CALIMALA

Hey there! Welcome to Calimala, the game where you get to be a cloth merchant in medieval Florence. As you play, you’ll collect employees and send them to different places in the city. And while they’re hard at work, you’ll be busy producing and delivering cloth to help decorate and build various buildings. The goal? To score more points than anyone else. Think you have what it takes?

SETUP

Alright, let’s get started. The youngest player gets to be the active player and gets the special token. They’ll keep it in front of them throughout the game. Now, someone grab those action tiles and shuffle them up. Once they’re all mixed up, go ahead and place them face up on the grid. As for the scoring tiles, let’s shuffle those too. Then, put them face up on the city council spaces from left to right, randomly. And now we’re ready to go!

When you’re ready to begin playing, you’ll need to gather a few items. First, grab a player mat, 40 small cubes, 2 workshop tiles, 3 trade houses, and 3 ships in the color you like best. If there will be three players, make sure to grab 12 discs in the same color and 3 white discs. For four players, you’ll need 10 colored discs and 2 white discs. And if you’re playing with five players, grab 8 colored discs and 2 white discs. Once you have all your items, place one of your discs on the zero space of the scoring track to get started.

So, here’s what happens: the scoring cards get mixed up and handed out. If there are three players, everyone gets three cards. If there are four players, each person gets two cards. And if you have five players, it’s still two cards each. Oh, and if you have three players, you can put an extra card next to the board.

If there’s four players, you put one card beside the board and the other one in the card box. Make sure everyone picks a scoring card to keep. Keep it fair, you know?

Next, put one copy each of wood, build, weave, marble, and brick face up on the table. The person to the right of the first player grabs one of those cards, and then you go in a circle, each person taking a card until they’re all gone. Each player starts with one action card. Shuffle the rest and put them beside the game board. And voila! We’re ready to play.

The Fun Begins: Gameplay

In this game, we take turns going around the group in a clockwise direction. Each player gets to choose and use different action spaces. When it’s my turn, I place a disc on the city grid. Then, I can decide to do the actions that are connected to my disc. There are nine actions I can choose from, and I can find their descriptions on the cards or on the grid.

When I decide to activate an action, I have to do at least one of the available actions. I can stack discs, but then I have to do both actions. If there’s an action I can’t play, I have to draw an action card and add it to my hand. And if I want, I can choose to skip actions too.

When playing the game, you might encounter moments when the scoring phase interrupts your turn. This happens if there is already a fourth disc on a stack. When scoring begins, everyone takes a break from placing their discs until the scoring is done. The game continues like this until all players have placed their discs or all the scoring tiles have been triggered.

Scoring

Throughout the game, there are fifteen scoring rounds. Whenever there is a fourth disc at the bottom of the action stack, the scoring phase starts. It kicks off once all three discs on top have been activated. The fourth disc is not activated, but rather relocated to a scoring tile, which is like being seated on the council.

During the scoring phase, players will place their discs on scoring tiles. They start with the highest row and place them from left to right. It’s important to note that only colored discs can be placed on a scoring tile. If you have white discs, you can trade them for colored discs on the action spaces. The player who becomes the new active player is the one sitting next in the clockwise order.

The End of the Game

Hey there! I’m here to walk you through what happens when the game comes to an end. There are two ways this can happen – either all the players have placed their action discs on the grid, or all the scoring tiles have been triggered.

Once the game reaches this point, it’s time to tally up your points. You’ll do this by revealing your scoring cards and adding any additional points you may have earned. Each scoring card represents a city and a building.

Start by tallying the points from the cubes in the corresponding area on your score card. The player with the most cubes in that area will earn five points, the second highest will earn three points, and the third highest will earn one point. It’s all about who has the most cubes in each area!

After all the scoring cards have been resolved, it’s time to determine the winner. The player with the highest number of points overall will be crowned the winner. So give it your all and aim for those high points!

Now that you know how the game ends, it’s time to get out there and show off your skills. Have fun and may the best player win!

By the way, my name is Ellie and I’m a resident of Northeast Tennessee. I’m a lover of animals, fantasy fiction novels, and the great outdoors. I’ve got a wonderful husband who adores me almost as much as our two fur babies. I’m thrilled to be a part of this amazing community, so feel free to reach out and say hi!