Words by David C. Obenour
Booping! It’s not just for hoomans. Cats can boop too! At least, bigger cats are able to boop smaller kittens out of the way. Ringing in the holidays, Boop the Halls! is the latest game in the adorable and thinky world of 2-player feline fun known as boop. Different from boop. and BOOoop. (you guessed it, Halloween), Boop the Halls! offers players a chance to win nice by aligning three of their cats or win naughty by bat, bat, batting down your opponents carefully hung (and oh-so-shiny) tree ornaments. Santa is watching but he really doesn’t seem all that concerned either way. Who could get mad at the tomfoolery of these tomcats?
Off Shelf: Puzzley, thinky, but easy to understand and play – boop. has the feel of a classic tabletop game. From what you’ve heard from players, what do you think has been its appeal?
Curt Covert: Boop is one of those games that is greater than the sum of its parts. It has amazingly approachable game play and deep strategic depth.
Scott Brady: Yet, you passed on it when it was a pure abstract with red and black stones! [laughs] It wasn’t until I showed you the concept of cats jumping onto a bed and bouncing other cats out of it that you saw the charm.
CC: It creates a fun vision in the mind’s eye! The meme-like kawaii cat cartoons and the name “boop,” which is natural and fun to say as you boop pieces around, adds to the enjoyment. The quilted bed top. Take any of the legs away and it becomes less than it is. It was a true collaboration between Scott and I. But I think the secret sauce is this – as cute and clever as it is – Scott built magic into the design: micro-rewards! In Chess, it is a battle that comes down to a tense end game. The only reward is to win. It can be intimidating and is part of the reason why some shy away from abstract games. But throughout boop, you get to graduate kittens into cats.
SB: And knock them off the bed!
CC: Win or lose, you “did the thing” and had fun doing it. So it isn’t an all or nothing experience. It’s something you can enjoy throughout.
OS: Having options to win naughty or win nice seems exceedingly fitting for Smirk & Dagger / Smirk & Laughter. What do you like about offering both options for players?
CC: Ah, well it is all just Smirk & Dagger again. Now that fans are no longer shocked to see us doing abstracts and coops, we have discarded the sub-brand. But I take your point.
In truth, it was less about the brand vision though. In designing Boop the Halls! we wanted to do more than window dress but really change the game play and strategic decisions. The “Naughty” and “Nice” win conditions leaped right out of the theme and Santa’s list. A “Nice” win was the traditional way, lining up 3 cats in a row.
SB: And when it comes to Christmas and cats, knocking ornaments out of the tree is a cat behavior most owners can relate to.
CC: It was a natural for a second win condition – and definitely a “Naughty” way to win. Bad kitty! What’s great about it, apart from theming, is that it creates a whole new tension to play. Not only are you struggling to line up your cats – but you are trying to protect your ornaments!
OS: Boop the Halls! is your second seasonal version of the game, following 2023’s BOOoop. What about seasonal games appeals to you? Why do you find boop. fitting for this?
SB: Ooooh, I’ve been waiting for someone to ask this!
CC: [laughs] I actually had to be dragged to the idea of seasonal editions, which – apart from Halloween perhaps – have a limited shelf life at a retailer. Scott will have much more to say on the subject, but he did convince me twice. He pitched me the idea of a spooky Halloween version, with a Ghost cat. I knew Halloween editions were always fun and marketable throughout the year – and his concept tied into those moments when cats get spooked by things unseen in a room. Classic cat behavior. So, it felt right. We rushed to tighten the mechanics, pull the art together and get it on press only weeks after making the decision – so it would arrive in time for the following Halloween. The reception was phenomenal.
Scott pitched me many other seasonal concepts. I balked at each one. Too narrow a sales window. He had suggested a Christmas edition early on and I said “no” more than once. Then he pitched the concept. Cats jumping into a Christmas tree and knocking ornaments out of it. Well, I am a sucker for a great concept – and this was too good to pass up. Again, it connects with cat lovers because there is truth in it – and humor! It wasn’t a game dressed up for the holiday, it was a great product that I knew would drive fans crazy – and it has! Then we had to figure out how it worked – and it was touch and go… right down to the wire.
SB: Over the past couple of years working with Curt I’ve learned a lot about his personality and business philosophies. He does say “no” a lot and I understand why. I would also make many of the same decisions if it were my company on the line. But I truly believe we have something special on our hands and want to make it something bigger! So I do keep nagging him with ideas and concepts, even after one of his many rejections. I assume he’ll really tell me to stop it if he gets tired. [laughs]
OS: Maybe it’s nothing, but I have to ask – what is the thinking behind punctuation with boop. – lower case, period – and boop the Halls! – mixed casing, exclamation point? Can you talk about the thinking and any back-and-forth that went into that?
CC: The name and type treatment land squarely in my court. I still do my own graphic art – and illustrated all the cats as well. Everything about the cover was very purposeful. It looks extremely cute and it is easy to mistake it for a game aimed at young kids. The original color pallete screamed it, which is why the quilt on the cover is a dark grey. I wanted the imagery and the name to be “meme”-like. So a kawaii, Japanese-styled cartoon of the cat. We coined the name “boop.” after thinking the original name, “Pounce House” was too juvenile and didn’t sound pithy enough for an abstract game. One word titles are best for that. “boop” was a known meme with cats already and meshed with gameplay beautifully. As I sat down to design the cover, I ‘heard’ the sound. And I tried to express the softness and cuteness of the action with lower case letters and a period, because it is always a one-word noise when people boop a snoot.
So naturally, when we landed on boop the Halls! as a title, I had to keep the lower case logo, but with the celebratory nature of the holiday, it needed a capital H and exclamation to convey that emotion. But when I simply use type, I list it as Boop the Halls! It looks weird otherwise.
OS: Can you tell me about how the idea of Boop the Halls! came to be? Was the three-dimensional board first or was the idea of a Christmas Tree first?
CC: Scott pitched me the concept of cats jumping in a tree and knocking ornaments out of it. Everything grew from that. So, we knew the board would be a different shape and add dimensionality to create the tree almost instantly. What took the hard work was how to execute the idea. We had several iterations and competing designs that all were flawed in some way and lead to some heated debates. How do you make the ornaments interesting but not overpower the game completely? What feels like cats doing bad things? When we finally decided to get together and hash it out in the same room, it fell right into place.
SB: We had been going back and forth for a few months via text, email, and Zoom. Trying to find the twist that made this iteration unique. Many ideas were tossed around and tested but each time we found flaws or lack of excitement and tension. It wasn’t until I jumped in a plane at my own expense [cough, cough] to meet up with Curt at a convention, did we come up with the solution in the box today. It not only was a design success, our discussions also spawned the mini expansion!
OS: How do you think adding dimension to boop. changes the game?
CC: If you look at the board from straight overhead, the dimension really doesn’t matter at all to game play. But your brain doesn’t know that. The dimension breaks the eyeline and can occasionally trick the eye into not seeing a three in a row spanning different levels – particularly down, up, down patterns. But having to split your attention between lining up three cats – and preventing your opponent from doing the same – as you are also trying to protect your ornaments…. that is what adds the real interest here and really increases the strategy.
SB: Plus, you can play the game with the base of the tree without the 3D levels.
OS: Each game has been standalone and not an expansion. Can you talk about the thinking behind that?
CC: boop is an elegantly simple game. Expansions tend to layer on top and often can overweigh a game. It is far better to build unique experiences than added pieces. To be fair, BOOoop took the base game and added two Ghost pieces to game play. It could have been a tiny expansion. But then, I am only selling it to those who own boop. It is a smaller group of people, so it is always better to sell a game that people can jump into as a standalone if they see it first. But more than that, the name, the Halloween themed kitties and quilt – and the new game play wrinkle combined to create a new experience. A new occasion! And that is important to me.
Which is why Boop the Halls! is not just a reskin. It builds on boop and leans into the theme, making the most out of it. It’s world building. It makes you wonder what else the kitties get into. And wouldn’t you want to dive into a new world during play, than just add a new mechanic or some bits? It just doesn’t feel as special.
OS: Speaking of expansions, with titles like “the Ghosts of Boopmas! A Little Dickens of an Expansion for boop the Halls!” do the puns and cuteness drive the creative process or visa versa? Do you have any fun ideas with boop. that haven’t found their way into existence yet?
CC: I do love a good pun – and Jacob Meowly and the Ghosts of Boopmas absolutley grew out of wordplay to begin. In this case, we were excited about the new launch and wondered if we should do a promo for the game. When we thought about Christmas, I naturally jumped to Scrooge – which remains one of my favorite stories of the Holiday. The name Jacob Meowly instantly popped into my head and I wondered if the Ghost style mechanic could come back for Holiday as well. As we were quickly developing Boop the Halls! a number of very interesting ideas came out. And we harvested a few for the three Ghosts, which all operate differently. They don’t work the same as the Halloween ghosts but started from the same inspiration. Once we had three fun ghosts, it was no longer just a promo. It became a mini expansion.
New ideas? [laughs] Scott has millions of them. One of which was built before boop was first printed. Back when we were deciding if boop would just be cats – or something else, we talked about dragons for Adventure Boop or derpy robots for Beep Boop. Scott was inspired by the rough covers I had created – and showed up a few months later with a full version of Beep Boop – ready to roll. It is a very cool edition and, like Boop the Halls!, adds completely new twists to the game that ramp the challenge up. Of course, it may well have to be robot cats at this point – but you can look forward to seeing that sometime soon.
SB: It had better be robot cats! It’s my favorite version of boop so far and I may have to write that into our new contract. [laughs] Plus, we’ve already been secretly telling people that’s what it will be!
CC: Scott has also looked at a fun Easter/Spring version and a summertime pool party theme, among others. But I will let him discuss them.
SB: What?! We dare speak of these? [laughs] I do have a finished Easter version that retailers – as well as other publishers – seem to love. It’s so adorable but does veer away from the cat theme. It’s one of those cases where I’m not listening to Curt say “no”. I’m trying to convince him to do it as a limited run, possibly via Kickstarter, with a retailer pledge level.
OS: boop. also has a lot of fun swag associated with it – which has to be related to . What has this response from players been like? How does it differ from your other games?
CC: At some point one realizes they have more than a game on their hands, they have an Intellectual Property. A world people want to play in. I have not typically merchandised the games in my line, but boop created enough excitement and drove desire for more ways to interact with the content. Both Scott and my team nudged me forward, seeing the opportunity before I did – or rather, the desire for it with fans. So we have now done a cat-eared boop knit cap, buttons, a Holiday ornament and – the boopable boop plush.
I was gun shy after trying merchandising on a few projects in the past that didn’t perform quite as well as I hoped. But each item for boop we have come forward with has been leapt at by eager fans who just love these cats. They aren’t simply game pieces. They are characters. I will take my portion of credit for that. I was a cartoonist for a number of years. And these are the most popular cartoons I’ve produced. There is a reason I drew and printed the cat meowples with fronts and backs on them, rather than a blank side or a duplicate of the front side. I wanted them to be cats – not game pieces. And that is how fans have received them.
SB: We did feel that light merch was the way to go. Pins sold incredibly well and the idea of a plush was the obvious next step. Curt took the plunge with the ornament and hat and fortunately they’ve been well received also. I love seeing photos on social media showcasing all of these!
OS: Knowing the cuteness of boop. extends to the rulebook as well, as you’ve released translations of the boop. do you have any favorite words that you’ve encountered?
CC: The word “boop” and the meme of booping the snoot of animals does not have a direct translation in other languages. So many have played with cat sounds in their language or other ways of expressing the charm of the original. I tend to favor the one-word titles, like hupp in Hungaraian, maunz in German, and буп in Ukranian.