🐾 Merv the Board Game! 🐾

Introduction

Merv, the possessed internet cat, is a viral sensation on TikTok with 2.7 MILLION followers and 93.9 MILLION likes. With a lexicon and love interest of her own, Merv has made the most of her fame with merchandise and advertisement contracts, including with PetSmart.

Project Overview

Theme: Merv has the zoomies and wants to win over Charals, her heart-throb gardener. You and your friends zoom around the house to collect tokens--wispies, bees, and hams (IYKYK)--that will be used to acquire Charals’ potted plants, or victory points.

Target Audience: Merv fans and those aged 6-Adult.

Gameplay Mechanics

Players roll a die to move Merv from location to location throughout the house, collecting each location’s respective token. Players then exchange tokens for plants. Event cards include “Bagagwa! Take an extra turn!” and “No Ohio! Lose all your tokens!” Two locations allow players to gain a token of their choice for a successful flip of a coin. You can acquire bonus points for flipping the most times. Players can trade with each other to afford the most valuable plants. Once a player reaches 18 points, all players get one last chance to collect the most points.

Market Analysis

• The global board game market was valued at USD 9.3 billion in 2020.

• The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.2% from 2023 to 2028.

• The market bumped up 16% from 2022 to 2023.

• 21.4% of Americans play board games at least once monthly.

• Almost 41% of board gamers purchase 5 to 10 new games annually.

• If 1 in 200 people who have heard of Merv buy the game, we’d have 540,000 customers.

Sources: https://www.sci-tech-today.com/stats/board-game-statistics/ https://wordsrated.com/board-games-statistics/

Next Steps

1. November 2025: Contact the Merv team @mervthecat and finalize the prototype.

2. December 2025: Pitch the game to publishers, like Blue Orange, Z-Man, Renegade, or Pandasaurus.

3. January 2026: In lieu of a publisher, we can launch a Kickstarter to fund the game.

Details

Objective

Merv has the zoomies and wants to win Charals’ heart. You and your friends will zoom around the house to collect tokens--wispies, bees, and hams--that will be used to acquire Charals’ potted plants. While in pursuit of points, you might end up drawing a Bagagwa card or be cursed with Ohio! Be sure not to trade tokens with a friend who might have their eye on the same plant! The player with the most points wins.

Set Up

• Place Merv at the crossroads in the center of the board. Everyone chooses a die.

• The person who has most recently fed a cat goes first. They keep the first player Charals token.

• Place four cards face up and the rest of the deck face down on the spaces indicated on the board. If any event cards are revealed, shuffle them back into the deck at the start of the game.

Rules

• Each player rolls the die to move Merv toward locations--the dining table, couch, window sill, bedroom, and bath. Landing at a location allows you to collect that location’s resource token, either a bee, ham, or wispy. You must move Merv as many spaces as indicated on the die. That means you must have an exact number to land on a location! Each location counts as one space.

• Tokens are used to score victory point cards, potted plants. You must pay tokens according to the cost indicated on the card, such as two wispies and a ham. For each card you collect, you must flip a replacement card from the deck. If you flip an event card, such as “Bagagwa!” or “No Ohio!” you must execute it immediately. Discard event cards afterward.

• You may exchange tokens for plant cards immediately upon acquiring the requisite tokens, but you may only acquire one card per turn.

• You may trade tokens with other players on your turn.

• The Bath & Crossroads: Spin or flip the coin to earn a token of your choice! If you choose to spin it, you can try to stop the coin paw-up with your finger as long as it’s spinning fast! Landing the chip paw-side up is considered successful. For each spin or flip, you earn a spin token. The first player to earn 5 spin tokens earns 5 bonus victory points--the catnip plant card! Players can steal the bonus card if they exceed the highest count of spin tokens that another player has.

• The first player to collect the number of points listed below (depending on the number of players) ends the game. Everyone gets a chance to finish their last turn so that all players have an equal number of turns. Whomever has collected the most points wins Charals’ heart and the game!

  • Victory Points Needed to End the Game

    • 2 players: 18 points

    • 3 players: 17 points

    • 4 players: 16 points

    • 5 players: 15 points