Review: Cabo Deluxe (Bezier Games)

Unicorns capture the imagination. They’re fantastic and mysterious, and, I think, prone to some mischief. (Granted, I don’t have evidence of that, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

Given that heritage, it makes sense that Cabo Deluxe Edition from Bezier Games uses the search for a playful unicorn as its central theme. This deluxe version of the game features two linen-finish decks with unique card backs to make games go faster (one player shuffles while another player deals), along with an oversize score pad for recording your games, all stored in a solid slip-top box.

But enough of the basics — let’s start catching unicorns. Here are the top five things you need to know about Cabo Deluxe Edition.

Getting Started

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Cabo uses a deck of 52 cards numbered zero to 13. The deck contains four of each card from 1 to 12, and two each of zero and 13. The 7 through 12 cards also have special abilities in the game (more about that in a moment).

The game’s goal has two parts: be the first to finish a hand and score the lowest number of points. But unicorns can be mischievous, so things may not go exactly as you planned.

Cards Up and Down

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Cabo is a “draw and play” game that uses both hidden and revealed cards. That can be a little confusing the first time you play, but you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

Everybody starts with four face-down cards in front of them. Peek at two of your cards and try hard to commit them to memory, because that’s the only time you get a free look.

On your turn, you can draw a face-down card from the deck or a face-up card from the discard.

If you draw from the face-down deck, then look at the card. If you don’t like it or if it has a special ability you want to use, then discard it.

If you like the card and want to keep it, exchange it with a card in your hand by playing it face-down (from the draw deck) or face-up (if it’s from discard). Then reveal and discard the other card. If you have a pair of matching cards in your hand, you can reveal and discard both of them in a two-for-one trade. Nice.

Strategic Special Abilities

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The special abilities on the 7-12 cards add more twists to the game. You can use their abilities only if you draw them from the face-down deck and immediately discard them. Revealing a special ability card when exchanging cards in your hand doesn’t trigger its ability. Sorry.

Peek (7 and 8) lets you look at any one of your face-down cards. Spy (9 and 10) means you can see one face-down card in another player’s hand. Swap (11 and 12) lets you exchange a card with an opponent. (Just trade them, don’t flip them.)

Triggering the Last Round

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At first blush, winning a hand of Cabo seems pretty simple: Gather the lowest point cards, call “Cabo” to signal that you’re ready to score, and then write down a score of zero. Seems straight forward, but there’s plenty more to it — and that perfect hand you assembled might lead to a surprising number of points in your column.

When you call “Cabo” and trigger the end of the hand, everybody else gets one more chance to play before scoring. They can trade out a card, trigger a special ability to inflict a last-moment adjustments to your hand, or go whole-hog and do a multiple card exchange.

When everyone finishes, they reveal their hands and add up points for final scoring.

Final Scoring Surprises

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First, you check if anyone ended with only two 12s and two 13s in their hand. If they did, then they score 0, everyone else scores 50, and you start dealing a new hand. (Surprise!)

Otherwise, if you called “Cabo” and you have the lowest total points, you score zero while the others get the total of their cards. But if you don’t have the lowest total points, then you get the total of your cards plus 10 points. (Ouch.)

The game ends when someone has more than 100 points. In one final twist, if you score exactly 100 points, then your score resets to 50 and the game can continue if nobody scored over 100, but that only happens once for each player (otherwise you’d still be playing next week).

Verdict

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In this latest boxed version, Cabo Deluxe Edition gives players plenty to love. We wholeheartedly recommend it.

It’s a beautifully expanded and upgraded game that plays fast and delivers lots of surprises. By reducing the number of players to four and making some solid edits to the rules, Bezier fine-tuned the game to increase the fun while maintaining what people loved about the original.

The cards feel good in your hands and shuffle cleanly. The card artwork makes things easy to discern for all players, regardless of visual acuity, with large numbers and simple text set against a contrasting background.

If you want to try something new after playing the basic game a few times, visit the Bezier website and look up the expert play alternate rules. They definitely add some new twists.