In Pounce, players become cats aiming to catch prey totaling 8 food value. Each round, a new prey is turned over and player simultaneously selects Sleep, Stalk, or Pounce. Players who Pounce must place their Pounce action card on one of the revealed prey. If only one player chooses it, they can catch it by discarding Energy cards from their hand. If multiple players Pounce on the same prey, they must fight over it using Intimidation and Hiss cards. Sleeping lets you refill your hand of cat cards, and Stalking gives you an advantage in your next fight.
The cat deck is filled with many different cards, split between Energy (used to catch prey), Stars (e.g. Hiss, Scratch, Catnip, which can be played once at a specific time), and Skills (e.g. Fishing (allows you catch fish), Intimidation, Sharp Vision, which can be played multiple times). The game is fast-paced and highly thematic.
The game also comes with a mini-expansion that adds event cards to the prey deck.