Calico

Designed by Kevin Russ and illustrated by Beth Sobel, Flatout Games’, CALICO was gifted to us by our awesome friends, Mary and Anthony. C and I generally don’t play a lot of competitive games (C is a monster when you add competition into the mix - so I’m often looking for co-operative games to maintain peace in our times), but this game is different, almost relaxing, even though it is technically competitive (C wins most of the time). Calico is a beautifully designed 1 - 4 player game with a clear rulebook and sturdy game tiles. Ultimately, you build a quilt with the intention of luring cats to sleep on your cozy blanket. Gathering buttons is important too - and all the time focussing on your chosen Design Goal Tiles. The Cat Scoring Tiles are varied enough that there are plenty of new challenges and C really enjoyed reading ‘Meet the Cats’. When it first arrived, I didn’t really expect to enjoy it much. It just didn’t seem like a theme that would generate enough excitement to bring it back to the table after the first session. We’ve now played Calico several times over the Holiday Season and I presume we’ll play it a lot more. Who’da thunk it!

RATING: 5 out of 5 cats