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Spy, swap, and peek to find Cabo the unicorn in this simple card game.
Your goal in CABO is to minimize the total value of your cards, but you don't know what all your cards are at the beginning of the game. By using certain powers to peek at your own cards, spy on your opponent's cards, or swap a card with an opponent, you can try to minimize the value of your cards. When you think you have the lowest value, you can call "CABO" to end the round, but everyone else gets another turn. In the end, the player with the lowest total wins; can you shed your cards quicker than your opponents?
This second edition of CABO features modified rules, a scorepad, four player reference cards, and all new artwork. Rules modifications include the following:
Plays 2–4 players (instead of 2–5)
Cards taken from the discard pile remain face up for the rest of the game, even when in front of players (instead of always keeping cards face down)
Penalty for non-matching cards: Keep all cards including the one drawn — one more per additional cards that do not match (instead of no penalty)
10 point penalty for missing a CABO call (instead of 5)
All players score the sum of their points; if the CABO caller has (or is tied for) the lowest sum, they get 0 points (instead of the lowest player always receiving 0 points)
The round ends after a CABO call or the deck runs out (instead of just when CABO is called)
Limit of one reset to 50 when your score=100 exactly (instead of unlimited resets)
Part of the Cabo family — see Cabo for the combined view.
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- Overflowing with tables for generating content.
- Quick and simple character creation.
- Valuable tool for generating elements for other solo games.
- Encourages players to drive the narrative.
- Interesting mechanics for resource management (time, items).
- Accessible and fun magic system for generation.
- Well-made physical product with nice binding and art.
- Not designed for solo play; lacks built-in solo rules or an Oracle.
- Requires external tools (emulators) to facilitate solo play.
- Getting started can take some effort without external aids.
- Fantasy world
- Into the Odd
- Cairn
- Maze Rats
- Fiasco
- Keralis
- Thousand-Year Vampire
- Dungeon Crawl Classics
- Little Town
- Eldritch Town
- Caves and Catacombs
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Ability scores — Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma range from 0 to 10 and are used as modifiers for challenges.
- Advancement — When leveling up, add one point to three different ability scores.
- Armor Class — Armor class starts at 11 plus armor points from worn armor, up to seven pieces.
- Buildings and warfare — Charts for city themes, events, street details, building details, inns, food traits, factions, missions, and rewards.
- Careers — Two careers can be chosen or rolled, providing starting gear and backstory elements.
- Challenge Resolution — Take a base score of 11, add/subtract modifiers to get a target number (usually 16), and roll a D20 + modifiers to meet or beat the score.
- Classless System — A classless system with careers used to give characters backstory, items, and gear.
- Combat — Target number is based on 11 + monster level or PC armor class. Roll D20 + modifiers. Critical strikes (21+) allow a free maneuver.
- Cost of living — Chart from destitute (90 coins/month) to royalty (600,000 coins/month).
- Delving mechanics — Actions take about 10 minutes. Includes hazard charts, shifts, room generation, and encounter generation.
- Downtime activities — Earning XP by gambling, training, and recruiting helpers/henchmen.
- Equipment — Armor pieces (shields, helmets, etc.) bolster armor class. Weapons are generally standardized (one-handed/two-handed).
- Experience/Gold — Gold is experience; treasure is experience. Characters level up by gaining gold.
- Hit points and item slots — Characters have D6 maximum hit points, and items can be lost as hit points are depleted, with items also acting as wounds.
- maneuvers — Actions like stunning, blinding, climbing, or restraining that do not cause damage but add tactical elements.
- Monster generation — Monster chart, bestiary, and generation tools for animals, organs, traits, powers, senses, sounds, tactics, and weaknesses.
- NPC Generation — Charts for male/female names, surnames, personalities, professions, goals, assets, liabilities, relationships, and mannerisms.
- random tables — Overflowing with tables for generating ideas, encounters, and content, including tables for travel, encounters, delving, and more.
- Relic magic — Items that cause magic, with charts for domains, symbols, alchemy, potions, textures, tastes, colors, and ingredients.
- Spell Generation — Includes random spell tables and a formula for generating new spells based on wizard's name, effect, element, quality, and form.
- Time as a resource — One watch (approx. 4 hours) is needed to move a hex or explore a hex. Moving more than three hexes without rest incurs direct damage.
- Tools and items — Charts for miscellaneous items, books, clothing, materials, weapons, and item traits.
- Travel Mechanics — Involves watches, hex movement, foraging, getting lost checks, and random events like hazards, encounters, and travel shifts.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The content of a game the situations locations events NPCs often has a bigger impact on the experience than mechanics
- If I picked this up in a store not knowing anything about it and I started flipping through this and I saw all of these tables I would think yes this is a game that I can use even just as a tool for generating things for my solo game
- If you're looking for something solo that you can play just with the one book this is not the game this is not that game
References (from this video)
- Two decks in Cabo Deluxe allow flexible grouping
- Compact and portable for travel
- Deluxe box is larger than the base game
- Can be a bit fiddly with multiple players
- Hidden information / risk management with cards
- Casual card game during travel planning
- Light, family-friendly, quick play
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Hand Management — Players manage a hand of cards to minimize points; information is revealed as play progresses.
- Set/collection-ish interaction — Players aim to avoid high-value cards and leverage private knowledge of their own cards.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is the first time we're bringing out cabo deluxe deluxe
- it's the easiest thing to grab on the shelf
- this is the physically biggest one that we have
- not alone without location powers
- Parade plays up to six
- Jack's Friends is a streamlined Not Alone with different locations