How to Play Delicious

In Delicious you are trying to make your best garden. However there are rules on how you can place things in your garden. Each round you flip new cards and give tokens to them. The flipped cards either need to go on top or on the bottom section of your garden. However, each turn you decide if you want to change the position of those cards for you, or use both cards or just one card. And for each of them you can do it a limited number of times.

So once you’ve decided you fill in spots in your garden. Your garden plots are split into three areas, top and bottom for veggies and then a side area for fruit. Each spot has special rules with how you want to place your veggies for fruit. For veggies gardens are either matching, pairs, or different. And for fruit you get points for the same or different fruit in a row.

The game goes over 12 rounds where you’ll pick if you’re using both, one or switching where cards are each round. And each action has a limited number of times you can do it. Plus there are bonus areas where you can place a veggie or a fruit to add a bonus to your score. However, that takes away from placing a vegetable. At the end of the game you tally up your score from placing fruits and veggies and see who has the most.

What Doesn’t Work

This is a simple roll and write style game. Delicious doesn’t always offer the most choices, but there are some good choices in the game. Mainly around when you use both cards or not. Or when you flip cards from top to bottom for you or not. That is how you are able to focus on different areas. When you place your fruit or veggies that is pretty limited in terms of your decision making. So a fair amount of the game is luck.

Therefore, I suspect that the games replayability is going to be limited. While the tools and fruits, which I’ll talk about more in what I like, come out randomly as do the veggies, generally you understand what the options are. So as you play you likely will find a target path to go each game. With the biggest choices being around if you focus on the top plot of veggies or the bottom.

What Works?

How Many Cards

I like the choice the game does give you. While, yes, it is limited a lot of the time to what you can do, there are also interesting choices. In particular the choice of top or bottom can be interesting. But it’s really the choice of do I use one or two cards in a given around. You choose two early because you aren’t locked in, but it might mean you miss out on two good ones later. But you wait too long and now you lose the ability to use everything.

Fruits or Veggies

And I think the focus on either veggies or fruit can be interesting. And this stems from tools or fruits as tokens from the cards. You pick a card and that is always a veggie. But each card either contains a fruit or a tool. And some rounds you may play with two fruits in a round or two tools. But tools either help with veggies or with fruits. So where do you want to play with your flexibility?

When you play a tool it gives you a symbol. You fill in something you want in a row or column of that symbol. And you choose if you want to match the garden plot (top or bottom) of the card or if you use it for a fruit. And each way, either veggies or fruit is a good way to get points. So what and where you focus is another choice in the game.

Game Speed

The game is also fast once you understand it. I find that it is maybe a bit tougher to teach than the simplicity of the game might suggest. But it is not by any means a hard game to teach. Once you start playing Delicious turns and rounds go very fast. I like that every decision is being made at the same time in the game. When the cards flip you and I both are able to take our turns without waiting for one player to take a complete turn and then another.

Who Is Delicious For?

I think Delicious works well as a casual or family friendly roll and write game. It’s going to feel like just that little bit more than some of the more classic ones like Qwixx or Yahtzee, but not so much it is overwhelming. so I think it’s going to be a nice stepping stone roll and write style game. If you already know them really well and have played a lot, this is not going to be one to excite you. Unless, of course, you want to introduce people slightly more complex roll and writes.

Final Thoughts on Delicious

Delicious is a fun little game. I appreciate that Pencil First makes easy to pick-up games. I know when I pick-up a Pencil First Game it is going to be one that I can probably understand and teach really quickly. And Delicious very much is that sort of game.

The downfall for me, and why it might only stick in my collection for a bit, is the simplicity of the game. I find that the scoring between fruits and veggies is very balanced. And the top and bottom is as well. So it is possible to play a different game each time. But that is three combinations and how you balance them. I expect that I’ll find a rhythm of how I like to play. When I find that, I expect the game is going to start to feel a bit more samey. So if it stays is going to be determined by how well other people like the game.

My Grade: B
Casual Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: C-

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How To Play The Great Split

The Great Split is an art collection game, but really, it is a game with tracks that you are going up on to optimize your score and have the most points at the end of the game. That’s the generic version of a lot of games. But The Great Split does it in a couple of interesting ways.

The main mechanism of The Great Split is “I split, you choose.” If you aren’t familiar, I create two groups of something, in this case, cards in my hand. You get to see those two groups and then pick the one that you want. I get what is left.

What you pick determines what tracks you go up on. You can go up on books, which have certain scoring thresholds when you score books. You go up on art where you score based off of how much art you own compared to the market. Or finally you push up the track on gems, either green or blue but ideally both, and you score twice your lowest gem total.

To go along with that, there are also tracks for contracts and coins. Contracts are end game scoring that triggers based off of how many contracts you’ve gotten in a particular area times how much those contracts are worth. So if I have 5 green gem contracts and I got my green gem contracts to be worth 3 points, I get 15 points. And with coins, they have contracts as well, but you can “spend” money to move up on other tracks as well.

The game plays over a number of rounds. And like I said at the beginning, the player with the most points wins.

The Details

So, as I’ve started doing, let’s look at what the box says.

For players it says 2-7 and the Board Game Geek community says best at 4-6. I think it would be fine at 4-7 players. And I know from playing it at 3, it’s still fun. But there is a difference. With more players more cards get into the rotation so you see more options. That is a big benefit with more. I don’t know that I really want to play it with two players.

It also says it plays in 45 minutes, and that is close. I think it is a bit longer than that. But the core mechanics are of the game are simultaneous. I only have played when I taught new players. I think with players who know the game, it might hit that time range. The game is only 7 rounds, plus three spots to score.

And finally, they say it is for 8+. Now as always a caveat with this. It is more about safety, but, The Great Split is language independent and has it’s one core mechanic. An adult might need to help with scoring, but I can see a younger kid playing it, say eight. They might not get all of the rules and nuisance of the game, which is to be expected.

What Doesn’t Work?

This is a very thinky game. And as a player you make a decision at times that might not be perfect for you. And because The Great Split is so thinky, someone who tends towards analysis paralysis and taking long turns will slow the game down. It is noticeable when it is there turn. But in a game with simultaneous play, it is going to be more noticeable. So be aware of that with The Great Split.

What Works?

The main mechanism in the game is amazing. I love I split you choose. And this game is that distilled. Yes, there are the tracks and they do create combos. But the main part of the game is I split my cards and you pick from those two splits. And that decision space is so good and so simple in this game. But when you split the cards, you worry that you either made the split too good to get back what you want. Or you didn’t make it good enough.

I also think that the tracks work well. They are not complex and basically you teach the game quickly. There is some to go over, but once you teach the player board, you teach the rest of the game in round one. So it is not a complex game but one that is fun to teach and play that way. Plus the combos in the game are simple in a good way. I hit this point on the coins, I advance two in another area.

The scoring is also well done. The Great Split is scored three times. Though what you score the first two times can vary. You score each of books, art, and gems. But when you set up the game you don’t know if you score books and gems at the first scoring and then art at the second or maybe gems at the first and book and art at the second. It gives you shifting goals. And then you score everything at the end.

Who Is It For?

This is a tough part that I almost skipped. Mainly because the core decisions can be tricky in the game. It might feel like too much to a casual game. I think this is a good filler for heavier gamers but also a fun game who play games. But for them, it is going to be the game of the night versus a filler game. But it is an accessible game with no reading on cards and different symbols to help with color blindness. That is really nice.

Final Thoughts – The Great Split

I love this game. I think that it is clever in in what it does in the best way possible. When I said that I like a game that does one thing and makes it thinky, I’m not lying. The Great Split makes every choice matter. What I pass to you is important and how I pass them to you. But that is seven times I make that choice in the game. And seven times I pick from the cards someone passes me. It is smart in how it does that and then making the tracks simple, but still meaningful. If they were a hard puzzle as well, it’d be less fun.

My one concern hasn’t been played out yet. I worry about how well it will hold up long term. Not components wise they are great. But will The Great Split feel consistent through every play and eventually start to feel like there isn’t enough change? I don’t know. I suspect it might, eventually, but that is a long ways out. Why, because the core mechanism is so strong with I split you choose that it makes for an interesting decision every time.

My Grade: A
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade: B-

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So looking at this topic, I don’t just want to give you a list. I will give a few at the end that I like. But instead, I want to create, like I did for campaign games here, a guide to help you find good big group board games for yourself. What are some qualities to look for?

How To Find Good Big Group Board Games?

All my categories are going to be compared, at least to some extent, against party games. Because what I am looking for is an alternative to party games. Something that can play at six or more, it might only be up to seven, but offers that fun experience and offers that big group experience.

Downtime

So firstly, the game should limit downtime. Downtime is an major enemy in big group games. Or even in a lot of games. If a game plays in the time frame given with two players does it with four or six players. Often times that time frame grows considerably the more you add players. So a good big group board game is going to keep to a minimum.

For party games this is often done by putting you on teams. So half the time you are playing some element of the game. Or another way is when everyone is doing something, writing an answer, picking cards, at the same time. Everyone is engaged. To successfully move from party games, keeping downtime to a minimum is going to be key.

Complexity

Next up is complexity, keep it simple, stupid. Again to compare to party games, they are dead simple. Often times the most complex part is how scoring is done, and that is a detriment to the game. And with moving out of party games into big group games, keep it simple.

There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, it keeps downtime to a minimum. So see above how that is important. If the decision making space is simple enough, turns won’t take a long. Secondly, it makes it easier to teach, and you will teach this game a lot if it’s a good one. Because with a larger group you are more apt to have someone who doesn’t know the game. You might not, but it is more likely. Thirdly, it keeps the stakes of the game lower. And you might want them higher, but we are replacing a party game, so nothing too cut throat or where it feels like a wrong move and you lost the game.

On the flip side, as you try and replace a party game. Do not go too simple. The goal is not to replace a party game with another party game. So the complexity is going to be higher, but just keep in mind that Twilight Imperium and Heroes of Land, Air, and Sea play over six but wouldn’t be a good replacement.

Game Length

This one there is more wiggle room on. But I would argue that is because of a mistake that party games make. They don’t give you a good end point. This is again part of the too complex rules for scoring. If it is too complex, no one knows how or when the game ends, so you just play as long as you want. Often times this is until after the game has worn out it’s welcome.

So there is room in this one, but often times you want that filler length game, that twenty minutes, maybe up to forty. Something that can fit between games as a bit of a breather. And the reason for this is that with a lower complexity the longer a game goes, the less interesting it might be. Now there are ways around it, it might be simple but you do more or have more choices as the game goes on. So that is a smart build. But often times with a more limited decision making space, you want to limit how long the game goes.

Theme

Theme matters here, because a party game generally has an innocuous theme. Now, an easy exception to that is Cards Against Humanity with has a very specific target audience for it’s theme. But most of them give you a friendly theme or no theme at all.

As you move away from big group games just being party games you need to consider the theme. If it’s a bloody heroes killing monsters with dark artwork, that might not work for your group. Keep the theme more generic when you play a big group game. That is going to cast a larger net and catch a bigger group who might want to play.

Decision Making

Finally, and this one I touched on with complexity, but give a good but limited decision making space. And I think this is where a good big group game diverges from a party game. Often times you can, at least in some party games, put in a random card or answer and win just as often or more than if you put in thought to it.

So a good big group games is going to add in some real decision making while keeping the game pretty simple. You don’t want it to feel like you are playing the next big game. But at the same time, you don’t want it to just be another dumb game or a game purely with luck. A good replacement big group game is going to offer a limited window of choices.

What Are Some Examples?

Via Magica

Via Magica, and another below, I qualify as a gamers bingo. Something is drawn and everyone places in this case an animus or spirit on a portal that they are trying to open. Then another is drawn, and you do so again. You try and complete opening portals and first to seven ends the game, then you tally up points.

This one works well because the basic actions of the game are simple. You draw and place. And everyone is doing that at the same time from a single draw of a token. The decision making comes in two areas, firstly where you place on your portals, though that is a bit of a looser decision space. The other way is in what portal you get so you can push for more points or getting bonuses. That is where the game gives you most decision making.

Sushi Go Party

Sushi Go Party is another great options. This one offers, I think, a larger decision making space. But it keeps it limited. You setup a group of sushi and other food from a Japanese restaurant and shuffle those cards together. Then over a series of three rounds you draft cards. And that drafting is all done at the same time making it the speed no matter the player count.

This is definitely one with a few more decision. While the core mechanics stay the same, you need to learn the set of cards you are drafting from. Once you know them, it makes the turns simpler. So the game actually picks up speed as time goes on, because you learn more about the pool you are drafting from and what you want to go for.

Super Mega Lucky Box

This is the other bingo game. And it is much more bingo. As you complete columns or rows on cards you get bonuses that allow you to complete more. And you get points for completing 3 by 3 grids completely. Much like Via Magica, as cards are flipped with numbers for your bingo grid, you fill in a spot. And everyone does so at the same time.

This one I think offers more decision making, though, because of the bonuses, you might really be pushing for a bonus. And it offers more ways or more consistency in manipulating the number. While Via Magica lets you turn some things into wilds, if you get the right cards, Super Mega Lucky Box, always offers a way to do that, assuming you collect the right resource.

The Great Split

Next up we have The Great Split. This one kind of has the feel of drafting but the main mechanic in the game is I split and you choose. That I think makes it different for a bigger group game. Because everyone is picking a combination of things and splitting it into two groups.

I also think that The Great Split is one where it does offer more decision making space. Creating that good split where you’ll get back what you want but you won’t be giving your opponent too much is an interesting conundrum. For that reason, this game might run longer because some players will need more time to create that split. But every player is overlapping on when they create their split.

The game is really about going up on tracks to get the most points possible. And it pulls that off well. You are nudged in a direction by the starting card you get, but then you can really play around with it. And there’s enough variability to keep the game feeling different.

Welcome To…

Finally, and I could have picked a number here, we have Welcome To… It’s like all the rest in that everyone is doing stuff at once. You have a a setup of three pairs of cards and you activate one to work on building out your perfect town. Plus there is more going on with it.

This one has a bit more of a teach than some of them. Mainly because there are a number of moving pieces and how scoring in a lot of different areas works. But the game offers you just the right number of choices, so you always are considering what is going to be the best option for you.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of good games out there for bigger groups. But getting that one that hits the right combination is big. Because so many when you go below this level that I put out here, tend to not offer anything more than a party game. But going too far in the other direction, now you out of that almost filler type of category. So it is a balancing act.

Now, with all of this said. If you enjoy a good party game, that is great. I have party games in my collection that will stay because I really enjoy them. But sometimes you get tired of always pulling out a party game for a big group. Hopefully this helps find games that work for big groups, but aren’t too much to handle.

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The Board Game Terms

Fast or Short

This is a game that doesn’t take too much time to play. So something that’s probably 30 minutes or less in terms of how long the game actually takes.

Quick

Quick is more about how engaged and involved you are in turns. And how long those turns take.

Long

Long is going to be the length of the game. So we’re probably talking about 90 minutes or more.

Slow

Slow talks about games that are going to encourage longer turns. Less engagement when it isn’t your turn and if there are a lot of people that the whole game could scale up considerably based off of player count.

Quick vs Fast

So, this is the one that I want to focus on more so, because I think that long and slow fall into an area that makes sense once we look at these other two. And I think that quick is really the highlight of what we are looking at and what I want in a game.

The Issue

Often times with board games, and let’s step back and talk about the issue, a board game might get a bad rap because it is a long game. Or people will be less apt to play it because it becomes more of an event. And on the flip side, some people look at little fillers as bad because they are too short to make a meaningful decision.

Let’s just say, in my opinion, both of these opinions are wrong. You can make meaningful decisions in a short game. And in a long game, it doesn’t mean that it’s not optimized for what it should be. But people are judging the game based off of how long or short, fast, the game is.

The Importance of Being Quick

For me, though, a game is more about whether it is quick or slow. Because that determines, more so, your engagement in the game. If a game has quick and punchy turns, then the players at the table are less apt to get distracted. And this is true even in a longer game. It doesn’t matter that the game takes longer, it matters if you are engaged in a game.

And the reason why I thought about this with Aldarra is that Aldrarra is not a short game. Now, almost three hours for three players, definitely longer than a normal game would be. Probably if people know the game, two hours for three players or slightly less, and that’s a pretty long game. But because of how tight the board is and how close you are to your enemies, you stay engaged. And the turns are pretty quick, even combat generally went quickly.

And that was with a three hour game. Now, on the flip side, you can play games that are short in how long the game takes. But you aren’t engaged in what is going on. A lot of classic games might fall into that category. Something like Yahtzee or Skip-Bo, it doesn’t matter what you do, really, for it to affect my turn. Not the best examples, but Skip-Bo works decently since you might have a long turn. Yes, the game won’t take longer because of that turn, but it does make a turn and game feel longer for everyone else.

Decision Making Space

So, I also don’t want to say that games need light decision making space. I think that’s some of the reason people shy away from smaller games, they think it’ll be too light. But there is a difference between simple decision making and engaging decision making. If I care what you’re doing on your turn, then it doesn’t matter if it takes a while.

It is more that I need to care in that case. In the case of Aldarra, I care about what you’re doing, even if you aren’t attacking me. Why, because it changes the board state a lot, it might open up new opportunities for me to move in, or it might squeeze into a smaller area. But what you do matters to me in that case and affects my strategy. Or you might be attacking me, and then I really care.

So What Is My Preferred?

Let’s wrap this up talking about what I look for. And honestly, the big thing for me is that I look for quick games. Now, this can mean a few different things, though I’ve mainly talked about it in terms of how long turns take. But again, that doesn’t matter so much, it’s more, how quickly do I move from decision to decision.

Decision to Decision Quickly

A bigger game might give me an option to follow your action on a turn if I have resources or something like that. I know that Scythe is a game that uses that mechanic. Well, your turn might take a while, but I can follow what you do, and do my own things, I’m interested. Or Ganz Schon Clever (or any of the Clever trilogy), you roll and I care about the dice that you leave behind. So even though I don’t have a full turn, I care of what you are doing.

And I think that moving from decision to decision makes the game feel faster. Area control is good for that, I care what you do because I don’t want you to attack me. And I do want you to weaken your armies and the other players. But a lot of other games make that work as well.

All At Once

There is another type of game as well, everyone go at once that works as well. This falls into the category of real time games, something I don’t love, but more so roll and write games. Metro X, Cartographers, and Welcome To… just off the top of my head, those are easy ones to play because everyone fills in things at the same time. There isn’t the pressure of a speed element instead it’s a smaller decision space and everyone acting at once, and that works well.

Story

And one final way that works for me, is if your turn has story to it. A lot of the time this means literally there is story that is being read out. But it can also mean that the game has a whole narrative flow. Pandemic Legacy Season 1 or 2 would be an example of this. And being cooperative helps, but you decide what you want to do on your turn, and that creates the story of what is happening. Especially in Season 2 with the discovery aspect, the game tells a great story.

Final Quick vs Fast Board Game Thoughts

Do you find that you have a preference, maybe based on length a board game takes? And is it really the length of the game that makes a difference?

I do feel that game length does matter, but I think for a lot of gamers that perception of game length often is tied to the decision making space. And for me, that is more about the quickness of a game versus how long a game might take. And how meaningful and interesting the decision that I can make are. Do you find something similar to that as you think about games?

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How to Play Imperial Settlers Roll and Write

This game is a bit of an engine building roll and write. You roll dice that give you resources and then an action die that determines how many actions you can take. The main goal of the game is to get victory points by going down four different paths. At the same time you need to build buildings to improve your engine. After ten rounds, the player with the most points wins.

What Doesn’t Work?

The big thing for me is the decision making space in this game. You start down a path and you just see how far you can get down them. While you do build up a little engine and unlock other things, the engine is so small that it’s practically built for you. If you knock out those few engines in the first two rounds or so, now you just push down the tracks.

Plus, rolling for actions is dumb. It’s limited, and there is a power that you can use as well which might help with that. But I roll a die and get three every time, I’m going to score lower when playing solo. If I roll a five every time, I’m going to score much higher. It feels like randomness added for the sake of rolling more dice. And once in a while you don’t use all your actions, but most of the time you can.

What Works?

I like the three abilities that you pick one of to use each round. Like I talked about, Imperial Settlers Roll and Write is a very basic roll and write game. And you do the basic things that you can do. But the choice of which extra ability you use is a decision to make. There is going to be a better one option, but can you figure it out. And I think it’s the most interesting part of figuring out your engine for that round.

Who Is This For?

I think anyone who wants to play a roll and write game and really loves them? Honestly, for me this is not a great game. I think that it’d be decent for someone who wants to try a roll and write with a theme. But they only have played roll and write games like Yahtzee and Qwixx. Something very simple and they just want to try a game that is a little bit more or a game that has what looks like theme.

Final Thoughts – Imperial Settlers Roll and Write

This is not a good roll and write game. The best part of the game might actually be that the dice are wooden. But that also means that they weigh nothing which doesn’t feel right. Overall, the decision space in this game is tiny. It’s can you pick the right bonus for that round and do you roll to get a lot of actions are not? Beyond that the game basically plays itself. And the buildings that give you bonuses, the bonuses are not that intriguing.

I don’t think that people who like roll and writes and play a lot will like this game. Thinking about the game, I am not sure there is a good game in it or how to make it better. More powers, more bonuses, maybe, but it’d end up being a very different roll and write. Would I play it again, sure, if someone pulled it out. But my copy, I’m going to trade it away, maybe someone else will like it better than me.

My Grade: D
Gamer Grade: D
Casual Grade: C-

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What’s An Abstract Game

An abstract game is a game with no theme. Now, that’s not completely right because there are a lot of drier euro games that are euro games that really don’t have a theme. Generally an abstract game is going to be more of a puzzle or strategic game. They tend to have little luck, and give you the opportunity to strategize for a longer term plan.

More recently abstract games have been getting themes but the theme tends not to matter. It’s more that recently abstract games have been getting artwork. A lot of the older ones are very simple with plain pieces, now things like Calico has great looking cat and quilt artwork on it. But it’s an abstract because the theme really doesn’t matter.

What Do I Look For In An Abstract Game

1. Looks Good
2. Easy To Learn
3. Easy To Play
4. Interesting Decision

Looks Good

Why is this at the top of my list? Because a lot of old abstract games look ugly. And kind of like eating, you play a game with your eyes first. If the game doesn’t look appealing on the table, I’m less apt to play it. Now, it can simply be nice looking colors or high quality wood pieces, like Quoridor. It doesn’t need to be like Calico with great artwork and cute cats. But make it look good, if it looks cheap I am going to pass on it most likely.

Easy to Learn

Next, I want the game to be easy to learn. If I have a lot of things that happen on a turn, I want theme, I want reason behind why they happen. That’s why I don’t mind if a big game like Gloomhaven has a lot of things to keep track of, I can remember them better when there is a theme behind it. For an abstract game, since they are thinkier sometimes, I want it to be easy to learn and easy thing to take care of.

Easy to Play

This falls in with the previous one. I want the game to be easy to play. That means again, I don’t want much to do on my turn. Give me a few specific things to think about. Again, if an abstract game limits the randomness, I don’t want to think about 12 different moving parts to make sure they are moving together toward the right goal.

Interesting Decisions

But with that ease of plan and being easy to learn, I still do want to have interesting decisions to make. I want to feel like I can do something clever. And I want to be able to plan my turns a little in advance, or at least think of options. If I have to react too much in an abstract game that leads to analysis paralysis. And since the games are dry, I want it to move at a snappy pace.

Are All Criteria Equally Important?

I think for a lot of people, especially people who like those extremely limited luck games, they might not see all of these as important. But I think for myself, these are all equally as important. I don’t want to spend too much time on an abstract game. I don’t want that abstract game, like Chess, where I need to think 5 moves ahead. Instead, I prefer that little bit of luck in my abstract games, and the ability to think about and plan my next turn right after I’ve finished my previous one.

Let’s Do An Example

We’re going to go with Calico. You can already see that I like Calico in my TableTopTakes. But why does it work for me?

Looks Good

No question about this one. Beth Sobel’s artwork is amazing and adorable for this one. And the quality of the game is really nice. The tiles are nice and thick, the player boards are dual layer, overall this is a really good looking game.

Easy To Learn

This game is pretty easy to learn. I think the trickiest bit is teaching how the scoring tiles on your quilt work. The cat scoring and button scoring make sense, but people often miss, even when laid out, that the tiles just need to match the pattern surrounding the quilt block and they can be mixed up while doing that. It’s more a rule that people assume is there. But the game turns are really easy to learn.

Easy To Play

This game is very easy to play. While it does give you a lot to think about the cats, buttons and quilt blocks all providing scoring, turns are simple. You play a quilt block and take a quilt block. That’s it. And you can plan what you are going to play down between turns. No player can mess that up, which makes the game work really well for me.

Interesting Decisions

This game does give you some feel good moments. You can really decide what you’re going to focus on, you might go all in on cats and pay less attention to buttons and quilt blocks. But really, you can’t completely ignore everything. So when you play down that one tile that works for the cats and the quilt block, that feels clever. You do have a lot to think about as you build out your quilt and even more to think about as your options shrink.

So Calico is a strong contender for an abstract game I think for a lot of people. With the exception of teaching the quilt block scoring, I think that the rest is pretty easy. And the artwork is so amazing that the game will hook peoples interest. I think that had this game not come out in 2020, people would be talking about it more than they are. And generally, Calico has been really well received.

Will This Work For You?

Yes, I think this will work for most people. While there are some people who are deep into games like Chess, I think for most gamers, having that simpler abstract game is going to hit a better spot. Mainly because a lot of abstract games a pretty accessible because they are simpler. That means you can get it played with more people. But do note that there are some abstract lifestyle type games out there, like Chess that wouldn’t fair as well with my criteria.

What is your favorite abstract game?

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