How to Play Calico: Patch Drafting, Design Goals, Cats & Buttons
Calico is a competitive quilt-building puzzle. Every patch has both a color and a pattern, and every permanent placement can contribute simultaneously to design goals, cat patterns and button groups.
Start with two patch tiles in hand
Each player has a personal quilt board containing three Design Goal tiles and a fixed border. A small shared market displays patch tiles available for refill.
1. Place one patch
Choose either patch tile from your hand and place it into any empty hex on your quilt. Placement is permanent; there is no later rearrangement.
2. Resolve any new cat or button
If your placement completes a qualifying same-color group, take the matching Button token. If it completes one of the displayed cat pattern requirements using the required patch pattern(s), take that Cat token and place it on the qualifying patch group.
3. Refill from the market
Choose one of the three face-up market patches to return your hand to two tiles, then refill the market from the bag.
Design Goals inspect the six adjacent patches
Each Design Goal tile shows a required grouping such as pairs or triples. At game end, evaluate the six surrounding patches once by color and once by pattern. Meeting one side scores the lower goal value; meeting both scores the higher combined value printed on that tile.
Game ends when quilts are full
After every player fills their final empty quilt space, score Design Goals, Cat tokens and Buttons. Highest total wins.
Publisher reference: AEG/Flatout Games rulebook. Checked September 21, 2026.