Game Preview: Kaleido, or Coming in Colors Everywhere

Game Preview: Kaleido, or Coming in Colors Everywhere
Board Game: Kaleido
Board Game: Kaleido
At times game designers must feel like they're in a bind. If a game design in the works has a commonly used setting — pirates raiding ships, trading in the Mediterranean, space colonization — they have to compete with dozens of other designs to differentiate themselves in some manner while also facing accusations of being too generic; if, on the other hand, they choose a setting that's rarely seen in games, the setting might prove to be off-putting or boring or just plain weird. "Who'd want to play that?" to repeat what I've heard more than a few times.

With Kaleido, designer Hinata Origuchi and publisher Ouyuuan might have threaded the needle, finding a setting that bounces between the extremes, as players are called by the Shogun to compete (common!) because they are all master kaleidoscope designers (kooky!) and he wants to determine who is best in the field. You get a bit of the ol' regal desire to push people around and make them dance, while the competition itself merges surprisingly well with the gameplay.

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