2023Brett Harrison, Lex Terenchin
- Videos
- 30
- Creators
- 17
2 - 5 players60 - 120 minMedium weight

2026Jeff McArthur
Mainly how-to-play. Sanctuary: The Game of Cat Rescue is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 1 reviews, 2 how-to-play guides, 1 recorded sessions, and 1 unboxings.
From BoardGameGeek
CATS. They're adorable, they're playful, they're our little fur babies. And now you get to rescue them! Players take charge of sanctuaries, gathering resources and taking cats out of the city shelter. They then match those adorable pets with adopters who are searching for their unique traits. A turn consists of three phases. In the first phase, each player first taking three actions. These actions include pulling cats from the city shelter, drawing more goals or subsidies cards, gathering food to feed the cats, building out their sanctuaries, etc. In the second phase, each player tries to adopt up to two cats to adopters. Each adopter has an adoption number which must be reached. The player rolls a d4 and adds the cat's adoption bonus, as well as +1 for every trait symbol it has which matches a trait symbol the adopter has. If the total is the adoption number or higher, the adoption succeeds and the player gains victory points. In the third phase, the players check to see if the city shelter is overcrowded and any cats inside are put down, they can trade cats among each other, they feed their cats, and they roll to see how many more cats go into the city shelter and how many more adopters are drawn. The game continues for 4-6 turns, depending on the number of players. At the end of the last turn, players see who has accomplished several achievements. The rescuers who find the most homes for cats, and who achieve other goals, will win the game. But if city shelter fills up beyond capacity, everyone loses. -description from the publisher
Sanctuary: The Game of Cat Rescue has 5 videos from 3 creators: 1 review, 2 how-to-play guides, 1 playthrough and 1 unboxing. They date from 2025 to October 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "SANCTUARY: The game of Cat Rescue | LIVE PLAYTHROUGH" by Get Gaymin', which runs 2 h 39 min. For a quicker teach, "Sanctuary: The Game of Cat Rescue - 2 Player How to Play" by Merry Married Meeples runs 14 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Sanctuary: The Game of Cat Rescue - DT Preview with Mark Streed" by The Dice Tower. To see it played, watch "I Will Find The Felines Homes! - Sanctuary: The Game of Cat Rescue Solo Play" by Merry Married Meeples.
If you like it, try Holotype: Mesozoic North America, Aquaria, Disney Animated or Explorers of Navoria, which share several of its mechanics.
2023Brett Harrison, Lex Terenchin
2 - 5 players60 - 120 minMedium weight
2023Matt Christianson, Prospero Hall, Ashwin Kamath, Chris Rowlands
2 - 4 players40 - 80 minMedium weight
2024Meng Chunlin
2 - 4 players40 - 80 minMedium weight
From BoardGameGeek:
CATS. They're adorable, they're playful, they're our little fur babies. And now you get to rescue them! Players take charge of sanctuaries, gathering resources and taking cats out of the city shelter. They then match those adorable pets with adopters who are searching for their unique traits. A turn consists of three phases. In the first phase, each player first taking three actions. These actions include pulling cats from the city shelter, drawing more goals or subsidies cards, gathering food to feed the cats, building out their sanctuaries, etc. In the second phase, each player tries to adopt up to two cats to adopters. Each adopter has an adoption number which must be reached. The player rolls a d4 and adds the cat's adoption bonus, as well as +1 for every trait symbol it has which matches a trait symbol the adopter has. If the total is the adoption number or higher, the adoption succeeds and the player gains victory points. In the third phase, the players check to see if the city shelter is overcrowded and any cats inside are put down, they can trade cats among each other, they feed their cats, and they roll to see how many more cats go into the city shelter and how many more adopters are drawn. The game continues for 4-6 turns, depending on the number of players. At the end of the last turn, players see who has accomplished several achievements. The rescuers who find the most homes for cats, and who achieve other goals, will win the game. But if city shelter fills up beyond capacity, everyone loses. -description from the publisher
Designer
Jeff McArthur
Publisher
Bandwagon Games
Mechanics