I like card games and in my collection [page scan/se=0088/sf=category/fi=stockin.asc/ml=10]Hattrick gets top marks. I must have played it several hundred times and what is attractive to me is that no matter how good or bad your hand appears to be, and whether you play with 4 or 6 players, it is always great fun.

Coloretto has some flavour of Hattrick and has already had many outings in its short life time. It is too early for me to classify it as being as good, but it is showing some similar tendencies.

The game is incredibly simple. Seven coloured suits of cards are shuffled and placed in a pile. The 16th from bottom card is a last round marker and when this appears, it shows that the last round of cards will be concluded. There are a number of rows of cards laid out with one per player. In order to make the game even easier, there are special row cards, which show how many rows are available to select. Each player only has two choices on their turn - either draw a card from the face-down deck and play it against one of the rows or take all the cards in a row. The clever part of the game is that when you take a row of cards, you are out of this round and cannot take further rows or add cards to rows. So you have to choose your moment. There is maximum of three cards in a row, at which time you can either add to other rows or select a row to collect.

Each player tries to collect cards in the same colour. You can score up to three sets with positive scores, while the rest will be scored negatively. (Just like Hattrick and Mit List and Tcke except the number of positive and negative suits are different.) The scoring in Coloretto is 1 point for the first card, 3 points for two cards, 6 points for three and so on with a maximum of 21 points for 6 matching cards. (This is a difference between Coloretto and Hattrick as there is no imposed maximum in Hattrick, but the rule works well.)

Initially the game is quite simple. Draw a card and play it. But very quickly the decisions are slightly more difficult. Do you add a second colour to the first one or place it on a separate row? When a matching colour comes up do you mix it with another card or match the colours? As the rounds progress, players focus on specific colours. So one person might collect yellow, brown and green while another is after yellow, pink and blue. When a row has a yellow and you draw a blue, you will probably split it from the yellow. But if there was already another blue card on the row that you could place it with, do you add it to yellow or make blue doubly valuable? Just to add spice to the colour mix there are a few jokers and +2 cards which make the combinations of cards more interesting. Jokers are always taken straight away as they can be added to any coloured set at the end of the round and increase the value of that set by one card's value, which is usually 6 or 5 points.

We play a round per player and while scores are higher with 3 players, it is equally playable with 3, 4 or 5 players.

The game has so many tough choices, but from simple options, that it is instantly enjoyable. It is a wonderful end of evening closer and terrific value. If you have the remotest interest in cards, it is well worth getting. If you like card games a great deal, then this is a must buy.

The deck's unnumbered cards feature seven colors, "Plus 2" cards, and the End card (shuffled near the bottom). Each turn, you may choose to draw a card and place it faceup in any row with less than three cards (the number of rows equals the number of players). Alternately, you may end your participation in the round by picking and retaining faceup all cards in any row, eliminating that row. Rounds end when everyone has selected cards. A lone remaining player can add cards to the last row before picking.

When the End card appears, play stops. Choose three of your colors to score positive points: 1 to 21 in each color, depending on quantity. Remaining colors score negative points. Each Plus 2 card earns two points. Highest score wins. Schacht again dazzles us with the beguiling challenges radiating from his elegant rules.

I have been looking at Coloretto for a couple of years, thinking it might make a good addition to my games shelf, but never quite sure. I recently picked up a copy from Funagain, and I am glad I did. This is a fun game for groups that really just want to get together and talk, without being boring. The rules had a rough ride in their translation from German to English, but once we started a round everything fell into place and made sense; like all games, reading the rules is the hardest part. The cards are beautifully illustrated, and I was pleased to see that they no longer simply have the generic backs that an earlier reviewer bemoaned. My Coloretto deck has a very nice monochrome pattern on the back with the word "Coloretto" on it. I played this game three or four times after opening it, and everyone one who played enjoyed it. So if you are looking for a simple, enexpensive, and extremely portable game that anyone can play, give Coloretto a try.

There are a LOT of filler games available nowadays, so many that some of them never make it to the table. The bar has been raised, and a filler has to be quick, fun, and exciting and easy to teach. A filler game that does not meet all of these qualities will probably be played rarely, if at all. So, when my friend first introduced me to Coloretto (Abacus Spiele, 2003 Michael Schact), it didnt immediately strike me as a game that was any of the above. The cards were pretty enough, but the rules seemed TOO simple to be any fun.

Boy, was I wrong. Coloretto, after that one playing and many more has shot up to be one of the top filler games Ive played, and one of my favorite games from 2003. For a game that offers so few choices, it has great promise and is extremely fun! The only problem I had with the game was the horrible card backs, but the fronts were gorgeous and handled the color-blindness problem splendidly.

Coloretto is simply composed of a deck of cards. This deck is composed of seven sets of colored cards nine of each color (blue, pink, orange, yellow, green, brown, and gray). There are also three wild cards and ten light blue cards that have +2 on them. Each player takes a card of one color and places it in front of them, along with a point summary card. The remainder of the cards are shuffled, with a last round card inserted fifteen cards from the bottom. One row card for each player is placed in a row on the table, a player is chosen to go first, and the first round begins.

On a turn, a player can do one of two things. For one thing, they can draw the top card from the deck, and place it with any row card on the table (as long as that row card has less then three cards already with it.) Or, they can take all the cards from one row card on the table, placing them in front of them. The next player to the right then goes, etc., etc. Once a player takes a stack of cards, they are out of that round and must wait until all players have taken a stack of cards. If every row card has three cards associated with them, then the player has no choice but to take a set of cards. After all players have taken cards, the round ends; and another begins. When the last round card is revealed, players play until the end of that round, and scoring occurs.

Each player scores points for every color they have collected, depending on how many cards of that color they got. For example, one card of blue is worth one point, but 6 cards of blue (the max) are worth 21 points! The catch is that only three colors count for positive points. If a player has more than three colors (which is almost inevitable), they must pick which three they want to count towards their total in a positive way, and the rest to detract points from their total. The +2 cards give two points to a player and are added to the total after the other points are computed. The player with the most points wins the game!

Some comments on the game

1.) Components: The cards are of fantastic quality, something Ive grown accustomed to from Abacus Spiele. Each card has a picture of a chameleon on it, with a background of a different color, and different texture (for color blind). The row cards, last round card, and summary cards are all a bland tan, contrasting sharply with the very colorful cards. This means I love the cards, right? Well, the faces yes. BUT, the backs of the cards are a generic back that simply says Abacusspiele that they use for other games, such as Mamma Mia. This is simply poor taste, bad design, and frankly quite disappointing. I dont care if the company thinks it will save them money they shouldnt cut corners like this I want nice backs of cards! Also, included with the game was a bunch of blank cards for a game called Knatsch. Well, that may be a nice touch, but a bad marketing move on their part I dont want to be forced to buy an expansion for a game I dont own. Still, even with these annoyances I do like the cards, as long as we keep them face-up on the table.

2.) Rules: The rules are extremely easy and really dont entail much more than Ive written above. The format (mixed with two other languages), really isnt that great, and I had to look a few times to figure out where the English rules were. However, since they were so simplistic, I only had to read them once. The game is a breeze to teach, and I have found NO one who hasnt picked up on it after one round child or adult.

3.) Strategy: This game gives the player, at maximum, 6 choices per round. He first decides whether to take a row of cards or place a card. If placing, he then decides which row to place the card in. All in all, this really doesnt present much analysis paralysis, and the game moves at an incredibly quick pace sometimes finishing in only ten minutes. However, the choice of taking cards or placing a card can sometimes be hair pulling. A row may only have one card but you want that card! Should you take it, or stay in the round hoping for a better card to be placed on it? This isnt a decision that takes more than ten seconds, but it can be an agonizing ten seconds.

4.) Valentines: Just a quick note here. People who cannot do harm to one another should stay away from this game. If one person puts cards down that HELP another person, instead of hindering them, they can really throw off the game for everyone else. Its a kindly cutthroat game, but its still cutthroat; and if you cant handle that stay away youll annoy the other players.

5.) Fun Factor: When I read the rules, I wasnt that impressed. But upon playing, I found that not only I had fun, but everyone I taught the game to did also. I have yet to see anyone dislike this game. Its not always asked for; but when I suggest it, it is heartily welcomed. Luck plays a decent factor in this game but knowing when to take cards, and when to hold is probably the greatest source of fun in the game.

I highly recommend this game. Despite my problems with the card backs, I think the production is excellent. I love games that take 1 minute to explain, 1 minute to set up, and 1 minute for people to catch onto the strategy. Then, only taking an average of twenty minutes to play how can you go wrong? This is one of my favorite fillers, and I think will see play at our table for many years to come.

Tom Vasel

Had a few non-gamers over last night and hadn't broken the seal on my new copy of Coloretto yet. Based on the previous reviews, thought this would be a good choice. It was. The directions take about a minute to learn, and two minutes to explain. Then you're off! Great game to get non-gamers involved, as there is a perfect balance of luck and skill, so everyone has a chance to win, even on their first time out. The artwork is very cool, as well. This one is a winner.