Coloretto - Fun Family Game

I do recall that this is ostensibly a blog about gaming for families and that there are a few families out there who are not fascinated by toy soldiers and Dungeons and Dragons. In an effort to serve that group I would like to write about Coloretto.

Coloretto is a small card game. Most of the cards feature an illustration of a chameleon in one of seven colors. There are a few wild cards and a few other special scoring cards. The rules of the game are simple. Players take turns either drawing and laying down cards or picking up a pile of cards to add to the collection. Players score points by having several cards of the same color- for example four cards with pink chameleons on them. The points increase with each new card of the same color so getting a fifth pink card is quite a score.

The twist in the game is that you only score for three colors. If you have pink, yellow, and blue chameleons then if you get cards of a different color they count as negative points. The goal is to stick to any three colors and then avoid the rest. Each player who draws a card lays it in one of five piles and part of the game involves putting a card a player might want in the same pile as a card they won't want. In the above example if you drew a pink card you would be sure to put it in a pile with two brown cards. That way the player collecting pink, yellow, and blue has a dilemma. Get more pink and take negative points for the brown? Or hold out for better cards?

Coloretto is dead simple as games go but it's surprisingly deep in terms of strategy. Younger players will just enjoy collecting cards and scoring points. Older players may spend some time agonizing about what to do with certain cards and when to grab a given pile. This is a good game for all ages and considering the replay value is a great purchase.