Koffer, Katze & Sombrero^*

Koffer, Katze & Sombrero ("suitcase, cat & sombrero") is a card game by Christian Kudahl from AMIGO: you pick up luggage at the airport and want to stack it in the proper order. A game takes about 20 minutes and is rated for ages 8 and up. A small box, quick rules and a clever pay-to-reach mechanism make it a good filler.

What's it about?

The deck has 40 cards numbered 1 to 10 in four colours. Seven cards are laid out in a row with one end as the front, and everyone takes seven chips.

How it plays

1. Take one card from the row. The first card is free; the second costs a chip on the first card, the third a chip on each of the first two, and so on.
2. When you take a card, you start a pile in its colour or add it to an existing one. If it is lower than the card it covers, it goes face down.
3. You may later place any value face up on a face-down card.
4. Once the row can't be refilled to seven cards, finish the round so everyone has had the same number of turns.

Scoring

Face-up cards score their number, face-down cards −1 point, and each chip 1 point.

What makes it special?

Good cards further down the row cost chips, so you keep weighing whether the price is worth it. For variety, three of 15 special cards are drawn at random, each adding an end-of-game scoring or an in-game condition.

Who is it for?

Families and card-game groups who want a short game with real decisions.