Quality fidgeting with online games

Somewhat to my surprise, instead of playing just a couple games on boardgames-online.net and leaving the site, I have found myself having a few of the lighter games almost constantly going. 

There's  actually a very simple reason for this. Unlike Yucata, which is my go-to place to play board games online, it is really easy to use boardgames-online.net on my phone. Well, at least for the more casual games like Patrician and the members of the Coloretto family. Hansa might not be so easy.

Of course, if I am pausing and making a move in a game while I'm doIng something like standing in line or waiting for water to boil, I don't want a brain burning game. A casual game like Coloretto fits the bill perfectly.

Now that we live in a world where smart phones are pretty common, they offer no end of ways for us to distract ourselves. Too many ways, really. However, playing games against other folks is probably my favorite way to occupy myself on the internet so this works out well. 

This also reminds me that good casual games, even if they are simpler in design, are not that simple to design. You see a lot of them but you don't see a lot of them with staying power. Off and on, I've been playing Coloretto since 2005, which isn't bad. Particularly when my first plays weren't that good :P 

I know that boardgames-online is not going to become my primary game site. There will come a time when I will finish the current games and not start new ones. And letting me fidget isn't the biggest compliment I can give a site. But I am fidgeting with some good games.

Zooloretto for the very young

Earlier this year, I decided to learn Coloretto Amazonas at boardgames-online.net. So, since I have never played Zooloretto Mini/Zooloretto Junior, I decided to learn that game too.

Compared to Amazonas, Mini was much less of a stretch :D It uses the same cut or choose mechanic that every game in the family uses, except Amazonas. It is basically the bridge between Coloretto and Zooloretto. Seeing as how those two games aren't very different, it's a very short bridge :P

In all brutal honesty, Mini is a simplified Coloretto with tiles instead of cards and the zoo theme. No coin actions like Zooloretto and a smaller variety of types than either of the parent games. For me, the most interesting element are landscape features. Those are effectively wilds for filing enclosures but don't count towards making sets.

The real question is if there is a reason to choose Mini over either the razor simplicity of the original Coloretto or the more nuanced choices of Zooloretto. Particularly if you are like me and already own both of those games. And that is some tough competition. While I have had some bad experiences with Coloretto, it's a standard for light card games for good reason. And Zooloretto is one of those games that is the perfect centerpiece for a family game night.

Frankly, at the moment, the only reasons I'd think of picking up Mini is the small size of the box and the relatively sturdy components and it is more forgiving than its parent games. Storage space and playing it with a small child.

And yet, if you look at Mini as a children's game, it is a very good game. If I see it for a good price in the next couple years, I'd pick it up for just that reason. The parent games I think are better fold older kids and teens and adults but I think Mini is super younger child friendly.

From Coloretto to Zooloretto and beyond

The Coloretto family will probably be Michael Schacht longest lasting legacy. And I don't just say that because it includes at least six standalone games and more expansions than I can keep track of. I believe that because Schacht took the simple framework of the original Coloretto game and added a super family-friendly theme and a couple more mechanics to create Zooloretto and all the games and expansions that followed. When he did that, he developed a game perfect for the wider family audience.

The core mechanic of the family is a variation of I cut and you choose. You can either draw a card or tile to add it to a group or take a group to make sets with. Your three best sets are worth happy, positive points. All the rest give you negative, sad face points.

I got Coloretto when it first came out, as you might guess from all the gray in my beard and the fact that I sometimes have to use a cane. And my initial experiences were terrible. I played with a group that focused on spite. The goal wasn't to get the most points but to bring the pain to everyone else.

After that, I did play games where people focused more on points than pain but Coloretto still didn't have that sing for me. Which was a real shame since it was and still is one of the most colorblind friendly color-based games ever.

When Zooloretto came out, it added a theme, slightly more complicated choices and an extra kind of action, the coin actions. It's still easily the lightest of the Schacht board games that won't be leaving my collection but those changes added charm and diversity to the game and those things made a huge difference.

As far as I know, Zooloretto has never been out of print and I've seen it in stores like Target aimed at the mainstream audience. I know it has been the real source of expansions and spinoffs and that my life would be better if I played Aquaretto. It is a game that has had success with both the broader audience and the serious gamer audience.

Zooloretto isn't my favorite Schacht game. (Hi, Web of Power family) However, I think it is the one that will go the farthest in the world.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/3279/coloretto-series