Game Objective: Stitch the Perfect Quilt for Cats and Buttons!

Welcome, future quilt masters! In Calico, your goal is to create the coziest and most visually stunning quilt, attracting the cutest cats and sewing on colorful buttons. It's a competitive game of stitching, cat collecting, and tile placement, where every decision matters to achieve the highest score.

At the end of the game, the player with the most points, accumulated from completed Design Goals, collected Cat Tokens, and sewn Button Tokens, will be the grand winner and receive the Quilt Master Medal!

Setup: Preparing the Table for Stitching

Let's set up the table to start stitching! There are two ways to set up: the beginner's setup, which is simpler, and the regular setup, with a bit more strategy in choosing objectives.

Beginner Setup (Recommended for the First Game)

1. Place the Millie, Tibbit, and Coconut Scoring Tiles and their corresponding Cat Tokens in the center of the table. The other tiles and tokens return to the box.
2. Randomly assign 2 Black & White Fabric Tiles to each Cat Scoring Tile that is in play.
3. Shuffle all Fabric Tiles and place them in face-down stacks within reach of all players, or use the Fabric Bag.
4. Place the Button Scoring Tile and the Button Tokens in the center of the table.
5. Each player receives a Quilt Board and their set of 6 Design Goal Tiles in their player color (the stitching color of the board).
6. Each player must place the Design Goal Tiles with the symbols ≠, AA-BB-CC, and AAA-BBB on their Quilt Boards, as shown in the manual's example. Unused tiles return to the box.
7. Each player draws 2 Fabric Tiles into their hand.
8. Reveal 3 Fabric Tiles to form the fabric market in the center of the table.
9. The person who most recently adopted a cat will be the starting player.

Regular Setup (For more experienced players)

1. Separate the Cat Scoring Tiles into groups by the dots in their corners (A, B, C). Randomly choose 1 tile from each group and its side, placing them in the center of the table. Find the corresponding Cat Tokens and place them nearby. The other tiles and tokens return to the box.
2. Randomly assign 2 Black & White Fabric Tiles to each Cat Scoring Tile that is in play.
3. Shuffle all Fabric Tiles and place them in face-down stacks within reach of all players, or use the Fabric Bag.
4. Place the Button Scoring Tile and the Button Tokens in the center of the table.
5. Each player receives a Quilt Board and their set of 6 Design Goal Tiles in their player color.
6. Each player shuffles their 6 Design Goal Tiles face down and reveals 4. From the 4 revealed, each player chooses 3 to use in the game, placing 1 in each of the designated areas on their Quilt Board. Unused tiles return to the box.
7. Each player draws 2 Fabric Tiles into their hand.
8. Reveal 3 Fabric Tiles to form the fabric market in the center of the table.
9. The person who most recently adopted a cat will be the starting player.

The Game Turn: Stitching and Attracting Cuteness

The game proceeds clockwise, starting with the starting player, until all Quilt Boards are completely filled with Fabric Tiles (which will take 22 turns). On your turn, you must perform two steps, always in this order:

1. 1. Place a Fabric Tile and Score

   Choose one of the two Fabric Tiles from your hand and place it in any empty space on your Quilt Board. After placing it, immediately check if you have earned any Cat Tokens and/or Button Tokens.

   • Cat Tokens: The patterns of your Fabric Tiles attract cats! Each cat has two preferred patterns and requires you to form a group of tiles with a specific size or shape using one of these patterns. If you succeed, take the corresponding Cat Token and place it on a Fabric Tile of the formed group. Attention: Each pattern area can attract one cat. To attract another cat of the same type, you need to create a new, separate pattern area.
   • Button Tokens: The colors of your Fabric Tiles yield buttons! To sew a button, you need to form a group of 3 or more Fabric Tiles of the same color. The group can be any shape. Each button is worth 3 points. Take the Button Token and place it on a Fabric Tile of the group. If you expand a group to 6 or more tiles, you do not earn another button; for that, a new, separate group is needed. If you manage to sew at least one button of each color, you earn a Rainbow Button, which is also worth 3 points and can be placed on any Fabric Tile.

2. 2. Draw a Tile from the Market

   Choose one of the three face-up Fabric Tiles in the fabric market and place it in your hand. You cannot draw directly from a face-down stack or the Bag. Then, replenish the market by revealing a new Fabric Tile from a face-down stack (or from the Bag).

End of Game and Scoring: Counting the Points of Your Masterpiece

The game ends when each player's Quilt Board is completely filled with Fabric Tiles.

Now it's time to calculate each player's final score using the Score Pad!

• Design Goals

  Each Design Goal Tile is a long-term objective that scores based on the six Fabric Tiles surrounding it. To score, you must complete the tile's requirements using the colors OR the patterns of the adjacent tiles. If you manage to complete a Design Goal Tile twice (once with colors and once with patterns), you will only receive the higher point value of the tile. There is no penalty for not completing a Design Goal Tile.

  • If completed with colors OR patterns, you earn the points from the blue circle (center).
  • If completed with colors AND patterns, you earn the points from the yellow circle.

• Cat Tokens

  Sum the points of all Cat Tokens you have attracted to your quilt. Each Cat Scoring Tile indicates how many points that cat is worth.

• Button Tokens

  Each Button Token (including the Rainbow Button) is worth 3 points. Sum all your button points.

The player with the highest total score is the winner! In case of a tie, the tie-breaker is in the following order:

1. The player with the most Cat Tokens.
2. If the tie persists, the player with the most Button Tokens.
3. If there is still a tie, victory is shared!

Don't forget to give the Quilt Master Medal to the winner and take a photo to share with the hashtag #PlayCalico!

Tips for Winning: Strategies for a Successful Quilt

To become a true quilt master, consider these tips:

1. Plan your Design Goals from the start: Design Goals are long-term objectives and can yield many points. When choosing your 3 tiles in the regular setup, or simply having the fixed ones in the beginner's setup, start thinking about how you will fill the 6 spaces around them to meet the color and/or pattern requirements. Trying to complete a tile twice (colors and patterns) can be very lucrative!
2. Balance Cats and Buttons: Don't focus solely on one type of scoring. Cat Tokens and Button Tokens are crucial. When placing a Fabric Tile, see if it can contribute to a color group for a button and to a pattern group for a cat. Aiming for the Rainbow Button (one of each color) is a great goal, as it alone is worth 3 points and encourages color diversity in your quilt.
3. Manage your hand and the market: Your hand only has two Fabric Tiles, so every choice is important. When taking a tile from the market, think not only about what you need now, but also what might be useful for the next turn, or even what you can "deny" an opponent. Observing what your opponents are looking for can give you a tactical advantage!