The Isle of Cats: Explore & Draw Review - with Tom Vasel

[@dancheston5786]

Really enjoy this one! Yes, I enjoy the full version more, but this still scratches that itch in a fraction of the time.

[@FemmeSensei]

Makes a lot of sense...the big experience is, well, big...takes a while, and space, to get it to the table. But I can take Explore and Draw with me on a weekend trip!

[@kmechwarrior1684]

More portable too, very nice, want this even though I already have the full size regular game.

[@RisingApe29]

patchwork doodle has the 'tiles' drawn flipped/mirrored on the cards as well to make it clearer, maybe they should have done that here

[@FemmeSensei]

Extra points for the fact that this is sustainable with reusable cards!

[@yovankablack6250]

Can't wait for your review of the new expansions 😊

[@spaztekwarrior]

I like the recent move to reusable sheets and dry erase markers. However this one has several different colours which will need a specific replacement when they run out.

[@rexation8952]

"Onix"...so we are playing with trained rock snake monsters that fit inside balls now? ...think you mean "Oshax" Completely agree with you otherwise... For times when the big 5- minute box of Isle of cats is too unwieldy

[@garylangford6755]

Love isle of cats. Love this one even more. Plays in 1/3 of the time. No downtime. Didn't find the original drafting that rewarding.

[@jakebless5061]

I had issues occasionally distinguishing cat families. Especially if you surrounded an empty space on all sides with 1 cat color. It wasn't a deal breaker though. Otherwise a very good game. Prefer the non flip and write version however.

[@BassForever]

I like everything about this version better except the actual drawing on the board part haha.

[@arnold2011]

How many times did Tom say “ Isle of cats”?

[@JohnFiala]

Heh. Looking at Isle of Cats and this game in the store, this one got bought because it was half the price of the full game! (And takes up less space on my shelf.) Played it at an ice cream shop last night, and even on the tiny tables they provided, we were able to play just fine! Tom's got a point about the borders of the cards, though. That's a good idea.

[@miistercrayon]

You can play isle of cats on board game arena if that’s the main draw.

[@PinothyJ]

I think you will find the roll and write version is the only draw.

[@Shazam0527]

They're not called Onyx, they're called Oshax :D

[@MatheusVenti]

So its a budget and pocket version of the original.

[@mandymcleod3918]

Incorrect information given about the "when you see an O you can draw a common treasure" . The O only appears once and stands for orange. There is also a starting letter of each other colour and you cover that letter with the same colour to be able to draw a common treasure. I only came here to find out how to pronounce Oshax but you screwed that up for me 😂😂

[@xshadowscreamx]

The wall of text for lessons bothers me. Too much to think about in one match.

[@StormCrow42]

You only get a few of them per game, it's just because they're on cards you don't get to keep that you have to have the reference sheet of which ones you actually picked. You just ignore the 20ish that you didn't pick.

[@benjaminspears8488]

I agree it would be nice if they were laid out a little differently.

[@kevinbhieey9188]

I didn't add this to my Kickstarter because I think it's actually a far-more-annoying version of Isle of Cats. Grabbing a tile and placing it in your ship? Piece of cake. Grabbing a colored pen and drawing the shape, hoping to not screw it up because you can't flip your example? GRRRRR! And then you have to figure out points from the multi-colored mess that you drew? GIVE. ME. TILES! (A large part of Isle of Cats' popularity is what your board looks like when you're done. This looks like GARBAGE.) What this ended up being is Complicated Cartographers. I no longer play Cartographers because of the scoring hassles. Whether you do it by the symbol or by using different-colored pens, stumbling through the scoring portion is not a fun way to end a game, especially when it's a Roll & Write, a genre that should be SIMPLE. Seeing this review tells me I made the correct decision.

[@benjaminspears8488]

We use marker pens for Cartographers and then shade in with coloured pencils and have always found scoring to be easy. I like the idea of tiles in most games, but they are a little more of a hassle to setup and put away.

[@DuGStp]

It better come with a lot of markers. Dry erase markers are a trash invention that are messy and always in a hurry to die, imo. Like isle of cats. Hard pass on this version.

[@RowleyBQC]

You get 4 sets of all the colours, I think 18 in total. It plays really well, if you enjoy the original and want a quicker n smaller version of the game it is perfect.

[@StormCrow42]

Online you can print pen/pencil friendly versions of the boats and lesson checklists. Instead of colors you could use different patterns or letter the squares in that case.