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Cat Lady sequel gives Dog Lovers their own card game about caring for canines

Throw us a bone.

Dog people of the world, rejoice. Charming card game Cat Lady is getting a sequel all about taking care of your canine companions.

Dog Lover appears to build on Cat Lady’s simple card-collecting gameplay. Players once again take turns to select cards from a central three-by-three grid, looking to pick up the combination of dogs, toys, treats and bones needed for the highest score by the end of the game.

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Rather than choosing a single row or column to collect, as in Cat Lady, Dog Lover introduces trick cards, which determine the arrangement of cards players can pick up. Players begin the game with one trick card that remains in their hand, and can be added to by collecting additional tricks, giving them extra options for future turns.

A watch dog moves around the edge of the grid as directed by each trick card, limiting the cards that can be collected from a given row or column to a single card. Players can adopt dogs - categorised as small, medium and big - by collecting pairs of adoption cards, as well as training rescued dogs, taking them for walks and treating them with a bone for bonus points.

As in real life, players score points by taking good care of any dogs they rescue, ensuring they are fed and entertained by collecting enough food cards and their dogs’ favourite things. Some traits and dogs offer additional abilities and scoring conditions.

Dog Lover plays in around half an hour with two to four people, making it comparable to Cat Lady’s 15 to 30-minute play time.

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Designed by David Short, who builds on Cat Lady creator Josh Wood’s original gameplay, Dog Lover will be released by publisher AEG next year. A release date is yet to be confirmed. The game will cost $29.99 in the US.

If you someone need more convincing, know that among the dogs you'll be able to take care of are the impeccably named Droolious Caesar, 50 Scent and Muttley Crue.

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