Leder Games Fort: Cats & Dogs Expansion Board Game

New Recruits, New Rules — Your Fort Just Got Complicated

You thought you had your neighborhood crew locked down. Then a dog showed up and knocked everything off the table, and the cat you thought was loyal wandered over to someone else's yard because they had better snacks. The Cats & Dogs Expansion for Fort injects two independent modules into the base game, and each one reshapes the social dynamics at the table in ways that feel completely true to life.

What This Expansion Adds

Leder Games, the studio behind Root and Oath, brought the same design precision to Fort that they apply to all their titles — tight, evocative systems that punch well above their weight. Fort is a card game about being a kid building the best fort in the neighborhood, using your friends' cards to take powerful actions and keeping your crew loyal enough that they don't follow someone cooler home. The Cats & Dogs Expansion layers two new modules on top of that foundation, each playable independently or together.

The Cats module introduces a genuinely unpredictable loyalty mechanic. Cats are attracted to whichever player's yard holds cards of specific suits — and crucially, that pull exists even if the cat's current owner has matching cards too. Cats follow the yard, not the bond, which means a cat you've been nurturing can wander off to a rival simply because their hand shaped up right. It's a destabilizing, delightful wrinkle that rewards attention to what your opponents are holding. The Dogs module brings its own distinct character, adding another layer of tactical texture to a game already rich with meaningful decisions.

Who Should Grab This

This expansion is aimed squarely at Fort fans who've played the base game enough to want fresh tension and new decisions without overhauling what they already love. The modular design means you can ease one module in at a time, making it accessible even for groups still getting comfortable with the base game. Fort plays two to four players, is recommended for ages ten and up, and sits comfortably in the light-to-medium weight range — sessions typically run under an hour. The Cats & Dogs Expansion doesn't add complexity for complexity's sake; it adds personality.

What's in the Box

Leder Games is known for components that feel considered rather than filler, and this expansion continues that standard. The new cards match the warm, hand-illustrated art style of the base game — the neighborhood aesthetic stays cohesive on the table. Both modules are self-contained within the box, so setup stays clean and you're not hunting through punchboards to find what you need.