The title says it all–do you love cats? Do you enjoy puzzles? Then this may be the game for you!
The Award-Winning Strategy Game
Quilts & Cats of Calico is based off of the award-winning board game of the same name, earning the title of the 2021 American Tabletop Strategy Game Winner, now brought to you digitally as a vivified video game experience.
Monster Couch, the game developer, has done an amazing job adapting Quilts & Cats of Calico into a video game format. In this way, players can save time from having to physically set up all the bits and pieces of the board game and instead hop right into the fun!
How does one play Calico? You compete with various opponents by sewing cozy quilts and creating both tactical and aesthetically-pleasing quilt patterns. Players try to complete certain pattern and/or color combinations to achieve objectives and to score the most points.
Players pick one of the three quilt tiles from the bag on the right hand side and place it on the board where they see fit. You score the most points by completing your objectives, and by completing certain patterns that attract cats or that earn cute little buttons. As can be seen in the picture below, I have three pink tiles touching each other which scored me a pink flower button (worth three points). I also have a purple flowery tile touching a dark blue leaf-patterned tile, which the cat named Millie likes. Millie coming to my quilt has scored me another three points!
A Cozy Experience
If you have never played the board game before, do not fret! The tutorial is wonderfully smooth and concise, showing you all the ropes without feeling too complicated, overwhelming, or annoyingly dragged along.
You have the option to either play solo against A.I. opponents, verse locally, or compete online. You may challenge up to four opponents, and players have the choice as to whether they want to play in “real time” (meaning that players and opponents are playing at the same time), or “asynchronously” (in that you and opposing players get a full 72-hour window to make a move).
Quilts & Cats of Calico is turn-based, so after you make your turn, you must wait for other players to make their move. I personally enjoy turn-based games as it allows players time to think, strategize, and observe opponents’ moves.
Overall, games move along briskly, perhaps 20ish minutes at maximum. If you are an enjoyer of puzzles, you will find the gameplay to be rather relaxing, paired with a soothing soundtrack. To make up for the lack of tangibility that a real board game has, the digital version of Quilts & Cats of Calico offers some fun quirks to your game: cats roam and sleep around the quilt and you even have the option to pet them with your mouse!
The Cat-Worshipping Kingdom of Scratchington
Monster Couch adds a a full story mode to the realm of Calico, and I have got to say . . . the plot is wild.
You play as a young quilter who lives in the “Free City of Tomkitty,” located in the Kingdom of Scratchington. The people of Scratchington are heavy cat-worshippers, believing them to bring immense good luck and fortune. Also, Scratchington is at full-scale war with another kingdom, and the player’s father had gone off to war and never returned. The player runs around completing quilting tasks and you must try to attract as many blessings from kitties as possible.
So, uh, yes, the story is rather silly, but in a fantastic way.
The story itself is relatively short and sweet, but the challenges and puzzles become increasingly more difficult as the game progresses. The puzzles require lots of strategizing and thoughtful tactics. The soundtrack to this mode is lovely and the characters are quite charming. While the plot itself is wacked, I believe it to be an excellent and needed addition to the game that gives you more bang for your buck with all the content.
There is also the Master Quilter’s Challenge mode that offers 20 difficult new challenges for players to attempt. While some of Calico’s puzzles seem easy at the start, be warned: as I have heard from other enjoyers of the game, Quilts & Cats of Calico is simple to learn yet hard to master.
Final Thoughts
As someone who had never played the original board game, I can confidently say that I had a blast playing through Calico. I respect the increasingly difficulty with each puzzle challenge which kept the gears in my brain moving. Everything operated very well including the online multiplayer. While there were times that puzzles became a bit too tedious (requiring multiple restarts), and while there were times that both real and A.I. opponents took a long time to complete their turns, I never really felt frustrated. This was perhaps due to both the relaxing nature of quilting and the fact that cute kitties were roaming around all over my screen!
Quilts & Cats of Calico is a unique strategy game that is fun to play solo or with friends.
The only aspects that I was not the hugest fan of are perhaps the slight uncanny valley the art stye gives, especially with the human characters, as well as sometimes the mechanic of cats being able to walk all over the quilt . . . . you, know, those darn kitties occasionally got completely in the way and blocked my tile placements.
Overall, Monster Couch did an excellent job adapting this game digitally. I also recommend checking out their other adaptation of Wingspan!
Bonus – Even More Cats
The icing on the cake for this title is it’s cat creator! Yes, you read this correctly.
Players are able to add their real-life cat (or an imaginary one) to their own Calico game. You are able to form your kitties with various colors and shapes and additional accessories.
