Beer and Bread Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Beer and Bread, a multi use card game published by Capstone Games. In Beer and Bread, 2 players are facing off to earn the most victory points over the course of the game's 5 rounds.

Can entire villages survive on a constant diet of the titular offerings of Beer & Bread? How would the people stay productive as they grew sleepy, and their bodies gained weight? Would their health deteriorate to a point that the town doctor would need to expand their practice? And what percentage of the population is dipping their bread INTO the beer?

The title and setting of the newest offering from designer Scott Almes and publisher Capstone Games sets the tone and has us asking all kinds of questions. Why are the two villages so close together? Will they combine into one mega-corporation to take over the world of brew and loaf? And are we selling our crafted creations to each other across the river? Are there outsiders who visit the local monastery, and do they come for our goods? Is this game creating an emergent narrative out of a simple two-player structure?

So much to ponder. I need a drink.

Beer & Bread is a two-player game featuring multi-use cards and a unique round structure. The objective is to craft beer and bread using collected resources, but the amount you can craft is restricted to only one good per type. This is further complicated by the nature of final scoring: both good types are scored separately, and you retain the lowest of the two.

As such, this is a game of diversification and efficiency. Players must work to keep their production of the two good types even in scoring to obtain the best possible final score. Play occurs over six years which alternates between fruitful and dry. Players begin the game