Welcome to Maple to me. People uniting players around
the world. A 30-minute exploration of PJ
and Gareth ball. Game experiences from across
both sides of the Atlantic each episode, they share their
thoughts and opinions on the world of war games, including
their favorite themes games, hot topics and much, much more Hey
everybody and welcome to episode 28 board games and focus.
We are going to talk about the top three board games.
Not top three. The most recent, three board
games that have hit our tables. I'm PJ, I'm Gareth and we are
ready to begin. So Gareth how have you been?
I'll be well I'm definitely better.
Oh I the codes nearly gone. The cough is nearly gone.
Little bit little bit. Of cold, but we feel 100 times
better than last week. So have you been able to get
some games? You do we how we pay some games?
In fact, this episode we're doing slightly earlier because
we've got games night, which I forgot we had a podcast
recording fly. So I have dragged you away from
gencon the arrangements, which you have now succeeded?
Yep, you are a busy man and you were so busy, you don't have
time to schedule me. You just have to fit me in and
little Bi weekly schedule. Don't miss the mishap of not
putting diary things in the diary.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this because actually we have
gotten some games in the scream at least two or three times this
week which is far better. Ivan post on Instagram a few
times and that has surprise people silence.
Yeah, no, it was good. It was good to hear me out.
Check me out. So I've chosen well-chosen.
I've just looked through the last five games.
I've played and pic32 relatively new one older game.
Well wasn't to tell us the same thing.
We had our games weekend with our friends, this past weekend
so I was going to talk about three games at the table this
weekend. So okay, well the games I've
got, I've got Motor City which is a role of Rights from the
same guys. That did three sisters and Fleet
the dice game. So they met middle and bend
pitch pinchbeck on the talk about maglev, Metro making
trains with awesome components and thing lessons.
Which is a, which is a solo game from the button shy set a game.
So 18 games which has been played numerous times on my own
because it's so low. Nice, if you changed William, I
got an opportunity to play Agricola All Creatures big and
small love. It's the two-player by.
Yeah, man. That's really good.
I'm not a big fan of Agricola, but the two-player version is
just It really saying to me, and we got to play that Thursday
night, and that was pretty exciting.
And then we hit terraforming Mars yesterday, along with the
adventures of Robin Hood for the second time and that's going to
be a fun one to talk about. Yeah.
But who wants to go first? Why don't you?
Yeah, I want you to lead us off. Don, I'll just start with Motor
City which is, which is fresh in my mind because I only played it
like an hour ago and I think we're likely to teach it
tonight. So let's see how I get on.
So I'm the role of Rights. Bye-bye, Ben and Matt, I
absolutely adore. So I was always a fan of Fleet,
the original card game that then turn into a roll and right,
which is that all of these games have two sheets, so it's two
feet. Lots and lots of combination,
optic opportunities, then they really Three Sisters, which was
about growing crops. And then this one is I describe
it as its kanban by the telesur de but as a Rollin right?
So it is car production. Your testing cars, your
engineering, you're selling those cars through die
selection. So pull of dice, everyone is
ssss. Three players.
There's in seven dice, each player, that's right, 10, dice,
each player takes a turn Takes a dime and that die might be one
of four actions on the board and next person goes and then
there's one dice left over which is a pool dice everyone chooses
from but it's the in that amount of combinations.
I mean it is just like I love it, do this and that but there's
a combo in that doesn't have a combo.
I haven't I mean this is our third fourth game.
So you're trying to work out the you know, what's the efficiency?
Most schools are probably not very good.
But there's loads of ways to score, which I haven't found any
optimal party at four, but it's a fact that the two sheets, and
it's just everything connects, and I love a medium-weight
rolling, right? So that's been heating up table
aplenty, it plays 125, it's probably about 45 minutes, we
taught it to my youngest who is now 14 and they say 14 on the
box and she she had no issues playing that.
And it's kind of Midway to two point, eight, nine.
So it's not, it's not a lightweight rolling, right for
the for the family, but anyone is may be played to the others
or maybe Hadrian's Wall. Kind of level of complexity.
It's a wonderful wonderful role in, right?
So I recommend all three of those from the series.
So, check those out. But if you're after the newest,
one, check out modus City, that's my first city.
That's awesome. It's all really good.
I think I did. You guys would like it.
I think. Yeah, I like it.
Yeah, that does sound. That sounds cool.
And it sounds like a nice addition to the collection of
Rowland rate that we've accumulated beer has four years.
So yeah, so I want to talk about, buoys to player, Agricola
All Creatures big and small. We pick that up just a few weeks
ago, while we were traveling in st.
Louis. And Man, it is so good.
So, let's be fair. The best thing about Agricola or
the little animals, the wooden animals.
Yeah. And this game cuts out all the
food and the farmers, and the all the shenanigans and cuts
Agricola down to its base. What makes it so good and that
is the animals. A lot of replayability you have,
like, this whole bag of little tiles.
Although you're not, you know, tiles to lay in your farm that
represent special Buildings that you can build during the course
of the game. And there's so many of them, but
you only put Like A Tout a game. So there's tons of
replayability, you have three workers.
Each of, you have three workers. There's the, you know, the
shared board in the Middle With, You know, where you place your
workers to get your resources and of course, to get your
animals and that's really where the scoring is its buildings.
And it's having a certain number of animals.
There are four types of animals pigs, Sheep horses and cows.
And if you have three or less at the end of the game, you lose
three points per animal type. So you and I playing this game
where we both need to get a minimum of four of each of the
animals, right in our farms. And then it's a race to get them
to breed more and foremost is the multiplies.
Remember, I'm playing this game. And the longer you leave them
out. The more animals build up on the
piles, different animals. Yep.
And it's just that timing and it's in with a suplex pretty.
Yeah. If you don't get the time the
timing, right? You can really lose out on that
- Point. Yep.
It's really seamless and smooth but with two players and again
you get the best part of agricole is the animal.
So, yeah, you do have these cool wooden wood and coal and wheat
components. Those are the on You know, you
see, you don't have all the corn and the pumpkins in the items in
the big Agricola. You don't have to worry about
feeding. There's no flirting about to say
that no feeding hooray. Yep, this is getting the animals
in your farm as quickly as possible and you can be
penalized. You can expand your farm because
eventually, you run out of room for building.
So you need to expand. And there's an action for that,
but you can be penalized, if you don't fill are expansion.
So you've got your expanded the right time.
And build at the right time. So that's Agricola all animals.
All big and small. I think it's a yeah.
Oh, creatures. We cancel all creatures that we
can smoke. Kevin is Odell again.
Yeah. 1012 m y night and it just hit my table.
Yeah, I highly rate it. There's an expansion with more
tiles, but be honest, because you only see you've got the,
obviously, the core, the core game tiles.
And then You mix a five or six hours.
Come out. Yep, it's very rare that you
even get through seen. The core Gentile was let alone a
Bach another pack of other buildings.
But yeah, great to play a game. I'm pleased you played that so
yeah. Yeah, yeah definitely, lovely
game, you have a game, right? Yeah.
We have that.
And then so when we did our episode about our wives and
their choices, I think Agricola wasn't Agricola on.
On. No.
It was on carries last now.
I must admit if I think if I had to carry about this game I think
she would add it onto the list. I don't know what would have
dropped out, but if he really enjoys this game because of that
school player, it's right player.
And yeah, it gives you the quick killer fix or H without having
to All of the mass roulette table.
Yeah, I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a
two-player game. That's the way to go.
Yeah. Good choice.
So what's next for near do? We've got maglev, I've got
maglev Metro so this game came out in 2021.
I first saw it at the UK games Expo that year and if you do,
it's basically a specific brain game and plays wonderful
players. 2.79 out of 5 so not overly complicated.
It's currently got two maps and it's a Manhattan and Berlin.
One side is slightly simpler. So Manhattan, it's better for
new players in the side is better for experienced players
and and basically they are robots and passengers who you
need to ship around those two towns.
What's lovely about it is that the game starts you, maybe?
Three stations built every player's.
Got a set of clear tiles with a piece of track on it.
So you end up building and overlaying on each other's
tracks to Designed like a perfect Tube map.
So every game is unique, you can't leave a underground
station. More than two exits, you're
trying to plan your route. It's not like an 18, x X game.
This is A bit of network planning but also route
optimization. So the game starts with these
robots. So there's bronze silver and
gold on your player boards, you have actions.
So there's track building and there's pick up.
Passengers, drop off passengers, there's things like building
stations. If you haven't got a robot in
there, working for you, then you can take the action.
And if you have one man or one robot in the track, you can
place one track up to a maximum of four row.
Seen that section. So you can pick up a late for
tracks. But course, there's not enough
robots around for everybody. So you're trying sir, and you
can move robots and rebalance, but you can pick up with just
one robot. If you got four robots in that
upgrade section, and you can pick up a fourth 44, passengers
as you build, there's different buildings.
Go down with different colors, patterns passages and then they
go into the bag and so you can pick up and refill different
kind of passengers and then you got scoring mechanics which
Oregon to but but it's really Good.
It's pretty, it's pretty fast playing.
We play a say primarily with three, but every game is
different because you overlay in these.
These tiles. You got scoring cards that
obviously give you unique ways of scoring so you never quite
sure whether people are trying to collect sets or let's try and
seduce root navigation. It looks amazing on the table
because of this these this transparent well he's clear
tiles, hexagonal tiles with Ben's and and straight.
It and imminently, there's six more maps, which work, excited
I'm going to say 12 18 months ago, so they bring Mega robots
and London comes to this to the table.
I think it's a map that sums on Mars that bring other mechanics.
So I cannot wait to see that but I say definitely check it out.
If you're after a train game that isn't super super geeky, it
looks uber-cool on the table and is not overly complex.
So blessed. A 2.79.
This is not a this is not a game that's going to take all night.
I'm saying, maybe 90 minutes. Maybe Max, it's a lovely game.
Maglev metro metro, a lot of that is mine.
Have you played? I haven't no.
It's we it's on the list. It's like we keep seeing it, you
know, just I find all the time. It's like there's so many games,
right? I think that's a dilemma in our
hobby. Ryan is like there's so many
games maglev Metro today. Well, two players as well.
That's the key. I love that.
That's awesome.
Maglev. Metro on the lookout for that.
Cool. Well, so you have some used.
Yeah, so yesterday we played terraforming Mars.
Good. I don't know.
It's terrifying. Monster classic now.
I sewed, it it was all me. It's 2016 by Jacob.
Fricks Elias. This game is just so good.
So I happen to know, a few other friends who because of the app
on their phones or their tablets, they sold their copy as
well because it's a great solo game.
I have the app and I play it so low, but we went all-in.
We got the big box with the three-dimensional, hexes
everything. In fact, we went more all in my
wife, bought a new supreme mat that Is it fits everything
turned? The turmoil expansion.
Venus the colonies. There's a place for everything
and it's that extra she bought on Etsy and it's an extra grippy
surface which is so nice because I'm amazing the hexes on Mars
won't get knocked around which is great.
I've heard I've heard terraforming Mars kind of
described as an engine builder. I don't really know that that's
necessarily true, it's definitely Resource Management.
There's some hand management but Yeah.
I mean, there were no surprises. Here's the time.
And this is what I tell everyone, okay, because I'm kind
of like the terraforming Mars champion.
This is like one game. I don't normally bribe because
I'm usually not that good at games.
In fact, you usually hear me tell you stories about how I
lose. So I would say, since we bought
terraforming Mars years ago, hundreds of Victories and I
think Wife's only beat me three. Maybe four surprises me.
I thought this was Katie's game so it is her game in that, she
loves it. But here's the thing that I
learned early on cheat cards, you know that's exactly what she
accused me of yesterday. She said, why do you why do your
greeneries only cost three plants but it costs the rest of
us ate, right? So the name of the game is
terraforming Mars, if you want to win, then terraform Mars in
the name, stop playing cards, stop wasting your money on cards
that you're hope to play in a round or two.
You know, because it because you know this anyone who hasn't
played it at the end of each round, which are called
Generations, you get four new cards to add to your hand each
card you want to. Keep you got to pay $3, that's
expensive. Yeah, I know.
Need that money, right? Unless it's going to increase my
group, my plant production to build greeneries, or my money
production, or my heat to increase the temperature.
I don't care. So, I just discard them, and I
focus on heat greeneries and oceans.
And I terraform Mars, I always have the most greeneries on the
planet. I always have the most
everything and I win. And that's why.
Because I just don't I don't Get bogged down in all the cards
that do these cute fun things, then it's my problem.
I always pay for the cards because I like, I like the whole
setup my my my I guess my table and we play with every expansion
but turmoil. So okay we played with Prelude,
we played with the colonies we played with What's the other
one? Colonies.
Prelude, why am I I'm drawing a blank.
Anyway, so there was a there was kind of a theme that unfolded in
the course of the game. So I was, I had a card where I
was creating microbes, so I was adding microbes to the card, so
I could take them off to increase the heat to compensate
for the fact that I was not producing a lot of heat, then my
friend Eric, he's got cards that are stealing microbes, Katie's
got a card that she's running a zoo and putting animals on it.
They are the one that's she's got another car.
We're she's developing bacteria. It was like there was all these
microbes, if you aren't making microbes, you were stealing
them. But no am.
Yeah. But that was terraforming.
Mars and so good. So good game but Saudi purely
because I haven't even played solo is, as you say that.
The app does that you're perfectly for you?
It does. But I do enjoy it.
I do enjoy that game. So if anybody, you know, set up
laying it on sit down, it's not. I'm Auntie it.
Good game. Yeah.
No, it's really good and accommodates up to five.
So there's room at our table if you want to come play
terraforming Mars when we get to you we shall come and play it.
Yep. So whoops.
What's your third and final game at some like last game is a game
called fishing lessons. It's a whole we can't win the
game. There is 18 cards in this game?
Oh, it's basis at the range of the wallet games by button shy
games. Yep.
So spotless. Wheels and wagons.
We have now forgotten, but fishing lessons arrived about a
week and a half ago, a recent other recent Kickstarter.
How do I describe? Yeah, it's a solo 15 games.
So you lay out seven late cards, which facedown, and on those
cards a bit, I think to fish. So they might be a carport
route, whatever. It was a other which fish they
are. So they're laid out randomly and
then you choose. One family member from three
cards, each family members, different sided, to help you
Grandpa, the grandson, the Mother-in-law you choose the
card, and you put it face down. The only thing that car does it
says, what is the unique winning condition?
So maybe the sun needs, three fish classes, C and two, fish
clusters T Carpenter out, they probably got meetings and then
you've got eight lesson cards in your hands.
So the game will end when you go to draw a lesson cards which you
you and you can't pick up. So it's limited each lesson
cards, you play to the right and then the you got three cards in
your hand out of those eight and the lesson car basically where
you put your family member above the lake is there Bo so you
might move it. So there's you do two actions on
the card. It might be to move to the left
and then you'll fish. And that might be flip the card
directly underneath. You fit the card to your left
foot, your cards are ripe and what you need to do.
Is move your boats left to right, you can leave the the
last lesson either there, or the next card you play, you can swap
it over or you can basically position them anywhere left to
right at the last lesson cards, and then you have to activate
them all in order. So it's like an engine or chain
of card, you're going to play and to win, you need to have
either. You need to have the three, the
three C's in a to tease. Face up on the board no more no
less any other car that hasn't got those letters on.
It must be face down. So you're trying to push your
boat around, find the cards that need with the fish on it because
as you move, you end up flipping the cards face down that the
ones you want this nice little puzzly game.
The artwork is wonderful, the choices of where I put this card
and drive that engine. I think I've played about five
times I've won once. And that's just part of that
just like, yes, I've so close but I run out of cards on the
last draw, which I guess is as frustrating as fishing.
All the fish were there, you knew where they were but were
they biting or whether flipping in this case?
No, they weren't one point. 35, out of 5, 10, 15 minute games.
It's always in what's now, become a work bag for the last
couple of weeks. 8 plus there's a couple of Expansion packs.
It gives them more family members and the bigger fish, but
check it out, if you want a very quick solo game, and if you like
fishing, that is fishing lessons from button, should I?
So I can, I can take it that, when I come to see you, you're
going to teach me some fishing license weakened official
Essence. I have got fishing equipment in
my garage has not been used in about 15 years.
It's okay. I don't fish in real life
either. Yeah.
So, I haven't fished for a long time but I don't want a spot of
fishing, so that's fishing net aggressions.
You're gonna talk about Adventures of Robin Hood's.
Yes, 2021 by Michael Menzel. So, you know, we picked that up
what - 22 years ago now, it was during the height of the
pandemic. It is a Cooperative scenario
driven storytelling campaign. It's just so brilliant.
Um, my wife and I played it when we were in lockdown, really
enjoyed it. But you know, it's been sitting
there on the shelf and we like you know what, it plays for
we've got we've got our two friends coming over, why don't
we give it a go and they really enjoyed it so you've played it.
Yes, yes. Yeah, maybe three plants, loved
it. Well then, as you know, right,
you build that you put the map in front of you and it's, you
know, steroid forest and the castle and everything and you
play one of the four. Actors, right?
You play Robin Hood will Scarlet.
Maid Marian and Little John. And it will indicate it'll tell
you to flip over like these cardboard sheets that are not
molded. They're not built.
What's the word I'm looking for their embedded in the board.
My set into the boat. Yeah.
And then you just flip them over at certain points in the game.
So if you're going to fight a guard, you know, you just you
have these cubes that you put in the bag.
Purple ones for the bad guys. White ones are good.
So depending On what equipment you have.
You through the course of the narrative, you pull the cubes
out of the bag, one at a time. And when you draw white one,
you've beaten the guard. And then you flip him over and
there's a bonus printed on the inset, right?
That's revealed. When you remove the night from
the board and then turn him over.
It's really cool. Not only is that interesting.
It's the story removes the game. I love how because you just have
that book, right? Yeah, there's nothing like it.
Give a bag. There's a disc of each, one of
your colors. And that's how you determine
whose turn it. Is someone pulls the disc out,
green. Okay.
Well, whoever's green playing Robin Hood you move, and you
move because you have those wooden like if to medium length
measuring measuring length, basically the tool of them
length and one long and if you don't use the long one, you're
basically saving strength. Yeah.
Add a white Cube to the bag. Which is good because you want
more white cubes in the bag. I should also good slows you
down those. Yeah.
The, how far can he travel measuring wooden things.
Whatever you want to call them? I don't.
Yeah. But they're so good.
They're so good. And the story is great and the
fact that you can reset and play again, it's yeah, it's yeah.
Try not to any spoilers. It's the wonderful storytelling
game that. Definitely worth trying at least
once a place pretty quickly. You can like ever do a couple of
stories or you can we were think we're doing two squared into
stories at a time. Generally, we don't stop
dividing night, the four of us played the first three
chapagain. Yeah, and we did that in about
two, two and a half hours and then last night, after we were
done, playing terraforming, Mars, and other little games, we
decided, Well, let's let's play the next chapter and that one
went Little longer but yeah, we're halfway through.
So, yeah, but that's the adventures of Robin Hood and
you've gotta, if you haven't played, it's so different from
most games. And if, if you enjoy
story-driven campaigns, yeah, right.
If that's not for you then, obviously.
Don't. Yeah, it's a really good story,
it unfolds naturally. It's, I don't know.
I just can't say anything more about it.
It's just so good. Definitely pick it up.
I mean, the theme was the English, that's the medieval
castles, it's just a good piece of English folklore.
And there's an expansion, I believe this year, the
adventures of Robin Hood that Friar tuck in danger, but I
don't know much about it, which is kind of awesome because Friar
Tuck who is like a key character in.
The story is not featured at all in the game.
So we're kind of excited to see Friar.
Tuck be introduced. Yeah.
I was just looking on Board Game Geek the expansion for that and
like, okay, okay, I'll be fine. Just open up.
Looks like it had some new tasks little bit of so you can add it
and without having to, to play it through again.
But yeah, yeah. Yeah.
I agree. I open it all the game tonight A
games. I love.
Right? So we've done wealth to pick six
games. So neither of us.
Knew you what we're going to bring to the table or solo game,
a two-player game as storytelling.
During games for everybody. Yeah, we really, yeah, check us
out. One more twist lecture, without
communicating, or putting things that diary so that we didn't
miss me. We should do this more often.
Yeah, not, we should stop planning and just just rock up
far, far easier. So, thank you all for listening.
We'll be back again, very, very soon with more episodes.
We've got a after last week's episode, we wingspan.
We had quite a few, quite a few requests for people to come and
join us on, stay, on the sofa. But The podcast say anyone else
wants to join, do sending a message.
We are just planning out when our next special guests or maybe
two or three will share their audio with us.
Yeah, we've not forgotten about you is just Garrison are getting
everything lined up and just do - yeah, that's all it is.
Okay with that? I Wish You A Farewell and thanks
for listening. Thanks everyone for listening.
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