That Darn Cat - A Pulp Alley Game

School holidays have begun and the boys and I got in a game of Pulp Alley over the weekend. When I originally told them about the black cat, my eldest suggested it would make a great objective for a game, so that's what we did.

Gloria Nixon, the Hollywood starlet, has been on location at Abu Sif , shooting her latest epic, The Sands of Love. Somewhere along the line, her precious cat has wandered away. For Gloria, leading men are nothing compared to that cat and she has offered a sizable reward for its return. Where there's money to be had there are men (and women) of dubious morals who are willing to have it. Three groups have descended on Abu Sif with a glint in their eyes.

The three leagues: Jack Sampson and his adventurers (run by Master S).

The mad scientist Dr Veruckthaar and his cronies and creations (Master M).

Hogard and his league of spies, the Eyes of Cairo (myself).

The plot points: the black cat, in the centre of the table. At the end of each turn, the cat will wander d6" in a random direction. It will do the same if someone unsuccessfully tries to grab it, and if anyone drops it.

The food stall, with some morsels that may lure the cat.

Pots... of milk!?

A cosy corner for a catnap.

The sailor who has befriended the cat.

Turn one, and the Eyes of Cairo focus on catching the cat. (Note Miss Margaretha is hiding.)

Any resemblance is purely a product of your imagination. (Hogard and Jorge)

The sailor faces a rodent problem.

The robot goes in search of cat food.

But Jack beats him to the prize

The makings of a serious kerfuffle as adventurers and science experiments move into the market.

The start of turn two, the cat has not really gone anywhere.

Animal action.

The monkey discovers he has catastrophic lactose intolerance (he failed this plot point and went down and out).

Can someone give me a hand here?

Miss Margaretha, the sinister floozy, deploying her feminine wiles against the sailor.

Stanley discovers his wiles are less enticing.

Turn three and the cat ambles indoors.

Turn four (nothing really happened in turn three!). The cat slinks out the back door and seemingly into the clutches of the adventurers.

But the spies have other ideas. Hogard guns down the sharpshooter...

And Mr Blunt jumps in and grabs the cat.

He tries to run at the start of turn five,  but some nefarious child plays a Trip-Up card, meaning he can only stumble 3" - not nearly far enough.

Here they come. Robot - survived.

Dog, dodged.

Ace Mason. Urgh.

The situation at the start of the last turn. The cat has skittered. Mr Blunt is the only character who is able to get to the cat and pass the plot point.

Master S decides to blow him away with Ace, but I play a Phantom Agent card which enables me to get the activation instead. (If you're reading Kevin, thanks for suggesting that card to the Pulp Alley team!)

Blunt grabs the cat. He only has to survive gunfire from three characters, including two leaders. If you've read any of my reports, you'll know where this is going...

That darn cat! Another game that goes down to the last roll. Lots of fun - the boys certainly enjoyed putting the boot in!

Oh, and the people who fell off walls score for this game: 2. Stanley survived. Erich, not so much.