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Title: Designer: Illustration: Publisher: Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Calico
Kevin Russ
Beth Sobel Ravensburger
1 – 4
about 10+ years
about 30 – 45 minutes about 39 Euros
Reviewer
Wieland Herold
Udo Bartsch
Playing appeal
8
6
The luck factor when drawing tiles
is somewhat at odds with the grindy and challenging task of placing them.
Andreas Becker 7
Simplest rules. The many ways to score add the spice.
Christwart Conrad 7
Really an abstract solitaire game for several players that is elevated by
the visually and haptically pleasing packaging. Tendencies to time-con- suming musings and frustration when less and less fits together is not the game’s fault, but has to be blamed on the player’s approach.
L.U. Dikus 8
A real pet tiger: soft fur, but sharp claws.
Stefan Ducksch 6
It looks like a nice family game, but
it has great depth. It’s important to not waste time on goals that can’t be accomplished in time. Casual players might have a hard time with this and could get frustrated if not all that was planned can be accomplished. Expe- rienced players might be annoyed by the luck factor when drawing the tiles. Great material, interesting variants, also for solo players.
Stephan Kessler 6
Tricky puzzle task with good game rules and nice design. However, I often felt more punished than rewarded when goals don’t work out. Game play can lag and often ends in a rather unspectacular fashion.
Marie Poenisch 8
Not many rules and a lot of game depth, always fun.
Gerald Rüscher 7
Challenging game behind cuddly graphics.
Christoph Schlewinski 6
Harald Schrapers 7
Surprisingly tricky brain game with an imposed theme.
each other. Plus, ten cats purr around in the game and wait for the fulfillment of specific goals. Three of them are in every game. We can choose between Mimmi, Mausi and Moritz who call for specific tile combinations created by two of the six patterns. Once that is achieved, you receive the cat and can add it as purring decor to your quilt.
The game play, like in Azul, is relative- ly simple especially since the placement rules are generous and allow for random tile placement. The complexity is created by the scoring variety; restrictions emerge from your own needs. There are the cen- tral design goal tiles, which, as men- tioned before, one wants to fulfill with patterns and colors. In passing, you get to score points for buttons. Scores for the patterns of the cats are more a long-term investment. The good thing: the edge pieces provide templates that should for sure be included when coming up with a plan.
The end happens for everyone in the same round, when the 22 spaces are filled. Then the design goals, buttons, and the lured cats are scored. The best patchworker or quilter – the designer al- ways refers to a quilt – is the one with the most points.
Russ ensures extraordinary variance. There is the simple family version in which the goals don’t matter, but every- thing is focused on buttons and cats. Additionally, he provides a solo version
and a more tactical duel. Those who wish, may take
stock of their accomplishments and move up in rank from budding quilter to quilt master. They even thought of scenari- os with defined design goals on certain cat tableaus. Regardless of this, at first, all games start out the same, ensured by the various design goal tiles and ten cat scorings.
Cuddle blanket and cats guarantee a feel-good emotion. And Sophia is right, in the end, Calico is, like Azul, a pretty ab- stract tile laying game that appears open and easy at first, but with time, options get slimmer and slimmer. This is espe- cially true for double scores on the three central design goals, plus the longer and higher scoring fabric patterns for cats.
Personally, the fulfilment of the goals reminds me of the joys and frustrations I used to have when, while playing Take it Easy, high-scoring rows got filled or in contrast, when the last hexagon just did not fit right. There are a lot of emotions involved, especially since, when select- ing from the three tiles on your turn, you need to consider your own quilt board, and the one of the player to the left. For example, you should not simply give your opponent a cat that would score eleven points, but snatch away the needed tile. In the end, this will be more useful than taking a tile yourself in order to score an- other button.
Calico is an exciting optimization game in which luck plays an important role. Every hexagon is present three times with identical shape and color, so the hope of a certain patch to show up re- mains for a while. Even with the full four player count, things don’t get tight when 88 of the 108 tiles are laid out and eight remain in hand. With the simple family
rules, Calico can be played well and quickly by gut feeling and is suit- able for eight-year-olds. However, the rules for experienced play- ers elevate the standard into the realm of a connoisseur
game.
Calico distinguishes
itself through the excep- tionally wide variety and atmospherically successful implementation. I can’t
speak of haptic enjoyment like in Azul, for that we would need real patches made from real fabric and three-di-
mensional cuddly kittens. (dm)
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