I think one of the things I really like about these sort of complex-but-approachable games is that they don’t overstay their welcome.

And, in case you forget which features give you points, there’s a cute little score pad inside to help you tot up your totals for Design goals, cats, and buttons! The game progresses clockwise around the table until each player’s quilt board is completely filled with patch tiles. Your first few tiles will likely give you the chance to grab buttons by making a color group match, or perhaps a matching cat token if your first draws were lucky. Like Scarabya and NMBR 9, Calico is largely a solitaire tile-laying game with very little in the way of player interaction.For example, if by placing a tile, a player is able to connect at least three patches of the same colour, they can sew a colour co-ordinated button onto any one of those matching patches and that is worth 3 points at the end of the game. However this is presumably different with more players – I played it with four once and don’t remember the length but it has never felt like it dragged. Climb to the top of the city hierarchy and face the opponent who wants to dominate the world of humans and cats. If you fail to complete a design goal tile, there is no penalty (other than not receiving extra points). Additionally there are three different goal tiles in each game and if by game’s end players can fulfill their placement requirements, they will score those points as well.

The draw pile is then replenished with a tile from the communal bag so that the draw pile is full for the next player’s turn. Play it just right and it is even possible to pull off killer-combo moves gaining cats, buttons, and goals in a single turn; enough point booty to make even the greatest Street Fighter fan weep into their bandaged hands! To play, find, and remove one set of 36 patch tiles before following the beginner or standard setup.When you’re feeling kitty-cat confident, there are also some Achievements you can work through which include added rule restrictions and 10 complete scenarios for games with even more crunch! The game has been acclaimed for its puzzly but simple gameplay and its colorful artwork by Beth Sobel, [2] receiving various awards and award nominations. Select a single patch tile from your hand and sew it into your quilt, then draw another patch into your hand from the three available. The more peaceful solo mode allows you to face AI of varying difficulty levels and is the perfect tool to hone your skills in a relaxed atmosphere.