Calico: My Favorite Game Mechanism

Jamey discusses his favorite mechanism in the tile-placement game, Calico.
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[@thinusconradie4297]

Calico has become my absolute favourite couple's competitive game. It's thinky enough for experienced gamers without being too brain-burny. The theme is adorable and there is very little meanness (for context, we also play Azul two-player quite a bit, and there is way more meanness there). For us, at any rate, it is just fantastic. And yes, it is super cool that you have three scoring opportunities and everything you do is about building up to one of the three.

[@vwilliams9365]

We backed it and have been greatly enjoying this game. We found out quickly how hard it is to accomplish the goals. It is quite challenging, especially if you also are trying to accomplish some of the pattern goals in order t9 attract cats to your quilt. In our Game we just played yesterday, I tried to focus on the goals and did very well getting all three of them at one level. With one of them I accomplished both pattern and color goals. However my wife focused on the cats, and had double what I had in that category. She also had more buttons than me, which you get for groups of colors. As a result she ended up winning the game by five points. So you really cannot ignore one method of scoring and focus fully on the other. You need a nice balance of diversity. I think it is close to impossible to complete both the pattern and color goals on all three goal tiles. So it is a very tactical game. You have to keep adjusting your plans to match what is available for the tile selection throughout the game. We also like it because you get a nice brain burn, but it is a quick game. It’s like Lays, hard to eat (play) just one. You want more. And there is great variability each game, including scenarios and achievement goals you can try to accomplish that are described in the last few pages of the rulebook. I highly recommend it.

[@jeffstaton9033]

I received On Tour and Calico right after the other, so I was having my big dreams constantly crushed that entire weekend.

[@RandomGuyKyle]

I backed it when it was first announced, and since receiving it (and having played the print and play for a while), this has become one of my favorite puzzle games. I definitely agree that it is a game of tempered expectations, you make big plans at the beginning, and by the final few turns, you're trying to salvage some points from the wreckage of your big plans. And when I introduce this game to people, I definitely tell them that, and they seem to understand and play accordingly. I was kind of surprised by this, but it's also been a hit with my more casual gamer friends - there isn't a ton of player interaction when it isn't your turn, and turns can take a while if someone's deciding which of their options is least bad, which is usually something I don't love in a game, but here I don't really mind it. It's a game where you can socialize when it's not your turn, and you don't have to focus on the game if you aren't an active player, and I think that makes it more accessible to folks who aren't as used to deep-thinking puzzle games like this. Of course, the experienced crowd loves it too for the amazing brain candy.

[@user-oe2bq7xy7r]

I bought it for my mother for Christmas and we’ve played it every Friday afternoon since. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it is, just seemed like a cute cat game. Deceptively deep strategy!

[@515aleon]

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention, is that this game looks to be a good one for a small environment where you can't have a thousand little pieces--perhaps a studio apartment, camper, or rv. Been looking for a game and that is a little unusual--not really a battle sort of person, but also has a way of containing pieces.

[@MindsetTabletop]

Reminds me a bit of Azul Summer Pavillion... I always feel like I'm going to fill all the stars... I never do.

[@andrewpratt2733]

Yes, a great little game… I've only played it solo but have found it both relaxing and very satisfying

[@dannys_78]

Our copy arrived about 2 weeks ago, we've played it a handful of times since, using the basic setup only at this stage. It's very puzzly, and the way that you have to think about colours, patterns and design goals all at once reminds me of Sagrada, but without the placement restrictions that Sagrada has. I've been lucky enough sometimes to get both colours/patterns on one, even two of my design goals, but failed on the third... which is never usually enough to win the game. I think it's best to go for the lower score on all three design goals and to try and get a lot of pattern/colour groups as well. I think it will become one of the good thinky games we play, because of its simplicity, and eventually we'll move onto new design goals and different cats :) The solo variant is also good, because it's identical to a 2-player game, and all you have to do is discard one of the market tiles after your turn (simulating a second player).

[@TheloniusMage]

Just got mine in the post, it looks lovely!

[@zacharytackett2617]

This is an insanely good game. Especially considering the price. I usually stick to dungeon crawls but I will buy just about anything with cats in it. Very easy to get tunnel vision with this one. I find that reminding myself to get cats & patches by mostly trailing off the board edges while focusing on my 3 design goals is the only way to keep myself from just doing one or the other. I am still consistently getting crushed by my wife at this though.

[@paulbigbee]

I think I wouldn't frame this as "managing" or "lowering" expectations. Rather, our games of Calico are about player choice. This principle of choice that drives planning generates replayability.

[@mebson]

My husband (an engineer) consistently completes all three goal tiles.

[@mkitten13]

Only played it solo so far due to limited opportunities, but having a ton of fun with the different challenges. It's tricky to pull off the goals, I agree there, but it's not impossible. There's a portion of luck, but there's also a portion of choosing when to commit a tile to a goal, like only laying down a tile onto the goal when you have the option to draft another tile that will work with that same goal. I finally pulled off getting the combo on all three of my goals last night and it was so incredibly satisfying :)

[@oddaudio6646]

I found it funny that every review of Calico I saw described it as "surprisingly think-y" given the cute theme. It is certainly difficult to get all 3 tile goals, but not impossible if not trying for both pattern & color IMO. But it certainly is a game of choosing what goals to focus on and (like many games with multiple scoring options) knowing you won't get everything. I also appreciate the family variant, which is how I played with my mom the first time.

[@zabelkid]

Looks like a simple game good for families.

[@Gidaio]

The whole "you can't do everything" idea reminds me of Agricola. I remember after I'd played the game a few times wondering what a "perfect" farm would look like. Turns out it doesn't exist! 15 tiles isn't enough space to maximize your score for everything, so it means that you _must_ make decisions and sacrifices.

[@mgahagan1]

Are the player boards all different?

[@jameystegmaier]

They are! :)