While I have not played the original Calico, I couldn’t help but try this digital version simply because the game trailer revealed actual animated cats wandering around the quilt. As an aspiring cat parent, the combination of two worlds I love lured me in, but eventually I did stay for the gameplay.
Quilts and Cats of Calico is a digital version of the competitive quilt-making game for 1-4 players that takes about 45 minutes to play, though its story mode takes longer to complete. The best experience is with 3 players to provide a more balanced cycling of Patch Tiles, or, for those looking for a solo objective, playing alone is just as fun with story mode.
Gameplay Overview:
Quilts and Cats of Calico follow the same player turn as the tabletop board game Calico, with the exception that you are also able to see what tiles are left in the bag and not just the three faceup Patch Tiles. Players will take turns until each player’s Quilt Board is completely filled with Patch Tiles. The players will then count points for Design Goal Tiles based on the surrounding six Patch Tiles, Cat Tokens based on preferred pattern placements, and Button Tokens based on groups of three Patch Tiles of the same color. The player with the most points wins.
In story mode, the player will encounter different characters that have backstories and quirks which partially influence the quilt-making challenge for the player. After completing these challenges, the overarching story progresses and the player is free to move about the world for more adventures.
Game Experience:
Upon launching the game I could already tell that this would be slightly polarizing depending on one’s familiarity with the analog game. The tutorial itself was quite wordy, and I know that they would rather go into each action in detail than leave a player guessing but it felt a little over the top for me as a new player. I can imagine players familiar with the game would find the patch tile interactions annoying because it feels more mechanical than simply moving a tile to your board in real life.
I’ll also admit that in the early levels of this game, I could get away with just placing patch tiles based on vibes. In the story mode’s later levels, you need to arrange the tiles under specific criteria to meet objectives, which often tie in with the current dialogue or character you encounter. I found these levels to be frustrating, mainly because I always found myself just one shy of the required cat tokens or buttons. The resulting gameplay was several restarts and a lot of calculating every move, including an intense bag management strategy.
The developers created a world in story mode that involves cat magic and the idea of cat worship itself is amusing. I gave this aspect of the digital game a lot of room to be weird and quirky but felt slightly disappointed that the writing was forgettable. This is especially true because of the puzzling in between; by the time you complete a level, you forget why you were quilting in the first place.
Throughout each level of gameplay there were opportunities to give good belly pets and head scratches to the cats, so if you ever find yourself frustrated with the options in front of you feel free to take a moment of calm. This is the biggest advantage to playing Calico in digital form, unless you actually own several cats already. With the built in cat designer, you could even try adding your cat or a celebrity cat you enjoy to the game. I follow some content creators who share their cats’ antics on Youtube and Tiktok, so I took the time to add some of my favorites to the game.
One criticism I had with the user interface and graphics was how hard it was to see cat token requirements that blended in with the corresponding cat portraits. I wish there were written explanations in addition to the graphics, or at minimum a tooltip that could be toggled on or off for players. There were many points where I thought I was fulfilling cat requests in my quilt design but found out at the end of the failed level that I misinterpreted the task.
I’m a believer in making an effort on the graphics details in games, and unfortunately, the quality in Quilts and Cats of Calico was inconsistent. I loved the art in story mode when meeting new characters, the texture on the tiles, and the added thread effect on the tile border when adding a patch to the main quilt. Yet when it came to the cats themselves or the other parts of the interface, it looked rushed and unpolished. I realize that this isn’t something that can be fixed in a patch (no pun intended), but I hope that Monster Couch will improve this aspect of their adaptations in the future.
Final Thoughts:
This game is for players both new to and familiar with Calico the board game, as Quilts and Cats of Calico has the same gameplay with fun digital extras like cats and a story mode for solo gamers. Cat parents can add their children to the game using the cat designer, which can contribute to surges of warm fuzzy feelings while getting through levels of puzzling.
Unlike the physical board game, this digital format has good tile texture and quilting details to really add to the experience of quilting. However, new players may find that the tutorial is too wordy, while familiar players may find the user interface to be clunky when moving tiles on the board. For those who care deeply about aesthetics, the graphics do look slightly rushed and unpolished. If you can forgive some of the faults, this is sure to be a great option when you want some Calico gameplay without the analog setup.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars – Experience the digital adaptation of Calico gameplay, while interacting with adorable cats and encountering quirky characters in its dedicated story mode.
Hits:
• Quirky story mode with unique puzzles
• Cat designer creates a personal experience
• Texture and details make quilt realistic
Misses:
• Tutorial too wordy for new players
• Moves can feel clunky
• Graphics look rushed and unpolished
