“A color coordination skill game for the entire family.”
Marbles, movement, and momentum sum up Cat’s Eye from Marx. Released in 1976, the multi-player game challenged participants to be first to complete their “cat” with the correct colour marbles.
GAMEPLAY
At the start of each game, all marbles were placed in the plastic hopper attached to the game base. Each player selected a coloured Cat tray. One person was chosen to say “Go” to start the game.
Once the game started, players repeatedly pushed their Cat’s Paw lever to release marbles into the track in front of their tray. From the mix of colours, players selected only the marbles that matched the colour of their tray, placing them in one of thirteen recesses in the tray. Any marbles that didn’t colour match were returned to the hopper.
The frenzied action continued until a player filled their tray with coloured marbles and placed a single black marble in the special “Cat’s Eye” indentation. The first player to fill their tray and declare “Cat’s Eye!” was the winner.
IN THE BOX
A complete Cat’s Eye game included the plastic hopper, four Cat playing trays (red, yellow, green, and blue), five bags of marbles (red, yellow, green, blue, and black), and one label sheet. Printed instructions were included in the box.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Securing a copy of Cat’s Eye on the secondary market is a relatively easy quest. The frenetic nature of the game resulted in general wear and tear as well as lost marbles, so you’ll want to make sure your game has 12 marbles in each primary colour and four black marbles to complete the set.
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