Dale al Coco Game
(Cocota Lab)
The card game to fine-tune your visual acuity.
Back-to-work blues? Yep. We definitely had those after returning from our idyllic summer break.
So we decided to grab the bull by the horns and designed a fun visual acuity game to get our minds back into the swing of things. That’s how ‘Dale al Coco’ (‘Shake the Brain’ in English) was born, a game based on the popular visual perception game ‘Set’.
Cocota Lab
We do at least one self-initiated graphic design project a year – usually inspired by a problem we want to solve, an idea that appeals to us or just something fun.
Objective:
find a ‘coco’
A ‘coco’ is a group of three cards that are similar or different in terms of four characteristics: shape, colour, number and fill. The first player to spot a set shouts ‘coco!’ and gets to keep those three cards.
Cards in the game
Cards on the board
Max. players
Variety of 'Cocos'
Challenges
A game based around the association or distinction of shapes, colours and fills requires a sharp eye for shape design and a head for quick visual analysis. So we picked very simple and recognisable shapes: an ‘S’ (in the shape of a pencil), an ‘O’ (in the shape of a skateboard) and a diagonal bar (in the shape of a hot dog). We printed out loads of proofs to test outline thickness and to find a fill distinctive enough from the solid and outline-only shapes. Of course, picking the paper stock and gold embossing for the game box wasn’t a piece of cake either – designers are super-picky!
The Dale al Coco concept is extremely simple. However, explaining it can be complex and confusing, so developing intuitive and visual instructions was another big challenge. We had to be concise due to space limitations (the instructions shouldn’t be thicker than the deck of cards!), and prioritised the instructions so anyone could understand the main rules and start playing in seconds.
With our daily practice over coffee, we’re getting pretty good at spotting ‘cocos’!
If you are interested in packaging design, take a look at our latest work for Musotoku.
Fancy a virtual cup of coffee with us?
We’re friendly and love chatting about new projects and ideas.
