Coloretto (cover art may vary)

I actually didn't intend to buy this game. I'm looking for small card games and I wanted to buy another game "Parade" which seems to be fun and exciting. I knew Coloretto was famous so I just included it in the purchase. I played "Parade" and while it is fun, it felt obvious and not exciting for me. Then, I read the rules of Coloretto and felt meh, nothing special. I played it with severely low expectations, and then WOW!!! How wrong was I! Right after my 1st game, I immediately looked for expansions that would make the game even more fun and exciting, and found some official expansions that are very easy to integrate with the game that you don't even need a copy of those expansions as long as you have the image of the extra cards on your e.g. phone.Pros- Easy and fast to learn and teach. I learned this game on a park while talking about other things with my girlfriend, and I don't consider myself as good at multi-tasking, it is that easy. Taught it to her afterwards easily.- Fast to play. Would take around 15 minutes.- Fun and exciting to play! It is fun to collect what you want. But it is also fun that you collected what you didn't want. It is exciting to see what cards will appear from round to round and how you will adapt.- Flows smoothly. Doesn't feel heavy, thus you can play it to relax after a long day at work.- Highly interactive. Mean, but in a fun way (not mean as in Dominant Species: Marine levels of mean). You can influence what your opponent takes. You can force your opponent to make a tough decision on taking negative points.- Replayable, mainly because of the competition. The push-your-luck feeling also adds excitement and makes you wanting more. For more variety, it has expansions that can be easily integrated to a game which changes the rules a bit, causing everyone to adapt a new strategy . You don't even need to buy or print anything for the expansions, just open the extra cards' pictures on your phone and select 1 randomly that would take effect in a game. It is that easy.- I don't usually like games where luck is the biggest factor (I don't like The Quacks of Quedlinburg), but here it just works for me. I don't know why I find it exciting the draw-or-take cards here, but extremely dislike the continue-or-stop mechanism of Quacks, which by idea is actually very similar.- Playable with 2 players.Cons- The red and orange cards look very similar. Some more cards look similar. They should have chosen better differentiating colors.- The expansions / promos are very easy to add in the game as they are just a few cards, I wonder why they just didn't simplify things and put everything on the base game box considering that this is already a very old game that may not anymore see custom future reprints.- As good as the game is, is how poor the thickness of the box is. If you put card sleeves, there will be a huge lid lift. I don't know why publishers continuously create boxes or inserts that doesn't fit sleeved cards.- The cards with special effects such as the joker cards should have their effects written in the card, instead of having the players consult the rulebook.So my cons, overall, are just on production. In terms of gameplay, none! Just buy it.

As of this writing, I have three kids under the age of six. As a gamer Dad I love playing games with my kids, but most of the games I enjoy are over their heads. Sure, I could numb out to CandyLand or something equally inane, but why not try to find a game that is easy for them to play and yet deep enough to hold my attention?Enter Coloretto. This little gem was the inspiration for Zooloretto (of 2007 Spiel des Jahres fame), and plays like a simplified version of its award-winning big brother. Each round you have a very simple choice to either put a card out or take a row of one or more cards. But where it gets interesting is when you consider the results of your choice, especially when it comes to other players. If you make a particular row too lucrative your opponents may steal it from under your nose, but if you make it too unattractive you may end up getting stuck with it...It's simple enough (and the turns are fast enough) that my kids can play it without loosing interest, but engaging enough to keep me entertained as well. And as a game snob of sorts, that's saying something!THE BREAKDOWNDecisions: 4/5. It's not about complex choices, it's about considering the results of very simple choices, and that's what keeps this game interesting. It's especially intense when you play using the advanced scoring rules---it makes for a surprisingly challenging game!Artwork: 3/5. The cards are all basically the same illustrated chameleon with a different colored background. I would say that the artwork in this game does its job well, but does not go beyond that.Replayability: 4/5. Despite what I would have expected, this game stays fresh and playable despite many, many rounds. And of course, add in the advanced scoring option, and you get a game that is so different that it can hurt your brain a wee bit.Awesomeness: 4/5. It's not legendary by any means, but it's a solid little game that is well worth is $11 price tag.Bottom line: Coloretto's easy choices and simple rules make it almost the perfect kids' game, but it's smart enough to keep adults entertained as well. Geek Dads and Moms, give this one a shot and let us know what you think!

Chameleons and games are two of my daughter's favorite things, so this was the perfect gift for her 5th birthday. The game says for ages 14+, but this game could definitely be played by younger kids. The game is relatively simple. Younger kids might not strategize as much as adults and need help with the scoring, but they could definitely learn the game fairly easily. My daughter is 4, turning 5 and she was able to learn it quickly, and is able to strategize some. The colors and artwork on the cards are beautiful and vibrant. This game comes in a small box, so it will be great for travel, but we have to keep a rubber band around the box because the lid fits loosely on the box (not a deal breaker for us). Overall, we love this game.

Great for two people! I highly recommend!

I have given away almost a dozen games recently because reviews of them were so misleading, and I felt really conned by it all. I finally tried this one, and boy is it outstanding. We learned to play two player with some youtube videos and were smiling and laughing, not sitting here with faces scrunched frowning like with the dud games saying “how did this make it into production.”This game is OUTSTANDING, ALL CAPS. We both are thrilled and can’t wait to play again. Five million stars.

Our family (we have young adult, college-aged kids) absolutely loves this game! We play card games almost every night while we eat dinner and are always looking for something new and fun. My son picked up this one and it's a hit with the whole family. Easy to learn, not too complicated but not too simple either, there is some strategy involved, and it lasts the perfect amount of time (not too short, not too long). It's just really fun. Highly recommend it, whether you have young kids, older kids, or a table of adults!