The best games to have on your shelf are games that are easy enough to teach friends that don’t play board games and in some cases children when family comes over. BOOoop! Is the perfect game to keep front and center especially during the Halloween or Fall season.
What’s in the box?
BOOoop! is a 2-player game and that’s exactly what you get! The game box is the game board, along with the pad that you lay over the top, then you get kittens and cats for both players, and a ghost cat for each player. If you’re interested, on the Smirk & Dagger website you can purchase extra sets of cats to personalize your game.
Gameplay & Design
This game is one of the easiest games I’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching people. Most people know how to play the basics of the game already for the most part, think tic-tac-toe meets checkers. Each player takes turns placing a kitten, but every time a kitten touches down all other surrounding kittens get ‘Booped’ back one space making you think two to three turns ahead to make your moves. Then once you get three of your kittens in a row they get combined into a cat. To win the game you need to get three cats in a row. Sounds simple but playing against somebody that has a similar skill level to you can make the game back some really good back and forth.
When adding in the ghost cat, it turns your quick back and forth game into something you have to plan ahead and plan quickly for. A Ghost cat can easily derail your entire plan in an instant. When booping, kittens can’t boop cats, and if there’s another cat or kitten blocking it they won’t boop over. However when a ghost cat spooks one of your cats or kittens it will jump over blocking cats and kittens. The ghost cat moves slow so as long as you’re on the other side of the board you have a few turns to make your moves but that count down clock moves fast. It’s really fun aspect to make an already fun game more intense.
I think BOOoop! And the normal boop. games are an excellent choice to add too your main stays or travel games but I’d recommend BOOoop! anyday because the theming is awesome and adorable and the ghost cats are actually a really great mechanic.
Feedback
Small nitpicks for this game, I think it’s a great travel sized game but the box is pretty big for what it is. It should come with a smaller more foldable version inside or even a premium travel version. But also, while the pad it comes with is cute the ghost cat travels between squares and because of this it tends to fall over a lot, a minor inconvenience but it can get annoying having to fix your ghost cat over and over especially when it’s knocking down other cats.
Verdict
BOOoop! is cute, clever, and just the right amount of spooky. It’s easy to teach, surprisingly strategic, and perfect for quick sessions during a cozy fall evening. Whether you’re introducing new players to board games or just want something fun and seasonal to play, this little ghostly spin on boop. is a fantastic choice. Despite a couple of small physical quirks, BOOoop! easily earns a spot as one of the most charming and replayable two-player games out there.
If you’re looking for more two-player board games, check out our X-Men Dice Throne review!
