BOOoop

Game 3 of our “Halloween Half-term Spooktacular” is…

“BOOoop” played with Jack (.8.) and Toby (5).

“BOOoop” is a Halloween-themed version of “Boop” with a small extra expansion included.

“Boop” is an adorably cute two-player strategy game that can be best described as a slightly more complicated version of Noughts and Crosses.

The game board is set up with an adorably fun quilt, and players must place kittens (each player starts with eight) onto the squares on the board. If a player places a kitten next to any other kittens, the kittens are booped along one square, and if necessary, they fall off the edge of the bed and back into the player’s hand.

Players can control where these kittens are booped by arranging them in a way where one kitten cannot be booped due to the location of another kitten (there are no chain reactions).

When you manage to get three kittens in a row, those kittens are removed from the game and replaced with cats. Cats are stronger in that a cat can boop a cat or a kitten, but a kitten cannot boop a cat. The game continues until one player has three cats in a row, winning the game.

The game is easy to play and understand but becomes increasingly strategic as it goes on. Players set up multiple win conditions and attempt to manipulate their opponent into booping their cats into the right places.

This game has quickly become one of our absolute favourite games we’ve played this year. It is extremely simple to play yet highly strategic, making it balanced even when players of different ages participate.

This version also comes with two ghost cats that sit on the seams and, one turn at a time, move along the seam, booping any cats they come into contact with over one square. We played with this mini-expansion, but honestly, it doesn’t add much, and I prefer the game without using the ghost cats.

The component quality is extremely high; the meeples are beautifully made, the box serves as the bed, and the material quilt is of decent quality.

We absolutely adore “BOOoop” and it has already become a regular game in our rotation. It’s worth noting that this is purely a two-player game, which meant we ended up playing in pairs or hosting a little mini-tournament. There is potential for a 3 or 4-player version, though.

Visually, I prefer the Halloween version to the regular one, and I’m glad that’s the version I own. However, in my opinion, the ghost cats aren’t really worth it. So, if you own the regular version, it’s probably not worth thinking about upgrading. This version is also cheaper than the original so def get this one.

Normal Boop can be played on BGA so worth giving it a shot on there (although the component quality is a big factor in playing this).

This is definitely one of my strongest recommendations in a while and is a game suitable for playing with small children all the way up to grandparents.