Maracaibo

The latest proposal from the acclaimed game designer, Alexander Pfister. According to many, he has already reached the heights of creative skills, designing the game "Great Western Trail" in 2016, which is confirmed by all kinds of rankings functioning in the gaming environment. So let's sail to the world depicted in Maracaibo.

 

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What's going on here?

In "Maracaibo" we play the role of sailors who circulate their ships in the Caribbean. The game belongs to the genre of advanced euros, where the random factor is limited to a minimum. We will not see cubes here, although we draw, for example, fight tiles, or draw cards from the pool. However, the feeling of the player's influence on the situation is clear and very satisfying. "Maracaibo" is not a fast game, but it also does not drag. In two people we can close in 2 hours, assuming calm, unhurried playing. The artwork is solid and certainly not a deterrent – colorful enough to encourage sailing in the Caribbean

In general, there are a lot of analogies to one of the previous projects of the author of the game. You could even say that this is the "Great Western Trail" on steroids. Pfister added some interesting mechanics. An important element of the game is not only the race around the Caribbean taking place on the board, each time during four rounds starting and ending in the title Maracaibo. Also important is the mechanics of card management, which can be used in various ways to acquire during the game "on hand".

The biggest plus for me is the story mode. You can play games unrelated to each other by any history, and this guarantees us a great gameplay – even then it is an excellent game. However, you can also use a separate deck of cards to play subsequent games that are part of one big story. During it, missions or additional map tiles may appear on the board, changing the layout of the board and significantly affecting the players' strategies. In the opinion of many, the story mode sets the standard in which modern board games will go – storytelling will become an important part of them.

Like the Caribbean and pirates, there will also be an opportunity to fight!

The fight was solved in an original way. Players do not fight against each other, but against randomly selected combat tiles. On each tile there are visible points that can be spent on actions related to the fight. First of all, before performing the combat action, the player must decide for which nationality he will fight – there are French, Spanish and English to choose from. Each of these factions will be represented on the board, and depending on the strength of this representation – this strength is decided by the players – when determining the points necessary to perform the fight, you will be able to earn additional or negative points. The strength of this solution is smooth, fast operation, with very little negative interaction between players. In most games, when it comes to fighting, duels are decided between the players, here you fight to some extent against the game. Of course, the lack of direct interaction in this element of the game may be a disadvantage for some, but for me the mechanism works great.

 

After the game, there is no effect of fatigue, although the game is not simple. It offers a lot of different ways to win, and the analysis of cards that can be used in several ways can take a lot of time. I sincerely recommend it – it will definitely be one of the best games of the year – but only for advanced players. The amount of connections and decisions to make can be really overwhelming at times.

pros ++++++

+ it just plays very well

+ the ability to play individual games, as well as
jumping into a well-tailored campaign mode

+ clear iconography

+ great working mechanics together, making the game
is very liquid

+ a large number of decisions to make, a lot of ways to achieve victory, a lot of combining

+ minimal randomness

+ reasonable gameplay time for such a large game

+ great walks in any line-up, even in solo mode
(automa included)

Cons —

– not an easy game for novice players

– a large entry threshold to master all the rules

– a high degree of complexity and decisions to be made, the game is prone to significantly extending the time of turns of subsequent players

– a common sight during the game when it comes to the atmosphere at the table is complete concentration and playing in silence, analyzing and calculating the next possible options

Price comparison on i-szop.pl

0
Rating on Board Games Geek
Difficulty
80%
Fun from the game
65%

	Designer	Alexander Pfister
	Artist	Fiore GmbH, Aline Kirrmann
	Publisher	Game's Up, BoardM Factory, Capstone Games, dlp games, Ediciones MasQueOca, Fishbone Games, Geronimo Games, Hobby World, MeepleBR, Super Meeple, uplay.it edizioni, YOKA Games, テンデイズゲームズ(TendaysGames)
	Year of release	2019
	# players	1 - 4
	Suggested # players	Best with 4+ players Recommended with 1, 2, 3, 4 players (402 voters)
	Play time	120
	Suggested players age	12 and up
	Players age suggested by BGG	14 and up (60 voters)
	Category	Economic, Exploration, Nautical, Pirates
	Mechanics	Contracts, End Game Bonuses, Events, Hand Management, Income, Movement Points, Multi-Use Cards, Narrative Choice / Paragraph, Point to Point Movement, Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game, Set Collection, Solo / Solitaire Game, Stock Holding, Tech Trees / Tech Tracks, Track Movement, Variable Set-up
	Expansions	Maracaibo: El Dorado, Maracaibo: Flying Dutchman Promo Tile, Maracaibo: Founding Spirit Promo Card, Maracaibo: La Armada, Maracaibo: Oportunista Promo Card, Maracaibo: Own Monument Promo Card, Maracaibo: The Uprising
	Family	Cities: Maracaibo (Venezuela), Components: Control Boards, Components: Map (Continental / National scale), Components: Multi-Use Cards, Digital Implementations: Board Game Arena, Digital Implementations: Google Play, Game: Maracaibo, Mechanism: Tableau Building, Players: Games with Solitaire Rules, Region: Caribbean Sea, Theme: Colonial, Theme: Tropical
	Primary title	Maracaibo
	Alternates	Маракайбо, マラカイボ, 马拉开波, 마라카이보

Infos courtesy of boardgamegeek.com. More Infos.