Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm - Wild East Game Company - $24.95
Game title: Pie Rats of the Carob Bean
Game description: In Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm each player takes on the role of a Captain of the Rats and tries to build a crew of not-so-loyal rats in an attempt to loot the farmer’s wife of as many of her pies as you can. The heavier the pie the more rats it takes to steal it, the more points it is worth. The Captain with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Overall
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Play (Mechanics)
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Presentation (Art/Quality)
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Plan (Rules)
Summary
Rats! They’re everywhere. Filthy vermin that dress like little pirates and steal pies from your windowsill. At least, that’s how it works in Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm. In the game, each player plays the role of a Pie Rat captain trying to recruit a crew to help them steal the tastiest pies. The problem is, crew members aren’t very loyal and can easily be drawn to a crew with a more charismatic captain.
Pros
Simple
Cute
Pies!
Cons
Very basic
Hard to mitigate luck
Terrible box
Full Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm Review
Rats! They’re everywhere. Filthy vermin that dress like little pirates and steal pies from your windowsill. At least, that’s how it works in Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm. In the game, each player plays the role of a Pie Rat captain trying to recruit a crew to help them steal the tastiest pies. The problem is, crew members aren’t very loyal and can easily be drawn to a crew with a more charismatic captain.
Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm is fairly simple. Each player takes a Captain. Separate out the Pies from the rest of the cards, shuffle them, and set them aside in their own pile. The rest of the cards get shuffled and placed as a draw deck, and each player gets a hand of cards. Player’s then take turns playing cards from their hands, trying to lure Crew away from other players, and trying to steal pies by expending crew with enough strength the carry them off. The player with the most points worth of pies when all the pies are gone wins.
While I have to admit Pie Rats is cute, it feels like it’s missing something. It’s a fairly straight forward resource management game with a heavy “take that” mechanic of stealing crew. There are often times when it feels like
Another, though much less bothersome issue, is the game’s box. Pie Rats is just a stack of cards, yet it comes in a box way larger than it needs to. Inside that box is a lot of wasted space and two deck boxes, one black, and one tan. There’s no rhyme or reason to have these two deck boxes, as there’s no reason to split the deck other than separating the pies. Of course, you can’t fit just pies in one box and the rest of the cards in the other. It’s a weird choice to package the game like this.
I can’t say that my kids and I didn’t have fun with Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm. It’s simple, cute, and quick. It just doesn’t differentiate itself enough to really warrant a space in our collection. It’s certainly a game I suggest you play before you purchase. It may work wonders for a family, especially one that is just getting into the hobby.
A copy of Pie Rats of the Carob Bean Farm was provided free for review by Wild East Games
Media personality Rob Kalajian has been a staple in the board game world for many years. As a former writer for Purple Pawn and the owner of A Pawn’s Perspective, Rob focuses on board game reviews, events, and news. A self-proclaimed geek, Rob loves all things toys and games and even helps raise his four kids in his spare time.
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