CALO game rules

CALO is a property trading board game. The full rules are below. The server does every calculation, so you never keep score by hand.

Board and turns

• The board has 40 squares: 22 properties in 8 colour groups, 4 stations, 2 utilities, 2 taxes, 4 corners and 6 card squares.
• Each player rolls 2 dice and moves forward by the total.
• A double earns another roll. Three doubles in a row sends you to jail.
• Passing or landing on Go pays +200.

Property and auctions

• Land on an unowned property and you may buy it at the listed price.
• Decline and it goes to a compulsory auction — everyone may bid, highest bid wins.
• Landing on an owned property means paying rent to its owner.
• Station rent depends on how many stations the owner holds; utility rent depends on the dice roll.

Building

• Owning every property in a colour group doubles the rent.
• A complete group can be built on. Building must be even: house counts within a group may differ by at most one.
• A palace replaces four houses.
• Supply is limited: 32 houses and 12 palaces in total. Run out and you wait — that limit is where the strategy lives.

Mortgages and debt

• Mortgaging a property pays you 50% of its price. Mortgaged property collects no rent.
• Lifting a mortgage costs the amount received plus 10%.
• Short of cash, buildings are sold first, then mortgages, then bankruptcy.
• A bankrupt player’s property passes to the creditor.

Jail

• Leave jail by rolling a double, paying 50, or using a pardon card.
• After three turns, payment becomes compulsory.
• You keep collecting rent while in jail.

Special rules

• Caravanserai (the rest corner). Every tax and fine collects here. Whoever lands on it takes the lot.
• Percentage tax (square 38) takes 10% of total wealth. It reins in the leader and keeps games close.
• The host can switch either rule off in the room settings.
• Even build is on by default: houses and hotels go up evenly across a set. Switch it off and you can build wherever you like.
• Teams mode. Players form teams in the lobby. Teammates pay no rent to each other and their properties count together — colour sets, stations and utilities alike. When a teammate goes bankrupt, everything passes to a surviving teammate.
• The last side standing wins: a single player in a normal game, the whole team in teams mode.

FAQ

Are auctions compulsory? Yes. Decline an unowned property and it goes to auction automatically. It keeps games short and stops property sitting idle.

Why can I not build a house? Three likely reasons: the colour group is incomplete, the even-building rule would be broken, or the house supply has run out.

Do I collect rent in jail? Yes. Jail only stops you moving — your properties keep earning.