Hallertau | Can we talk about the cards? | Board Game Review

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I hope you’ve had your weet-bix/weetabix because it’s going to be hard yakka to get this community centre pushed past all of these boulders and across your board! Use the limited worker placement spots to get things done around your farm; create more fields, plant some seeds and round up some sheep. Then spend spend spend and make it happen, because if you don’t, the inflation is harsh in these parts and the costs only go up each round! Oh, and the CARDS. Love them or hate them, they’re going to make a difference…
Hallertau
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Theme overview (Themer)
01:37 Mechanics overview (Thinker)
08:49 Thematic integration (Themer)
11:10 The community centre is cool
12:15 The joy & the pain of the cards
13:39 The game over time
14:35 We weren't done talking about the cards
16:30 Longevity
18:30 Do you trust your gaming group?
21:32 A note on player count
22:19 Maggie’s solo review
26:02 Wrap up
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Players: 1-4
Play time: 50-140 min
Publisher: Lookout Games
boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3...
Thanks for stopping by for our mechanics & theme board game review of Hallertau. We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience. Are you #teamthinker or #teamthemer? ❤🏳️‍🌈🇦🇺

Опубликовано:

20 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 89

@ernestjutte 2 года назад

If I could give you multiple "thumbs up" I would. Your analysis is tremendous, providing thought-provoking commentary as to why someone may or may not like the game. Your focus on the audience of players makes for really good reviews. This one was perhaps your best review to date.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Thank you so much!! We are definitely trying to get better at distilling our thoughts and so this is really lovely feedback. ☺ thanks for watching!

@susanscandles 2 года назад

I agree! They are wonderful and give such great reviews.

@kovray 2 года назад

Well now I'm completely sold on this game! Thank you, always a pleasure hearing your thoughts.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Hehe I think you both would enjoy the puzzle of it! It definitely makes you werk! Thanks for watching ❤

@GamerPhysics 2 года назад

Great job, and great analysis as always!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Thanks so much Aaron! 🥰

@xxlt1xx 2 года назад

I was watching and nodding my head in agreement on so many of your opinions and thoughts of this game 🤓 Thank You Amy and Maggie!! I bring the game out when I feel like being an accountant farmer lol!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Hahahaha thank you Jose for watching and sharing this feedback 🥰

@traceytat8206 2 года назад

Hello ThinkerThemer, first time posting a comment on RU-vid after xx years, you've popped my cherry! I just want to say this is one of the best board game reviews I've seen, perfect structure covering everything I wanted to know about the game - how it works, if the theme makes sense, the interesting choices we get to make, the randomness to expect. I also really value your honest comments about replayability (backed with plays) which is rare with reviewers. Will be picking this up for the gimmick even though it's a bell curve experience :) I keep hearing about A Feast For Odin and At the Gates of Loyang but both are a tad costly to acquire in Australia and would love to hear your review on these from a solo and multiplayer perspective.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Hi Tracey! We are honoured that you chose our video for your first comment! Thank you so much for the truly lovely feedback and we are so glad to hear that this review was useful to you 😊 we have both of those other Uwe games and you're right that we should review them in full (we are slowly making our way through our collection!) but in case you haven't caught it Maggie did her top ten solo games with Rahdo on his channel and spoiler alert, there is definitely some Uwe on there!! Great to have another fellow Aussie here and look forward to chatting about more games with you ☺

@shineLouisShine Год назад

Love the honesty

@Olvenskol 2 года назад

Pretty spot-on review. My wife and I obsessed over this game for some time, but eventually it got shelved because it felt played out. Definitely worth the ride, but ultimately the cards really define the game session.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Thank you Drake! Sorry it was played out for you too. We can't bring ourselves to sell it though... so hopefully there is an expansion or something! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment ☺

@robrattley3902 2 года назад

Great review, thanks very much. Definitely one I'd like to play but not one that I need to go out and buy at the moment - I'll just keep hunting for a well priced copy of Feast for Odin!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Thanks for watching Rob! Now that's a purchase we can get behind 😁

@PatrickMurphy-sg5fn 2 года назад

still on my list to pick up! It looks great!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Glad you're excited about this one Patrick! Thanks for watching!

@melvinyong3148 2 года назад

So glad you all finally got to play it! You both brought up some very valid points. I can understand if you played 10 games in a short period of time, it does tend to feel a bit monotonous and especially if you need to write a critical review later. When I was reviewing movies for the local press a lifetime ago, it kinda took the fun of watching movies as your mind keeps looking out for every little aspect of the movie/game instead of just going with the flow and enjoying it, hope that makes sense. I would likely play Hallertau a couple times a month max kinda game, so it doesn't wear out its welcome. Stay safe!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Ah yes this is a very interesting point Melvin. Definitely if we were not reviewing it we wouldn't have played it so many times in a row which probably led us to have played it out much quicker. However, I don't think that would happen with other games and it hasn't when we've reviewed them. In this case the puzzle on rails is what will stop us from getting it off the shelf more. Having said that though the puzzle itself is so great and creative and if you can keep it in the discovery zone for longer can 100% see the enjoyment. Glad you're having fun with it, thanks for watching as always and sharing your thoughts! Hope youre well 🥰

@hanseathl 2 года назад

Such a great review. As I am currently getting I to Fields of Arle (yes, I know I'm late) I kept asking myself how it compares to that one. Obviously there isn't the part with the cards, that might indeed be an issue but on the other hand an interesting challenge to optimize accordingly. I will see to try Hallertau the next time I get a chance.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Thanks so much! Maggie enjoys fields of arle much more than I do -- it's a little fragmented for my brain but I also haven't played enough of it as it is one of her solo games 😊 Hallertau is definitely very different and interesting -- much more single strategy focused though. Thanks for watching 😊

@monicamurphy6552 2 года назад

Love this review!! I'm going to go out and buy Feast for Odin! Hehehe

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

We will never say no to that purchase (sorry Lisa)

@darlene7165 2 года назад

Wow what a great review! My Hallertau is still in shrink wrap! 😳 I think we got our copies around the same time too! I really appreciate your detailed review and thoughts on this. You are the first ones I have seen with some honest opinions on the down side of it. I love Uwe as well so expectations are high. Your comments on disconnected was the first thing I thought when when everything was about farming, crops, sheep and then you went to Jewelry? What? Rewind! Hmmm…I am still looking forward to getting it to the table, but honestly the table hog games are slowing becoming a negative for me. They really need to shine! Since it is mostly just me playing these types of games in the house, I would play mostly solo. I can see me playing this a few times, enjoying it, and then possibly passing it along. Big box games need to meet some high standards, with replayability and variability to take up a large spot on my shrinking shelf space! 😂. This was an awesome review and gave me a lot of insight! Now, to get it to the table! You girls rock! BTW, love my new Joey!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

I actually think you will enjoy the puzzle of it solo. It is not easy and takes a few games to work out how to get everything done. Unfortunately there is only one main strategy and then it comes down to whether or not you enjoy the card element. We look forward to hearing what you think... maybe some more time this week to try it out? 😄👀❤ LOVE the new joey and thank you so much for your continued support ❤❤❤

@tylert.5357 2 года назад

Thank you for the review. I have a few farming games, so will probably stick to those. Have you played La Granja and Keyper? I do have Uwe's Fields of Arle which I don't get to the table too often. I am a big Feast for Odin fan. Hope you are coping as best as you can with your lockdown....ugh.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

We have played both of those titles! Keyper was not a keeper for us, which is a shame because I, (Amy) really enjoy that series. La Granja is great and looking forward to the new deluxe kickstarter coming soon. Maggie has Fields of Arle and plays solo and we are big fans of Feast for Odin too. Seems farming is well covered off in your house and ours!! 😁😁 Thanks for watching as always. 4 more weeks of lockdown here apparently! We can do this 👊

@CandiceLikes 2 года назад

Maggie…one of my favorite sweaters. Lol 🤓

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

❤❤🥰🥰❤❤

@canderson5469 2 года назад

Thank you for the review! It was in shrink for a while, then I unboxed it three or more months ago with the intention to play, and it hasn’t happened yet…

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Ohhh I think you would really enjoy the puzzle. You'll probably crack it much faster than us but it is definitely a brain burner to figure out at first. Maybe we can teach you 🤞🤞🤞❤

@boardthenplay8878 2 года назад

I like Hallertau. I think it’s a great intro to his heavier games. It may become samey over time. But i guess I’m not there yet. In the meantime got to work on my mental maths. Lols. I do agree with the components. I thought they could’ve bumped up the blue cubes to something else and also the tools are cardboard. They could’ve made some wooden meeples for hammer or rake etc. But they’re just a minor thing but shouldve been upgraded considering the cost for it.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

We like it too! Just felt like we played it out a bit but still think it is super creative. One other thing for the wish list... if the community centre had notches in it or a cardboard rail to help it stay on track haha. Glad you're having fun with this one and thanks for watching!

@ryangallagher7183 2 года назад

Great video! I'm a huge fan of the game, but I completely agree with your criticisms that might turn some people off. It's definitely a very different beast than Caverna or Feast for Odin. This game is much more on rails, where you will be doing similar things each game, unlike Uwe's big "sandbox" games. I agree that the cards add a fair bit of randomness, but I found it was rarely an issue in my several dozen plays. They are balanced enough that you have to get really unlucky for the cards to make the difference, and this only happens rarely.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Yes 100% the puzzle is on rails. I'm glad you've had a good experience with the cards so far. It was very mixed for us. Sometimes it felt like one of us would just get very lucky and the other very unlucky which made for a less interesting game. The better games were more balanced with that and then much more fun. Back to the sandboxes for us but overall this is such a creative and interesting puzzle! 😄 thanks for watching Ryan!

@markdavies7776 Год назад

I played this for the first time last week and i agree with what you say about the cards. We all looked at our hand at the start and were like 'wow we are never going to get half of these done'. But lo and behold someone did actually manage to get down about 3-5 cards before i was even close to getting one card down. So yes, the luck you have with the starting cards and how and if they work together can really set you up for the rest of the game. I mentioned that personally i would have liked a quick card draft at the start - get 7 cards, choose 5 for example. I still loved the game, but when that aforementioned player was getting 10 workers to use when i was still only getting 7, the game had already pretty much decided who the winner would be. EDIT: we did use a random deck i believe so maybe using the starter deck would have alleviated this

@ThinkerThemer Год назад

Thanks for sharing your experiences Mark! Yes we still have issues with the card play in this game which can really make the difference when playing with experienced players who have cracked the puzzle. I'm glad you're loving the game though, it's such a unique concept and we really enjoyed our time with it too. Thanks for watching!

@victorybhg 2 года назад

100% agree on your thoughts, got hallertau, but kept getting pulled out of the immersion that I got annoyed. the central puzzle is interesting the first few times you solve it.. then kinda wanes. Uwe has hit a creative wall and run out of steam. He needs collaborators to give some energy to projects. This would have been simple design ( probably hard to balance ), but instead of fixed goals, a variable goal start configuration with choosing a set of 5 buildings from a larger set. Instead of moving a community center ( which makes no sense as we all have our own "community centers", move buildings 5 spaces ( in any combination ) get a worker, etc etc. This would give starting variability to keep the game fresh, allow for different strategies - but not too sandbox. anyways good reviews.. thanks all

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Agree that it would be nice to have those building goals differ. We did think the whole thing was really creative but just needed some more variability to hit the table more than other games or indeed his other titles! Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts 😊

@b0steen 2 года назад

I think it has the same thing as Feast for Odin, where the higher complexity cards are hit or miss based on your game and board state. I would tempted to do what I do for Feast for Odin, where you always draw one more card to pick from. Eg Draw 2, keep 1, rather than keeping only the card you draw.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Yes absolutely this would help Ben! We do feel that feast offers much more paths to victory in general though as well so you are less reliant on the cards if that makes sense! Thanks for watching 😊

@Viragomp 2 года назад

Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed review! You've cemented my non-interest in this game, lol. With Rosenberg big farming games I have and enjoy (to varying degrees) Agricola, Loyang, Glass Road, Nusfjord and Fields of Arle. Hallertau just doesn't push any interesting or new buttons for me. The next farming game I'm going for is definitely Stardew Valley once it's available again. 😉

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Yes the puzzle itself IS a brain burner at first though it's just that once you work out how to do it it becomes a bit samey. Hehe very different to Stardew which is lighter but still very fun 😊 thank you for watching!

@StephenGrubb 2 года назад

Excellent review. I feel like Uwe Rosenberg's best work is Agricola. I am curious what your favorite Uwe Rosenberg game is. Thank You!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Hehe Stephen we have for so long been trying to rank our games to eveeeentually do a top 10 list. They will likely be different for each of us but I can certainly say that Uwe will feature in there for sure 👀 stay tuned on that! 😁 thanks for watching and the lovely feedback 🥰

@MamaWaffles 2 года назад

I want to say Uwe Rosenberg is super clever in design and overall the whole gaming experience, one of the best, but I definitely got some personal gripes with his games I've played. The cards being the thing that make his games more repayable and different, but wildly off balance is a big one for me. I feel like he fixes that with Feast for Odin with the Norwegian expansion cause you can at least exchange it for more points. In Agricola, if you draft, it does mitigate it up to a certain point and it helps you set up your starting plan, but the limited slots to play those cards, especially in a 2 player game, makes it so easy for the first player to run away with the early game. So having that potentially be more of an issue in Hallertau, makes it difficult to want to invest and try the game. I'll definitely give it a go if someone has it, but with the lack of replayability it seems like I'll have to wait till than. (Also I understand square workers, but it makes me sad. Those meeples do work!) Anyhow thanks for another great review! Was particularly excited to hear how this one worked and held up. Have a great day!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Interesting to hear your thoughts on Uwe Ania! Agree that the card focus is probably our least favourite parts of some of his designs. The puzzles are always very creative though and in other games it feels like you can outpuzzle more than outcard each other. Here the outpuzzle part is easily won by someone with more experience with the game (in our opinion!) Thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts as always 😊

@haakonts 2 года назад

Have you tried drafting the cards? I know my friends who play a lot of Agricola does that

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

That would definitely help. Drafting initial hand but also when you pick up you could draw 2 and pick 1, that would also help greatly!

@DigitalAwakening 2 года назад

Thanks for the good analysis of the game. I personally don't mind the theme disconnect. The game looks interesting overall. But all the other issues you talk about are things I do not like. Maybe I'll get it at some point.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Hopefully you can try someone else's copy Magnus! 😊 thanks for watching!

@DigitalAwakening 2 года назад

@@ThinkerThemer unlikely but not impossible. Not a lot of board gamers around here. Or if there are, they are not easy to find 😞

@Tamali01 3 месяца назад

Would you go this game or Nursfjord? I haven’t got any Uwe games and I am looking for something interesting to start on. I am also likely to play on my own. I really like the look of ‘At the Gates of Loyang’ but since that is still unavailable… Would appreciate some feedback. I am very much like Maggie in that I like to get lost in my own thing and love a good theme and cute components.

@truenorth2615 2 года назад

Played this 4 times now. Your review is spot on. The cards add a bit too much variability for my liking. You can be completely bamboozled by the luck of the draw. If you are playing p vs p it can happen that some players have very advantageous cards draws while you can be left with nothing. Most experienced players figure out the Community Centre puzzle, so everyone is more or less the same in that regard. The difference maker is the cards and that can be frustrating if you don't get the luck of the draw. It's enjoyable but not a top choice for me.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Yes exactly!! It will always be the case that an experienced player will beat a new player at the puzzle... and then those cards really dictated whether we had a fun game or not. Sooooo hmmm. We'll keep it on the shelf but hard to think of an occasion where we would play it over his other designs! Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts 🥰

@distantbabble 2 года назад

Another amazing review. As a craft beer enthusiast, I hope to visit Hallertau one day. I also love hobby board games, and this looks like it will fit into my love of Euro-style games. However, I don't get a sense of beer and hops from the game. Is there any games you or your fans base can suggest that has a better craft beer theme?

@martinprivat5908 2 года назад

Ora et labora is even a Rosenberg title, so maybe look into that (if you can find a copy). Good luck!

@nicolehage918 2 года назад

Although I haven’t played them yet myself I heard good things about: Heaven & Ale and Homebrewers

@MrPeter13th 2 года назад

@@nicolehage918 Heaven & Ale is a very nice fast pace game, yet very high price MSRP good if found on sale. Box is very empty they should slender that box, and last but not least the theme is not found anywhere on the mechanics, there is that...

@Viragomp 2 года назад

Brew Crafters, of course! It's even been compared as a game with similarities to Agricola, the Rosenberg classic.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

We've only played Heaven & Ale that we can think of and it's not really dripping with beer theme 🙃 it is a wonderful game if you're into mechanics. It has a very interesting tile placement puzzle and scoring system. Thanks for watching Patrick, glad you enjoyed this review!

@theunamiable 2 года назад

Haven't played a lot of Rosenberg, but various things (not least the solo discussion with Rahdo) tempt me. Feast For Odin still seems the way to go.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Well we'll never say no to a game of feast. 😄

@theunamiable 2 года назад

@@ThinkerThemer I have since discovered it's out of print, or at least not available in Australia. One day...

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Whaaaat really??? Maybe we can play at a game day!

@windyhillbomber 2 года назад

I just can’t see how Hallertau scratches a different itch than so many of Uwe’s other games. As I already own Agricola, Caverna, Fields of Arle from his strictly farming titles along with A Feast for Odin and Le Harve I just feel Hallertau is more of the same.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

The central puzzle IS quite different and hard at first to wrap your head around how to crack it. But once you do, it's kind of done and then feels a bit rinse and repeat. Very different to a Feast for Odin where everyone can be doing different things and it still come down to a close finish! Thanks for watching David and for sharing your thoughts !

@RaduStanculescu 2 года назад

We're thinking of creating displays for the cards, but otherwise I have the same feeling: in both of my games I got the community center to the end of the track, ended up playing lots of cards, and got similar scores. It feels like it has two-three more plays in it, and then I will likely just want to play Feast or Agricola instead.

@RaduStanculescu 2 года назад

I do like the gameplay by the way. I just hope there would be more variation. Maybe an expansion? 😁

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Yes same! We enjoyed it but wish there was something to change up the options for moving the community centre! Maybe an expansion could help you're right! Glad you've been enjoying your time with this one Radu and thanks for watching as always ☺

@paulbradley8112 2 года назад

Thanks for the great review, you've convinced me that I don't need to get it.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Glad it helped you figure out if it was for you Paul, thanks for watching ☺

@MisterG2323 2 года назад

A very cogent review. My crew has tackled this one about a half dozen times, mostly 3-handers and a few 4-handers, and much like the case with Viticulture, I agree with you that it's perhaps a bit too dependent on the luck of the card draws. Fortunately, Uwe included multiple decks to allow variability, so I think it'll be a while before it falls by the wayside for us. As for the "cheating" potential, I agree that's somewhat of an issue, although it may eventually be mitigated when the game migrates to online play at BGA or wherever, assuming it ever does. Happily, I've still got Nusfjord waiting in the wings for an introduction; I look forward to seeing how it compares. Thank you for another excellent vid!

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Thanks Geoff for watching and taking the time to share your thoughts! We agree about the cards being quite luck driven in Viticulture but for some reason here it felt like once we had both figured out the puzzle the cards were really the only way to win. In Viticulture, especially with Tuscany, it feels a bit easier to ignore the cards (though I've still seen them swing the game for sure). Glad you're enjoying it and hope you like Nusfjord! 😊

@cwb95k 2 года назад

I wonder about drafting the cards as well.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Yes Wade that would definitely help. And picking up more to choose from. Thanks for watching!

@davypi2 2 года назад

I have to give some Kudos for the discussion of the negative points in the game. BGG forums tend to put games in a very positive light, but most of the problem that you've discovered with the game I had figured out by my third or fourth play. Nearly every game seems to be won by who gets the most cards played on the table, which similarly boils down to the best combos. I really like the mechanical gameplay ideas here, but after about six games I'm not really itching to pull this off the shelf again, which really isn't much gameplay given the relatively high MRSP of the game.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Sorry to hear that you've had this same experience Davy but I'd imagine it could be sold on fairly easily. We still can't bear to give it up because the central puzzle is really cool... just plays out. Maybe some of our friends would enjoy working it out though. Thanks for the kind feedback on our review and for sharing your thoughts! 😊

@arashgrgsson3841 11 месяцев назад

im telling eveyone now i think ... make a house rule ... just like what brothers murph did with viticulture ... draw two keep one slide the other one on the bottom of deck

@kumanight 2 года назад

Farming is a theme I just can't get behind for some reason

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Luckily there are so many others! The best thing about this hobby ... always new discoveries !

@kumanight 2 года назад

@@ThinkerThemer Absolutely! Being able to explore different thematic worlds is one of my favourite things in this hobby 😊

@AaronAndSusie 2 года назад

Uwe is a big void in my play history. This does not sound like a good starting point past Bonanza lol

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Hahaha no maybe not this one! But there are so many others and they are wonderful! Nusfjord for a bit lighter and also good solo? 😁

@AaronAndSusie 2 года назад

@@ThinkerThemer I won le Havre and agricola but haven't played either so I guess they should probably be next on the list? Going to try to learn agricola now that it's on bga

@danddjacko 2 года назад

I understand why you did it, but ugh, the new look logo is nowhere near as good as the old one. I though it was just for thumbnails etc 'Edit' - have analysed what it is that grates on me. Its the new font for the themer bit, the rest is great.

@ThinkerThemer 2 года назад

Sorry to hear that David! I guess these things are always subjective. We're really happy with it but sorry it's not your thing 😕 hope you liked the review at least 😁

@danddjacko 2 года назад

Love the channel 😏👍🏻