Maracaibo - Playthrough & Review (Pfister Series)

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This is "Maracaibo" a game released originally in 2019 designed by Alexander Pfister and published by Capstone Games. This video includes a board game rules overview. Let us know what you think about the game in the comments section below!
JUMP:
00:00 - Rules overview
00:18:32 - Playthrough Start - Round 1
00:45:47 - Round 2
01:17:44 - Round 3
01:48:31 - Round 4
02:08:53 - Final Scoring
02:14:22 - Review
BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2...
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[@BeforeYouPlay]

What are your thoughts on Maracaibo?

[@josyuen4207]

Love it. Loved the play through. 😁. Your final score is similar to what happens for us. My wife always wins by a huge amount! Lol!

[@morecoffee998]

In my game group GWT is universally loved but opinions on Maracaibo are varied. Personally, I really enjoy sailing about in the Mediter.. Sorry, Caribbean. I like the push and pull of getting and engine up and running vs pushing for a quick game, which is also one of my favourite features of On Mars, in Maracaibo it's just done with a much more simple mechanism. I do feel like people sometimes have a bit of luck with the cards, but it's rarely enough to skew the game too much. Thank you so much for a great series on a great boardgame designer, this channel just keeps getting better and better :)

[@lajeit]

It´s a good game but if feels like a game. Let’s me explain. It just doesn’t feel serious like a Lacerda, where you really want to do well. This is more like racing with friends as kids, trying to get there or do this or that before somebody goes to the end. It´s like playing tagged (for last player or losing). I just dont like a game that is not structured and that gives too much power to the first player. But that’s cos Im not into it... I wouldńt buy it, but if somebody brings it to game night then... ok. Íll play it if nothing else is possible.

[@Shoitaan]

Hate the art. Love the game. It instantly became my wife's second favourite game after one play.

[@monkeyunit4533]

I have never played it, and must say the look of the board just doesnt do it for me. After having seen this, there is another thing that bothers me , and that is the ( complete) lack of theme. Normally it doesn't bother me as I can enjoy very dry euro games, but here somehow it does. Some examples: How the card are multi use with goods and character, doesn't make much sense to me. How most most places are referred to by their number feels anti-thematic. How combat is vs Red/White/Blue and not some nation name. And it's a pity because the gameplay seems interesting enough.

[@LeviathanW98]

Here to learn now that it is on BGA. This playthrough is phenomenal! You both give just enough commentary so we can follow your thought process. Thanks!

[@AeronwyD]

I just noticed it was on BGA myself and also came running here to learn how to play the game! (I'd watched their video before, but in a "living vicariously" way and not really paying attention to the mechanics too much.)

[@PedrokasPT]

Thank you for your playthrough ! Completely convinced this should be an AMAZING game and I just ordered my copy yesterday :-) Your (as always amazing explanations) will help me a lot ! Thank you and greetings from Portugal !

[@lonewolfvc3575]

I have really enjoyed this series. He is by far my favourite designer. You have done an excellent job. Your pronunciation of the cities and towns in Spanish was almost flawless

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed it!

[@alexcannobbio710]

This is the first game i've felt the game was too difficult to understand for me based on rulebook alone, but watching you play really clarified a lot for me (just like a small doubt i had about Trickerion) I usually skip to the review part of your videos, but teaching and gameplay is so useful when in doubt, great work!

[@user-cf8eb5ld4w]

I really enjoyed watching your playthrough! It helped me a lot. Metal coins seem very cool!!

[@patrickvalo8822]

Omg finally! Recently found out your channel and you two are awesome!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Patrick, so glad you found us! Thanks for checking it out :-)

[@levihoppe388]

Always appreciate your content!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad to hear it! Thank you!!

[@ethicalzombiegaming]

A few months after I watched this originally and thought it was interesting and bought it, this has turned into one of my Wife and I's favorite board games!

[@RobertHovakimyan55]

Picking this up partially due to your high praises. First you introduced me to the wonderful world of Lacerda, and now its time for Pfister! (We own and enjoy GWT thoroughly already, but haven't tried anything else).

[@altairbs80]

Great video guys, thanks for explanation

[@Oaklestat]

Great video. Very clear and informative for such a intricately detailed game.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bane9179]

Seems like you guys are growing quite good congrats another good review :D

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks! 😀

[@rafaelkumakura4961]

This game is so good! Thanks for the gameplay! Just to clarify the sailor's ability, the combat point you gain before a combat is added to your combat track, you don't need to spend it right away in that combat. Naveen could have saved some combat points occasionally for that prestige building.

[@jaayse3690]

This will be the first pfister game I have bought (although not the first game I've bought from watching your videos) and I'm so excited to get it!

[@jacobjslee]

Thanks for this video. Your discussion really sold me on this game. Although the part about colonizing made me wonder which way you were going to go by the end.

[@dansioui9819]

This game is a masterpiece. I have thoroughly enjoyed the campaign for my solo plays. We now play hard setting for multiplayer. Looking forward to the expansion in 2021!

[@petergross7235]

Thanks for showing a play of Maracaibo! I only played it twice and I know both your scores would've crushed me! haha I definitely want to get this back to the table this weekend, those metal coins are pretty cool. I am with you on the theme...could've been handled better. I felt like the components were ok. I did get after market player overlays to keep the chits in place better. My only play was solo (thanks 2020), but it was surprisingly good. I also enjoyed the story campaign option.

[@bergsteiger09]

Little known fact, I've been to Maracaibo :) Thanks for the insight on so many cool games.

[@momgamer9750]

Wonderful videos by a wonderful couple ...

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you so much!!

[@stephenerdel5441]

Feld...? :) Admittedly, that would be a long series. But so good! Love your videos!

[@stephenerdel5441]

Ha, just realized I replied to the wrong comment. Apologies!

[@JimmySquiky]

Now I can't wait for your final wrap up ! :O

[@ankab7158]

Me too. As I am a big fan of GWT and Maracaibo.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Jimmy we will likely release our wrap up video sometime next week! 😀

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@ankab7158 Thanks Anka, we're excited to make the video!

[@brianbates3491]

If you haven't got an answer yet, the cards in the display are flushed at the beginning of each round and replaced with new ones. Money is so tight early on that every game our group is buying blind unless there is something someone absolutely needs or they have the ship upgrade to draw freely from the display early on, which can be really beneficial if there are multiple cards in the display that are catching your eye. Great playthrough and awesome review of one of my favorite Pfister games as well!

[@jefflaflam7685]

I loved Maracaibo, thanks for another great video. Looking forward to the final ranking. Btw, I also really enjoy the board game Manilla.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha thanks! Never got to play Manilla, I've seen videos on it and it seems like it would be right up my alley!

[@craigzalk8926]

Excellent job (as always). I love how polite and respectful you are to each other. Thank you. One correction: The four face-up display cards are removed and replaced between each round. Craig

[@TheYML33]

I was about to park this too. We played for the first time yesterday.

[@NicholasElkins]

Oh my gosh the sound of those metal coins is so satisfying. Sounds like nice Hefty weight

[@jeffw7382]

Great videos. You're both very good at teaching games. Glad I found your channel. P.S. You both have great hair.

[@kaseygirven3522]

Awesome video y’all! This game looks awesome. So torn on whether to add Maracaibo. I love the heaviness but I too struggle with the theme. If only I could find a used copy.

[@mirodlo]

Love your videos

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you Miguel!

[@Johannes_W]

Yay, the grand finale! Thank you for the video :-) I love this game and was looking forward to your review! Right in time after work it was uploaded. If my wife would enjoy it as much as I do it would be my #1 in the collection. Early 2020 we managed to play roughly 20 matches - the campaign plus some matches and I was far from being finished with this game as it keeps unfolding match after match. Some of my thoughts on your after thoughts and playthrough: My experience is the different strategies offered balance themselves and after you played enough matches you realise there are no "overpowered strategies", because they can only evolve if nobody goes for a faster strategy. In this shown match you both took the very tiny steps. Playing it this way obviously card combos will dominate the game, because you have all the time in the world to build them. In many matches I played the person who went for the quicker strategy only took one stop between Havana and Maracaibo. Three stop turns are not an uncommon. Especially starting with the extra explorer step cards which are great for a rush strategy An average round probably has 5 to 6 action, but your 9 stop second round is very exceptional I think :-) The display gets refreshed at the end of every round. Did you miss that rule or was that not often enough because the rounds were long? :-P I hope you will find the time to enjoy this game more in the future and find out about all the tactics you can pick!

[@sador42]

Yay!! Re-recorded! I wonder if Naveen won the previously recorded version that had “technical difficulties”. Lol. Of course I am typing this before watching this play through though.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Lol, that video is sleeping with the fishes... :-(

[@boggerblogger]

Great video, very nicely done. When counting nation cubes on the board it may be easier/quicker to count the missing ones in the supply and take away any cubes knocked off the board?

[@Stolovky]

Love Pfister as a designer, love his games. GWT came out a little while ago and was great but over time it faded a bit. Then the RTN expansion for GWT came and that just changed everything! :) Still when I compare GWT and Maracaibo, GWT was great but never thought of it as my No 1 game, only as the years passed it was climbing and climbing up with each play. Currently it is my No1 game of all time. Maracaibo - I was positively shocked during the first game, it was a must buy and thought of it as No1 but as the time passed it went a little lower (still in TOP 10 of all time). Both great games - but time tested, GWT is just a bit more clean, elegant design to me (dont get me wrong still love Maracaibo a ton). Hope that was comprehensible :D Thanks for the series, amazing work

[@longshot9103]

Hello. Great video, and what a victory! I really love this game which is one of my favorite of my collection. Might have missed it but aren’t you going to make a video of Expedition to Newdale?

[@laurentm6930]

Hi from the Blue nation ! You made my day, one of my favourite KZbin channels showing one of my favourite games :)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hello Hello! Thank you for all your support!

[@bruvkek4629]

Best playtrough channel

[@pauloyanez2640]

Excelent video and expecting to see your final Pfister Series video soon . May I suggest you to review some Tascini games next? (Thekenu, etc. )

[@dodge1532]

31:44 when Naveen turns it into “Co-op Maracaibo.” Got me 😭

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Lol!!!

[@jonathanpickles2946]

Thanks for this - It's one I have not yet played & to answer your DloudAge question I prefer the heavier ones so I should like this - GWT is a favourite though Mombasa didn't really land for me

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you get to try it! Did you play Mombasa 3-4 Players by any chance?

[@russellbyrd]

Hello! Since a few months back, you guys have become my favorite play-through people! Only one thing that I would like you to improve on is when you are showing cards or other details. They cannot really be seen, so it would be neat if you could somehow show them close up. That would be very helpful! Thank you!

[@rafffalsky]

great job guys, bdw, there is a plastic overlay sold separately for player boards, and it is a must buy for this game (those discs were flying all over my apartment lol)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

LOL! thanks so much that is definitely a must-buy. We are planning on playing the campaign so we will look into that overlay today.

[@3838jeroen]

we love this game a lot. Only the queestes are never used. Good idea to show all 4 of the prestige cards from the beginning

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Awesome! It's such a fantastic design!

[@ilqrd.6608]

This is his best. I adore it. Stands right up there with GWT. It seems much less tight though which makes it feel almost casual to play. I wish the visuals would have been less crammed in some places and the player boards have a poor layout. All of it fades though once you full understand the game. Just wish there would be one Pfister game that nails layout from A-Z, especially this game deserves it

[@RyanOSullivan]

Looking forward to the ranking :)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Likely going to put it out next week!

[@woniepom]

i think you forgot to count the point track on the last round, there is also some point on top of the income track that might count :-) I like that game because of the cards and the island at the bottom but i don't like the Nation track :D Very entertaining video, thank you for filming the whole game !

[@BeforeYouPlay]

OMG you are so right! We totally just glossed over it lol. We never do that when we play too! Haha

[@woniepom]

@@BeforeYouPlay it is fine, don't tell Naveen you have even more points than he thoughts :-)

[@wsiegel9539]

The coming expansion "Uprising" is said to have the recessed boards for the ship upgrades. I had to immediately purchase the acrylic overlays. The solo game is great but I think It rushes more than I would of liked. Awaiting to see how you compare this to Great Western Trail.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Nice! We haven't heard much about the expansion yet, but that would be a fantastic addition to the game. We will likely put out a wrap up video sometime next week. :-)

[@davidvelazquez677]

Been waiting for this one! Thanks for doing this 🙂 who’s the next designer for the series? 🤔

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi David, thanks for supporting us! We are likely going to announce it soon, we are going to announce it shortly!

[@starbuster0121]

The phrase crushing victory comes to mind.

[@brandbryson3616]

Wonderful play through! Agree re: thoughts on theme - am hearing the upcoming expansion Uprising will try to address these issues, but it doesn’t quite coverup the lack of thought put into the first printing. We removed the Plantation Owner card immediately (it was the most glaringly insensitive card) and it didn’t impact our gameplay at all. Look forward to the expansion’s attempt to correct some of the initial issues, and also looking forward to Pfister being more aware in the future. I do love the game. Just marred a bit by the lack of awareness. Edit: the campaign story is pretty dry, but it’s fun tackling the ever changing board state and additional goals. Recommended.

[@Iamwrongbut]

I feel like with games of his set in a particular historical setting, he tends to not ignore the cultural evils of the time (thinking of Mombasa specifically). If playing with younger players or the like, I think having cards in there that address the evils of the past help remind us of how far we’ve come for the rights of all, and warn us of where we could go if oppressive ideas are not combatted. Just one man’s opinion though and I see why some people avoid games like these. Definitely not something that makes me feel comfortable haha

[@spacemonkeyentertainment6413]

I think suggesting that the game is insensitive or Pfister is unaware is reaching. As was said in the review, it is a highly subjective matter of taste. Yeah, i get it, people in the US have a different background when it comes to this. But removing one card doesn't hurt the game one bit imo and if that is the point that really irks you, feel free to remove it. I did the same with some birds in Wingspan, because we simply didn't enjoy playing with them. Nobody should mind going against the authors vision if it's more enjoyable for them that way. At the end of the day, you can do whatever you want and if you can't disconnect yourself from the theme enough to not feel bad about it, that is absolutely fine and nothing anybody should be blamed for either for that matter(generally speaking i'd say it's a good characteristic even). Personally, i applaud "difficult themes" though, because it enables gems like "Freedom: The Underground Railroad" for example, that can be discussion starters or nudge somebody to look into a period of time that people don't like to discuss (not something i get into contact a lot here in the middle of Europe, which is a shame, because there are some great real stories out there). Not exactly a game that i'd bring out to have a "fun time", but nobody suggested these were party-games either. In fact i'd argue that Pfister brings awareness to those issues, that people don't want to confront. I guess that is why the suggestion of it being objectively worse because of it strikes me as somewhat narrowminded. There simply are enough "sanatized" themes out there, so it feels kinda fresh to get something a bit more mature on the table (not that i don't enjoy the other games as well). The realisation of "I won the game, but i had to do some awful stuff to do it" can also be quite fun in it's own right imo. At least that is how i choose to see it. I wonder if there is a rethemed set of cards out there. I feel like that would be very much doable without too much effort.

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

Please award yourself 5 good boy points and do NOT forget to pat yourself on the back.

[@tonybowers9490]

Thanks for sharing. I had this game, played it a few times, then sold it. I had mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed the combat (except for all the cubes). I enjoyed the mechanics, as was mentioned. I enjoyed customizing my ship. It was fun exploring. But.... It may be that I wasn't good at playing the game or that I'm not a gaming expert. The player board frustrated me. Too bad they aren't double layered. All the battle cubes were a chore for me. I didn't enjoy the deck building, because for me having a good deck seemed to hinge on getting key cards. I understand cards are random, etc. But, to me it seemed that getting certain cards helped too much with card synergy and boosting. You mentioned that with some people having an overpowering strategy. My guess is they got a key card, or two, and had good combos.

[@PentaHousen]

Thats not true. Cards adds power to your engine not are your engine. Its so hard to make good combos in this game. Starting you get 8 cards (which are pre generated) and you keep 5. Key is to plan where you will go and what places you just skip. If you see opponents go full engine builder plan you just push to end game where you score a lot more. It need balance bettwen speed and actions for sure. You go thought deck really fast and market gives you lot of flexibility where to go. If You stuck with really bad hand just throw it away get money and you will buy more cards.

[@harmweber9848]

I did the same with GWT.

[@Boardgametherapist]

Thanks for the review. For me, I think you put into words exactly why I didn’t like Maracaibo! The slowly revealing and somewhat unpredictable strategy, the theme, the uncertainty of where your points will come from. And for me personally, the art and illustrations. The game does invoke a, (like you said), a journey...it just feels like there’s 10 different destinations and you don’t know where you’re going to until the mid game or more.

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

I feel like the colors are oversaturated in this game, but it's not a deal-breaker. I think I'm going to buy this

[@bennair101]

Would love to see a video on how to teach heavy games (like On Mars or Kanban EV). I heard Monique is a beast in rules explanation 😁

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Monique is an assassin when it comes to teaching games!

[@bennair101]

@@BeforeYouPlay So I bought On Mars & Kanban thanks to you. Amazing games, I teached them both in one week to my friends. I think I'm mentally done 😅🙈

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@bennair101 So glad you are enjoying those games! It's quite an undertaking explaining those 2 games!! Well done!

[@teamgh0ul]

The Prestige cards starting face up is actually an official variant in the latest update of the manual! We play with it revealed every time now :)

[@monkeyunit4533]

I think the idea was to use them as a way to count the number of rounds played? With all of them revealed is there anything to keep track of this?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Totally! We think it's the best way to play.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@Monkeyunit That's right, just gotta keep that memory sharp!

[@sunsettersix6993]

So, I am new to your videos and am really enjoying them. The one question I have though is, how often do you guys think so much alike in board games like you did in this game? I'm guessing it happens a lot.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It happens a lot but there are specific genres of gaming that we completely differ on, such as abstracts and really dry euros lol. Thank you so much!

[@ulrikborgbjerg2482]

game just on BGA, so came for a playthrough. As always a nice pace and a good mix of rules explanations and tactical considerations. Only downside is that its very long - maybe cut it up so all the rules are in the first part. But overall a very solid presentation.

[@66morningview]

oh no, its not labelled as part of the 'Pfister Series'! Joking aside, would be good to see a discussion and ranking video like the once you did for the Lacerda games. My vote is for 'Uwe Rosenberg Series' next.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Good catch, thanks for looking out for us! We are definitely going to be doing a video similar to that one. It'll likely come out next week. Uwe is very high on our list... :-)

[@Krashwire]

You forget to do income (and its scoring) in the final round scoring. It comes before you count up VPs on your cards.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yeah we made a boo boo. We never forget to do that in all of our other plays. Doh, in our filmed game we forgot! I could have used the extra points lol

[@Bassishify]

Loved this series! Just out of curiosity why no Expedition to Newdale? If you said it somewhere else I must have missed it

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Josh, we were told it's a campaign game based off the Oh My Goods world. We chose not to feature it because we had to keep the list as expansive yet trimmed as possible. His 1st game "The Mine of Zavandor" we skipped because we couldn't get a copy lol.

[@adrieljosiasdaniels8530]

Great video n interesting game as a couple u post nice videos keep up the good work n what's your names? God bless u both 🙏

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you so much! We are Monique & Naveen :-)

[@RamonMercadoReyes]

You did miss the rule that the cards on the display are “flushed” between rounds. But all in all great video for an awesome game. I too like Maracaibo the best of all the Pfister games I’ve played.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Ramon, we made sure to flush after each round. In the review we were referring to stale cards within the round itself. Thanks for looking out, much appreciated! :-)

[@RamonMercadoReyes]

Oh I see ... sorry

[@renanmerchedguerreiro6535]

This game was recently released in Brazil and I really wanted to know if it is good, because board games here are very expensive, so we must research well what to buy, and this game looks cool.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

I'm so glad you found the video helpful. That makes total sense, we hope we showcased the game well for you so you can make an educated decision!

[@renanmerchedguerreiro6535]

@@BeforeYouPlay And you are doing really great job! Love you guys

[@jonathanpickles2946]

Have you tried playing online on things like Tabletop Simulator - it will let you try before you buy.

[@renanmerchedguerreiro6535]

@@jonathanpickles2946 yes, i have many hours in tabletop simmulator, and i even have a game that i design myself in there, but its just a prototipe.

[@stevegeorge7773]

1:16:00 you could have bumped France out of a village I believe. With your card you purchased. Big battle between England, France and Spain. I think playing fast is the way to beat one certain person in this game. To disrupt those very powerful synergies.

[@stevegeorge7773]

Did you get the expansion cards for this game? I wonder what they bring to it?

[@J-Wheeler-G]

We play on the "hard" mode because otherwise is goes too fast for us. Without it we don't take more than 4 turns in any round, it because a full on race (at least for us). I also play with the end of game scoring buildings face up, makes no sense flipping one and it works perfectly fine for one player and not the others.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi John, we definitely like the fact that the weather prevents speed boats lol. Totally right about all the face up prestige cards. It's happened in a few games where only 1 person happened to benefit.

[@rudirincewind6449]

Good game, but i like GWT much more. Btw i like your channel. 🍻 from Germany 🖖

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It seems like these 2 titles compete with a lot of people. Can't wait to revisit Germany when Covid is lifted!

[@jonaskissling8343]

Just started watching. arleady a question: Where are these wonderfully sounding coins from? :-)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Capstone Games! Monique left a link in the description for the coins. (No Affiliate link btw, just the info).

[@Dizzula]

@@BeforeYouPlay Where is the link for the coin? Can't find it anywhere!

[@XeloX58]

Round 1: 30:28 Navin forgot to move his white influence marker. It is easy to forget to do something in this game, because a lot is going on.

[@TheLuminousCleric]

I already have Great Western Trail, and played it only once so far. Is this a must have?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

The 1st time we played this we had to have it! Everyone is different of course, but we really have a great time playing this one.

[@SonYCasino1]

For the final scoring, i did not see you getting the VPs from your income and VP track? You bought a card and went on to count points on cards. Did I miss it?

[@thetable7660]

2:02:00 I think Naveen forgot a couple of his cards give combat points, so he didn't need to spend here. Edit: He realised after, poor guy. 😬 Interesting game, I do wonder if going with influence early is a bit too risky given your opponent can react and displace cubes etc.

[@lmarquezgiron]

so funny... i lived in Maracaibo when I was a kid. Never thought a game with a name like this AHAHAH

[@LOCKHEARTS8]

So you think it's worth for 2 players or needs more. What's your opinion ;

[@mellowmuffin6645]

Have you seen the game Ghandi? That's about decolonisation. You're playing with history whilst learning about it but still quite a contentious subject.

[@robertcrist6059]

I just played Maracaibo for the first time last night (9/2/23). Typically, I watch a how to play, then play the game, then watch a playthrough to see how similar the people in the video played compared to myself and the others in the game, also to see if we made any mistakes. We played a four player game, no extra tiles, and I believe we played on medium definitely not hard mode. I didn't watch the start time, but we showed up at 5 pm, ate dinner, then had a full teach (two new players, one was me), and our game ended at 10:30 pm. I've only played Mombasa and Maracaibo from Pfister's designs. Mombasa was a few years ago and only played that one time so I can't speak on it. Maracaibo was fun. I do enjoy theme/setting and this was terrible, bland look, boring, and of course imo glossing over real historical events. All that said, the game mechanics are some that I enjoy. Cards that have multiple purposes, not to mention so many different cards making replayability so vast. Multiple strategies and paths to explore when unlocking combos and how you sequence your game. The interplay getting to a spot first, having the symbols, leveraging your faction end game bonus all make the game really fun to play. Noticed we did make a decent sized mistake. At the end of a round when we take the green banner income, all four of us only took the money and didn't take the vp, which to my deficit cost me a good chunk of points during the course of the game, but I did manage a rare win for my group. I wound up utilizing multiple assistants wherein I hit one to cash in 3 like symbols, then visit the Innkeeper which by round 2 I had four assistants out so her 2vp x assistants really racked up points, and another assistant gave me the AA village action which on my ship I unlocked the 3 symbol for coin/vp spot so I was churning through cards like crazy. I know Mombasa was reskinned to Skymines, curious if Maracaibo can be reskinned as well. I am not a lover of space themes, nor do I dislike them, but use some thought and come up with something interesting.

[@powerfade11]

Hi! You say this is your final Pfister game, but I can't find Expedition to Newdale. Did you play and comment on that one?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi there, we decided to skip it as we heard it was a campaign game based off of Oh My Goods. We had to keep the series lean to be able to fit in other videos. :-)

[@powerfade11]

@@BeforeYouPlay Oh, that's too bad, but understandable. I guess I'm more of a completionist, plus I have it in my collection and would like your take on it, especially because of all his games it's the most similar to a Uwe Rosenberg game.

[@Watdee]

I really feel you on the theme situation. There are too many games out there that are super fun from a mechanical standpoint, but I'm embarrassed to suggest them to friends because of the cringey imperialistic backdrop. Still a great playthrough, though! Thanks for sharing!

[@billjensen51]

I want to like this game but I other players being able to shorten game length to reduce my options sounds like a horrible game mechanic. Do you feel it is not a problem?

[@NemoMangelk]

I love the Designer series. OBVIOUSLY the next serious has to be Reiner Knizia and be sure to cover ALL 600 of the games he has designed. You both might need to quit your day jobs. On a more serious note, do cover Reiner Knizia - he is without question one of the best designers with some of the most spectacular games.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Lol, I might have a gray beard by the time we finish a Knizia series!!

[@NemoMangelk]

@@BeforeYouPlay Martin Wallace?

[@aba824]

I'm not a fan of euro games with so many unknown during play - variability of cards you can get on hand, sometimes it can takes few rounds to dig through a stack of cards to find the ones that works best right now and those unknown combat tokens or variability in those trading tokens on some villages that came out like during your game Naveen went to spot when new token appears when he resolves the first one and the next one that came up was perfect for Monique. I don't know, it looks like a lot of luck aspect is here in that game :) and a little bit too much for me. I really like Pfister's game Oh My Goods but it is more like a filler so it is ok with me to have push your luck mechanism, but not for a big euro, so I think Maracaibo is a pass for me :)

[@Crazee108]

Did the video rodney make get deleted?

[@angelathas399]

Completely agree about colonisation themed board games. Maracaibo looks good in terms of mechanics, and appears to be mechanics that I would enjoy. But I am holding off from purchasing it, because of the theme and now that I see a two-player game take two hours, that's quite scary :) I understand history themed boardgames can't be expected to "run" from history but I've also learned that history is often written by the victors. So often what is not captured in our history books are the struggles of the common people, the ones who suffer because of colonisers and colonisers warring one another over turf. That's why I am intrigued with Spirit Island's theme, but when I watched earlier playthroughs, it felt so complicated that I was quite sure it would be hard to teach my boardgaming friends. But I'll be watching yours soon to see if your playthrough will help me :)

[@fmargueirat]

Hi. Recently, I started noticing a low pitch humming noise when I play your videos. It is something that I don't get in other streams. Am I the only one getting this?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hmm, we actually hear a tin-like echo which we are trying to fix. Audio is the next upgrade coming soon. Hopefully we can have it cleared up in the coming videos. :-)

[@fmargueirat]

@@BeforeYouPlay after listening in for a while, it seems to me that is more like a “wind” sound. Maybe a mic close to a vent?

[@boggerblogger]

I think the sound is good but I do believe I can hear a bit of traffic hum when I'm listening on headphones - initially I thought it was outside my home which confused me as I don't live near a road.

[@alejandrodelavega1063]

I really appreciate that you addressed the theme. It's pretty much the only thing keeping me from buying this game-- colonial themes are a huge bummer for me.

[@antoniolemondeville3173]

Hello which. Pfister recomend for first game

[@antoniolemondeville3173]

@HERNAN SAZO SUMONTEyeahh cloudage or maracaibo forcme i 4hink

[@tpa3437]

I like the mechanics but I think component design is bad in more than just the player board chips. The big stacks of quest and combat tiles block line of sigh on other parts of the board. The map is not clear at first sight, like where are the villages is in the faq, it really shouldnt.. You can end up having a quest, assistant and a nation cube on the same spot it gets messy and covers the spot number. The player board is confusing and the chips hide parts of the options. Enough?

[@mridulsaboo2945]

So no play of Great Western Trail? Don’t think a Pfister series can finish without it!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We played it and posted it to KZbin a little while back. If you go to our channel's main page and look under playlists "Alexander Pfister Series" it'll be there. Hope that helps!

[@seahawksfan9168]

does Naveen ever win? lol

[@tylert.5357]

So so so happy to have you call out the uncomfortable theme of this game. I appreciate you two and your work here.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It had to be said, fantastic game itself, but we know what went on, and it wasn't "dropping cubes off."

[@tylert.5357]

So true, so true. You two are good humans

[@BGBarbarian]

@@BeforeYouPlay The thing I found funny is your suggestion for a better theme would be Pirates lol. Pirates murdered, and pillaged among other bad deeds.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@BGBarbarian You're right, probably not the proper suggestion lol. We were just going off of what we've heard him intend the theme to be, as a more of a fantasy as opposed to true historical context and specific cultures. But yes, pirates did very bad things.

[@BGBarbarian]

@@BeforeYouPlay It’s all good, I just thought it was funny.

[@fabior7580]

A friend of mine is venezuelan and she loves the theme of this game because the story takes place in her homeland. Thank God my people were also colonized. if it wasn't by the Europeans, we would still be living in the stone age, practicing cannibalism and sacrificing people to the gods.

[@zdd9583]

Indeed, I would suggest that in Teotihuacan they put a footnote in the lines of play as to what actually took place on the avenue of the dead. However, I think portraying them as a publicly human-sacrificing culture will not go down well.

[@bhelmore1]

I played this a few times solo and unfortunately, I found it pretty boring actually. I love crunchy brain-burning euros, but this just didn't feel like one. Never had those moments of satisfaction that I often get in other games. Far prefer games like Paladins of the West Kingdom, Gaia Project or any game from Lacerda over this. :(

[@nydaloth]

If the theme is historical, Why people get offended? War-gamers play games with historically horrible themes all the time. You even control Nazis in some games like “The Hunters”. If those people are to be offended by themes like imperialism, then they will probably end playing abstract games. Please don’t get me wrong, I really respect your unlike against colonization themes, and I do respect others opinion about subjects like this, but I just wonder if the theme is an historical reality, why the backslash. I don’t see the problem of players representing “the bad guys” since this is a game in the same vein as pirates say. Take pirates for example most of them have been portrayed in board games like protagonists (players), and it’s known from history that most of them were rapist, thieves and murderers! Colonization theme is historically interesting even though crimes against humanity were committed. I just wondering why the hate to colonization theme and not nazis or piracy say. Thanks for your channel and great reviews.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

That's a very fair question. I think the reason why war games don't get as much heat is because of the context of the genre itself. If it's a war game, I've already accepted the mechanics that are going to simulate the atrocities that occurred during a war, versus a euro game where that is not necessarily the case. In addition, war already has an innate historical context whether it is fantasy or simulation. Also, to be clear, if any euro game had a nazi theme, we wouldn't like that either. Pirates are sort of a grey area. Yes, they are technically known for doing terrible things, but they aren't specific to one culture necessarily. This is one of the main issues that people generally have with colonial themes. They simulate something truly terrible that occurred against a specific group of people/culture. Maracaibo *originally* had a "Plantation Owner" card that gave you points for placing workers on the card. It's great that they renamed the card entirely but we as reviewers can't ignore how problematic that is especially within the context of the theme. There are some characters in this game that also do not fit the historical timeline of the theme, so if it's not consistent, why use it? Anyway, that is just how we feel about it. It clearly doesn't keep us from playing the game, especially since we are mechanic-focused people. Hope that helps in some way.

[@nydaloth]

@@BeforeYouPlay yes it answers the question. Thanks

[@jimbalboa8514]

Enough with the theme criticisms. This is a fake negative. This comment applies to all gamers and reviewers. I mean you clearly knew what the theme was before even buying the game (that’s what the internet’s for), so if a theme is actually going to bother you, why did you buy the game anyway or agree to review it? This is the chosen historical setting of the game, and it’s not exactly glorifying anything negative. It’s almost like these things have to be automatically mentioned as a protection mechanism now. For social liability purposes.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Jim! We include a criticism on theme in every review that we do, it's not specific to this game. Your comment is implying that if people dislike the theme, they shouldn't buy or review the game, which we don't agree with. Our roles as reviewers is to tell our audience how we feel about the game so there is nothing fake about the negatives or the positives of any of our reviews. You are obviously welcome to disagree with our views, just as we are free to express them.

[@harmweber9848]

@@BeforeYouPlay Good on you! Free speech means we can disagree and still respect each other. (Seems weird that we have this level of heaviness in a discussion of what is, when you boil it down, a game.)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@harmweber9848 Absolutely! Thank you.

[@chappy6817]

Totally agree with you mate. It's the world we live in these days.

[@raymonddidonato9083]

In light of the recent comments by Daniele Tascini, I have decided that I will be more diligent in identifying harmful themes and taking a stand against cultural misappropriation where it appears in games. As a white man, I have used my privilege to enjoy games using these themes and have contributed to their propagation in the hobby. I myself have the printing of Maracaibo with the plantation owner, and it makes me sick that card exists. What makes me even more sick that I have turned a blind eye to it's existence in the game. We had removed that card from the deck, but that is a harmful action as well because now we are not facing the reality of what the game is about. That is an excuse for continuing to play the game. I have heard that Alexander is listening to the community and will be addressing the theme to some degree in the expansion. For now, though Maracaibo was in my top 5 games, it is in timeout along with all Tascini games, until it can be proven that the designer and the publisher are going to try and atone for the theme here, and themes in general moving forward. I'm not sure how they will do it if ultimately I still win in part to the extent that I exploited the native people of this region, but perhaps there is a rather large rewrite in the works. We can only benefit as a gaming community by holding designers and publishers accountable for their choices.

[@anab0lic]

cant tell if this is a parody post or not.

[@raymonddidonato9083]

@@anab0lic it's not