@Marx I’ve been considering Cats Knocking Things Off Ledges as a birthday present for my almost-11-year-old, but I’ve been a little put off by its BGG ratings.
We frequently fail to get her birthday games played consistently, and she doesn’t like longer or more involved games unless they are cooperative, so I had hoped that something lighter might work better for her. But is there any game there?
@apcshields Yes. It’s not a deep or thoroughly strategic game by any measure, but it is fun.
Now, a couple warning caveats:
I nabbed it for $20CAD, and I think it’s a very solid choice at that price. It’s not a $50 game, though (whereas Ice Cool, which I also got for $20, I would happily pay $50 for and still say it’s a great game).
So, yes. It’s good. I would also say that any BGG rating in the 6s tends to be polarizing: it’s an indication that people either like it, or they don’t (unlike 7s, which everyone likes and some people love). It’s a gamble, but if you can find it for a relatively good price, it’s a low risk gamble.
Oh, make sure you have a steady, sturdy table to play on.
I hope that helps?
EDIT:
The game itself is very straight forward.
There are two types of platform: small round ones that take 1 leg, or long rectangular ones that take 2 legs. Legs are either long or short (so you can take a rectangle and 2 long legs, or a round and 1 short leg, for example). You must place the tier so that the top doesn’t rest on another platform, but other than that you can kinda do anything (start a new cat tree, build under the existing one, link two together, etc). Each platform has a type of toy displayed on it (fish, catnip, pizza, or mouse).
Once you’ve built your new platform, you have to use these tweezers to place your cat anywhere that doesn’t already have a cat. it doesn’t have to be the highest point, or the platform you just built, but the cat must move, and there can’t be another cat on the platform it moves to.
Then, using the tweezers, you place a toy of your choice on the same platform as your cat.
Then, using the little Paw Tool (which is adorable), you have to push the toy off your platform so it lands on another platform (without hitting the table). You score 1 point for every “level” (short leg height) the toy fell, +1 point if the toy landed on a platform displaying that toy (so a pizza pushed from a platform that is 1 tall leg and 1 short leg above the platform it landed on would score 3 points, unless that lower platform displayed pizza on it, in which case it would be worth 4 points).
First player to 10 points ends the game, at which point every other player gets 1 more turn to try and beat them, and then highest score wins.
Best score I’ve seen was 15 points (total), and the best single round score I’ve seen was 8 points (3 tall legs and a short leg above the target, and the platform was the right type).
There is strategy, and a lot of ways to nudge the game in your favour (literally and metaphorically). You can “trap” another player’s cat with the table legs you place. You can aim for another player’s toy when you drop your own to make it less likely you will bounce. You can go for safer targets (building a lower tier so you can push something down from a more stable position) or you can try and balance precariously so that the next player has a tougher time.
Anyway! It’s good!
Thank you! That’s very helpful!
I’ve played Meadow and I’m afraid it didn’t grab me. First and lower-complexity game, and there was nothing offensively wrong with it, it just… didn’t grab me. Felt like a 45 minute game that took two hours.
That’s sad. But no game is for everyone! 
Is Flip 7 with a Vengeance worth getting? I’ve played Flip 7 a few times on BGA and enjoyed it and I’m looking for a card game to get my father in law for Father’s day (well, as a suggestion for my wife to get him!)
Is Flip 7 with a Vengeance worth the extra few quid?
Also happy to take other small card game recommendations. Ideally ones that play with 2 (which I know Flip 7 doesn’t).
Point Salad maybe?
Hmm. It’s tricky.
I have both original F7 and F7V and which one I play depends primarily on the mood of the table. F7 is more of a cheerful party game like a simpler Quacks of Quedlinburg, while F7V is more confrontational and therefore slightly more complex. My mini rules cover both games so that may help. Roger's Pocketmod rules
Sea Salt & Paper has become my pocket game that I take to non-gaming gatherings, pushing out Red 7, though I’d still recommend both.
I’ve got Sea Salt and Paper so not that.
F7 sounds the better option then - mother in law and wife not really into confrontational games! 
(this is why I get to play so few games as wife and in-laws are my usual gaming group apart from a fortnightly group in the village - which also tends towards the easier games!)
Yes, the reputation is that vengeance is a little nastier.
You might find ideas here:
As well as a bunch of 2p suggestions from SUSD and NPI: Search results for '"two player" in:title order:latest' - tekeli.li forums, including unofficial SU&SD discussion
As memory serves, Scout (and by extension Dnup) have 2 player modes, and Scout is great.
The Crew has a really interesting and straightforward 2-player system that works quite well, but it is still better woth 3-5 players.
Cat in the Box is great, but the scoring and rules are a touch complicated for a lightweight, and it can be rather mean.
Other than that… Sushi Go? I haven’t tried it at 2, but I suspect it’s functional, and very good with 3+ players.
A friend has said:
“I’ve been exploring big, epic games recently and I’m after recommendations: things in the vein of Twilight Imperium, the kind that fill a whole day (8 to 10 hours).
The catch: I don’t want anything too war gamey. I’m much more interested in negotiation, politics, scheming and storytelling than pushing counters around a hex map. For context, I’m a big RPG person, so anything with strong narrative energy is a bonus.”
Every “epic” game I can think of is a wargame with counters on a map, even if it also has hours of negotiation. Does anyone have ideas that fit this?
(I mentioned Outer Rim / Firefly / Xia, Arkham Horror / Mansions of Madness / Eldritch Horror, bidding wars like Ra or Zoo Vadis.
Very long negotiation: Blood on the Clocktower, 70’s DUNE but it’s very much counters on a map too.
Arcs and Oath but not “Root” as that’s literally a troops on a map game. Molly House and John Company 2nd and Pax Pamir 2nd.
Any ideas?
Star Trek Ascendancy looks wargamey but that’s only one of several things going on. Might be worth considering at least.
6-hour talky games used to include Battlestar Galactica, does anyone know if Unfathomable is good?
I’ve never played it, but Diplomacy sounds like it might fit?
Votes for Women is a 2 player war game, but the theme makes it not feel like one.
A lot of 18xx titles are long and are very interactive. There are a lot better people than me to advise.
Dominant Species is another long, highly rated game that I’ve never played.
Very much Diplomacy, but it’s too wargamey for them. Totally fits on the “all day negotiating” though.
I’ve played Unfathomable once and it seemed like a very awkward fit for its theme. One might do better to track down a copy of Dark Moon instead.
Ooh, Sidereal Confluence.
Yeah, Sidereal Confluence is an excellent recommendation (as well as the easier, more streamlined Empires, although I haven’t played that one).
Archipelago, if you can find a copy, would be a great fit. New Angeles is very good too. It has troops, but they aren’t used against other players… sorta like Pandemic Fall of Rome, but with more backatabbing.
If you want to lean into the betrayal mechanics, Dead of Winter is a banger (but long until you are used to it).
Oh, and those huge, ridiculous trading games might be worth a look (Western Civilization and Eastern Civilization, played together as Mega Civilization). I don’t think they have armies? I think they are just trading. I think.
The King’s Dilemma (and possibly the new sequel, The Queen’s Dilemma) definitely scratch that itch. The original is very good, although the final scoring at the end of the campaign is a little chaotic, we had fun throughout.
Cole Werhle’s games sounds like the great fit. John Company was just the thing I was thinking. The King’s Dilemma fits the bill as well.