CATsle Builders
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Some play too high, some too low. Some intentionally come in third — and build the tower they've been needing for three hands.
What it's about
A trick-taking game disguised as an architect competition
CATsle Builders was born in Japan from the minds of Yozaemon Matumoto and Fukutarou, with modern ukiyo-e style illustrations by Satsuki Nakayama. It is a remake of Anou, the game that won the Trick Taking Party 2017 — an award reserved for the best trick-taking game of the year in the Japanese scene.
Every hand is a card battle: take the first, second, or third trick. But the point isn't to win. The point is to be in the right position to build the castle piece you've been waiting for. Towers, gates, walls, storerooms, moats: they are all needed, but in a different order depending on how the turn plays out.
The result is a game where sometimes you want to lose the hand. Where second place is worth more than first. Where reading your opponents' cards matters as much as your own. Thirty minutes, no language barrier, zero table space. A small masterpiece in a pocket-sized box.
The trick-taking game where winning the trick isn't always the right choice. Sometimes third place builds the tower that the other two can no longer have.
The secret of CATsle Builders in one line
It takes ten minutes to learn but the choices never end. Every hand is a small, head-down calculation — then you look up and laugh at what happened.
From the game experience
CATsle Builders
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · based on rules, origin, and game sessionsWhat's in hand
The four elements that decide the game
The numbered cards
The heart of trick-taking. High, low, medium — each is a calculated risk to get the right position.
5 types of buildings
Towers, walls, gates, storerooms, moats. Each can only be built by reaching a certain position.
The castle blueprint
The secret map that tells you what you need. Building in order is worth more — but it's not always possible.
Hand positions
First, second, third. Each ranking unlocks a different building. Sometimes you want to lose — and you do it on purpose.
A game lasts half an hour. The chatter about who played that three of spades lasts much longer.
🃏Recommended Sleeves1 size · 60 cards total
📖RulesEnglish · Official BGG PDF
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
Look at your hand, look at the blueprint
The cards arrive. Someone smiles, someone raises an eyebrow. Everyone has their castle plan in front of them and is already calculating: two towers, a gate, a wall are needed. In what order? It depends on how the first tricks fall. The table is silent for exactly six seconds.
The first twist
Time to play the first card. Someone plays low, expecting to lose — and instead wins the trick because everyone else played extremely low. The look on their face when they realize they've taken the wrong position is already worth the price of the box.
Calculations get tight
Mid-game. Someone already has three castle pieces, someone else only one. The cards in hand decrease, options shrink, reading the table becomes everything. You think before playing. Sometimes you even think too much — and someone says "come onnn" out loud.
The clever sacrifice
There's a moment in every game where someone deliberately plays a terrible card. Everyone understands a second later — they wanted to finish third. They wanted that building. Silent applause at the table. Someone mutters "bad move, but brilliant".
Castles on the table, scores at the end of the hand
Last trick. Someone completes their castle in perfect order, someone has a piece out of place. Buildings are counted, the winner is declared — and immediately the reconstruction of that fourth-round trick begins. "If only I had played the seven instead of the nine..." Shuffle up. Play again.
How to play
The flow of each trick
Four quick, repeating steps. Explained in ten minutes, fun from the first hand.
Each player receives a hand of cards and looks at their secret castle blueprint: which buildings are needed and in what order it's best to build them.
The first player plays a card, others must follow suit. High against low, suit against suit — a small war in four cards.
Whoever played highest is first, then second, then third. Each position unlocks a different building — and first isn't always what you really wanted.
Add the piece to your board. If you follow the blueprint's order, you get bonuses. Otherwise, you still build — but it will be worth less at the end of the game.
Why it's different from others
Six mechanics that make it special
Winning the trick is not the goal
Unlike almost all trick-taking games, first place here is not automatically the best. Each position gives a different building — and sometimes the third place building is the piece you've been missing for three hands.
The secret blueprint changes everything
Everyone has their own castle map. You're not playing against others — you're trying to follow a precise order while they do the same with different plans. Competition, but personal.
Thirty minutes, dense decisions
A game is short, but every single trick is a charged micro-choice: which card to play, which position to aim for, which building can wait. No downtime, zero analysis paralysis.
Building in order is worth more
The blueprint rewards those who follow the sequence. But the sequence isn't always possible — and skipping a piece costs. Balancing adherence to the blueprint and adaptation is the core of the strategy.
Language independent
Cards are numbered and illustrated, buildings are icons. It can be played in any language without losing anything. The official English rulebook is enough to master it all.
Heir to a Japanese award
It's a re-edition of Anou, winner of the Trick Taking Party 2017 — the award for the best indie trick-taking games in Japan. The original spirit is still there, better packaged.
How to win
Two paths to the strongest castle
It's not just who builds the most — it's also who builds well. Order matters as much as quantity, and sometimes a small but perfect castle beats a large but chaotic one.
Victory
- Build more buildings following the order of your secret blueprint
- Or complete the blueprint sequence for double-value bonuses
- The strongest castle at the end of the game wins — not who took the most tricks
Weak castle
- Build disorderly, ignoring the blueprint sequence
- You settle for any position without planning which one you truly want
- You don't read others' cards and always end up in the wrong ranking
CATsle Builders is a small gem of Japanese design. Elegant, fast, deeper than the box suggests.
Frequently asked questions
FAQ about CATsle Builders
What distinguishes it from other trick-taking games?
The fact that winning the trick is not always the right choice. In almost all traditional trick-taking games, you fight to take the first trick; here, each position — first, second, third — unlocks a different building. Sometimes losing on purpose is the best move, and this completely changes the pace of the game compared to Bridge, Spades, or Tichu.
Do you need to know Japanese to play?
No. CATsle Builders is language-independent: numbered cards, icon-based buildings, no in-game text. The official rulebook is available as a free PDF in English, so you don't even need to know Japanese to learn the rules.
Is it suitable for those who have never played trick-taking games?
Yes, it's an excellent gateway. The basic rules of trick-taking are simple (follow suit, highest card wins) and the building variant gives a tangible objective beyond just taking tricks. The first game is already smooth — subsequent hands open up deeper strategic levels.
With how many players does it work best?
With 4 players, it's probably the ideal balance point — each trick has three useful positions and a rich table read. With 3, it's more controllable and faster. With 5, it becomes more chaotic and predicting others' hands becomes almost impossible, which can be fun if you're looking for unpredictability.
Is it the same game as Anou?
It is the official re-edition. Anou won the Trick Taking Party 2017, a highly respected award in the Japanese indie scene. CATsle Builders maintains the key mechanics while refining the theme and improving components and illustrations. Those who played Anou will recognize it immediately — and the new artwork is definitely more polished.
How long does a game really last?
Thirty minutes is a realistic estimate after the first game. The very first one might take ten minutes longer to explain the rules and read the blueprints. It's a perfect game as a filler before a more demanding evening — or as the last game when someone says "come on, just one more".
CATsle Builders is a trick-taking board game for 3–5 players (ages 10+, duration 30–40 min). Designed by Yozaemon Matumoto and Fukutarou, illustrations by Satsuki Nakayama, published by Fukuroudou. Main mechanic: trick-taking with secret blueprint set collection. Each player builds a castle of five building types by collecting cards based on the position achieved in each trick. Re-edition of Anou, winner of the Trick Taking Party 2017 Grand Prize. Language-independent game, rules in English. Japanese import edition. Available on FroGames.it.
CATsle Builders
Frequently Asked Questions
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