Coloretto

How do you win?

Collect as many chameleon cards of the same colour to gain points. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins!

How do you play?

There are chameleon cards of different colours to collect within the game, with nine of each colour. Each player takes a scoring card and a chameleon card to start, ensuring that all players have different coloured chameleons. Place the three ‘row’ cards at the centre of the table and shuffle the rest of the chameleon cards to create a deck.  A ‘last round’ warning card is then placed 15 cards from the bottom of the deck, and you’re now ready to start!

The deck also has ‘+2’cards worth two bonus points and three multicoloured ‘joker’ chameleons – if you claim one of these, they can be used as an extra chameleon in a colour of your choice at the end of the game. The special ‘golden joker’ card acts as a normal joker, but also lets you claim a free card from the top of the deck to add to your score pile.

On your turn you may either draw a card, which you place next to one of the row cards in the centre, or take a row card and the card(s) it holds, adding the card(s) to your chameleon collection. Each row can hold up to three cards, but you can claim one before it fills up, which you might want to do if you find one of the cards especially tempting.

Play then moves clockwise, with each player either taking a row with at least one card on it or drawing and placing a card to build a row. Once you take a row, you are out of the round and the other players continue to play – even if only one player is left in the round.

A round ends once all three rows have been claimed. After all players have collected their claimed cards, they return the row cards to the centre to begin a new round.

Play continues until the ‘last round’ card is dealt – play will then end at the conclusion of that round. Players then tot up their chameleons, bonus ‘+2’ cards and jokers. A player selects three of their chameleon colours to score using the scoring card; the more you have of a colour, the better, as scoring is exponential . They then also score up any remaining colours, but these will be translated into minus points!

Why play it?

This game uses the same clever card-drawing mechanic as Zooloretto but creates a whole mini card game from it. Once again, what seems to be quite simple gameplay on the face of it actually leads to an in-depth game of bluffing, luck and strategy against your opponents.

While you might be tempted to create a row with your colours, you don’t want to make a row too attractive by adding too many cards of the same colour, otherwise an opponent will take it first!

When you are the last player in a round, it is always a fun gamble to decide whether you should continue drawing cards on to a row and risk drawing a colour you aren’t collecting, or avoid the risk by making do with less than the maximum of three cards!

The game is very replayable and the bright, vibrant colours are very attractive – red in particular looks delicious, you are reminded of a glass of bright-red berry squash! The scoring cards also have two sides, giving you two sets of rules to choose from; brown (shown in the photos above) means you are awarded the most points for collecting six or more chameleons of the same colour, while the reverse blue side of the scoring cards awards the most points for three chameleons of the same colour, with less points awarded for more. Interestingly, this completely changes the feel of the game and everybody plays a lot more defensively, trying to pass off cards to their opponents rather than rushing to collect chameleons.

Verdict?

A simple little card game filled with colour that that is fun and competitive. Very replayable and quick, with each round lasting 10 minutes or so, and with a great variation for two players.