Page 40 - spielbox 03/21 - English

Review. Calico
Sophia is the third player already who at the end of
a Calico game, said that atmospherically, it reminded her a lot of Azul. Visually, it’s not even remotely related to tile laying in Portugal.
No cold tiles, just homey patchwork ambience is what we experience while we sew together a cozy cat quilt made from colorful patterned hexagons.
By WIELAND HEROLD
Yes, Azul and Calico are compa- rable. In the end, they are both abstract tile laying games in which
you have to keep the scoring aspects in mind. In both, players have their own boards that are meant to be filled up with a limited supply. Michael Kiesling’s Azul won “Spiel des Jahres“ in 2018. What Calico will achieve in 2021, we will know soon. The idea came from Kevin Russ, a nature and travel photographer from the
USA, who released his very first title with the cat game in 2020. Since March, it is available as an edition by Ravensburger.
The boards in Calico show the edge of a quilt with 22 spaces that have to be filled. In the beginning, each player pulls two fabric patch tiles (sadly only made from cardboard) from a small bag. And so it begins: place one from your hand and pick one from the tile market consisting of three tiles. Then it’s the next player’s turn.
The rules are so simple, the task is so complex: the tiles can show six dif- ferent patterns, and in six differ-
ent colors. That’s what makes
it challenging. Three of six design goal tiles are placed on the central spaces on each player’s quilt board. Around them is room for
six tiles, which have to display certain color or pattern combinations. If
you manage to turn the
“or” into an “and” and therefore fulfill a task with colors as well as patterns, it earns an especially large amount of points.
In regards to scoring, Calico offers more though, and beats the amount of tasks of Kiesling’s tiles by far. One thing that works especially well with the addi- tional scoring options is that they fit the- matically. There are button tokens that earn you three points when at least three tiles with matching col-
ors are placed next to
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Azulesque
Photos: Becker, Herold / Illustration: Ravensburger