cards and the win goes to the player that has the most cards.
It's simple enough for anyone to play and it's of course a speed game but it's the dissonance between the picture and sound on each card that creates a mental challenge for players - children and adults alike. Think of it as a simplified version of Stroop (Grand Gamers Guild) where your brain and tongue are forced to trip over the conflicting information on the cards.
Players tripping over their tongues invariably generates much hilarity, and with most plays of Cat Says Moo taking no more than 15 minutes this family-friendly game is never going to overstay its welcome.
