Pope Leo and His Cats
Pope Leo loves his cats. He takes them with him wherever he goes. Seeking a restful respite in a remote monastery, Leo has traveled to the countryside with his cats for a few days of restful contemplation. His cats have other plans...
Leo's cats love the remote monastery for other reasons. It’s a new place to play one of their favorite games - hide-and-seek. Now, night has settled over the rambling monastery and Leo’s cats are loose amongst its rooms and passages. Leo simply can’t get to sleep without knowing that his cats are all safe and sound with him, so he sets out to find them.
As one of the cats, your goal is to play the game with Leo: lure him toward your rivals, tempt him into opening the doors you have closed, and remain free and on-the-run longer than anyone else.
Core mechanics
- Cats move, close doors and add instructions for the Pope each turn.
- The Pope Movement Plan grows every round, but its order never stays predictable.
- Score when the Pope opens your doors and by surviving longer than your rivals.
Even capture does not end your influence. You keep feeding instructions into the chase, giving every player a hand in the monastery’s mounting chaos until the final Cat is caught.
Oh yeah, it won an award
The design prototype of Shepherding Cats won the 2026 RageCon Game Design Competition. The revised game is now in playtesting. It is a fast-paced tabletop game of prediction, opportunism, and manic pursuit!
