But I am not here to give you my views – the epic blogger, Neil P aka Board Game Happy, has done a fabulous job and you can read and watch that here. Instead, I am going to tell you how to play the game. Not win. I rarely do that at any table. But at least give you the run down of a game in play! A Brew For Two Why this sudden need to focus on ferments? Well, this modest box promised a lot of special-sauce game play for us; 2 player, multi-use cards, strategic drafting, forward planning, munchy-crunchy decision making, tension, sneaky-scoring, and clever resource management. And friends, I can confirm that the promises were kept! Scott ventures into the exciting (and pretty much underestimated) two-player terrain. I must admit that the allure of Beer and Bread lies in the thematic indulgence of the long tradition of alcohol refreshment and freshly baked bread. Yet, the perfectly tailored duel format is undeniably the ultimate catalyst that drove me to acquire this gem to my collection. Once the 6th round is over (i.e. the 3rd fruitful year has come and gone), it’s time to find out just how much of a brewing boss and baking baron you are. But! Scott hasn’t finished throwing surprise ingredients into the mix yet. Because, even though you tot up your totals for both beer and bread, your final position is your lowest scoring commodity! And I think that’s brilliant! It essentially forces you to maintain a balance between producing both products. You can’t prioritise panini at the expense of porter. You can’t gun for stout and leave sourdough on the shelf. You’ve got to be busting out both to protect your position! Final Thoughts The game is actually a lot easier than you would expect after your first glance. Essentially you will play cards from your hand one at a time to either harvest resources from the fields, sell resources for points, or upgrade your actions. You play five cards per year and the game ends after the sixth year, so that will be thirty turns in total.

Each year has the same phases. But what you do in those phases can depend on whether it is a fruitful or dry year. When you use the upgrade function you slide the card under the player board at the equivalent space for the upgrade. Deep Print Games has put together a soon-to-be-released board game that speaks to me greatly. Who wouldn't want to dive into a game all about Beer & Bread? This is a two-player strategic rivalry between two villages. Overall I really like Beer & Bread and look forward to teaching it to as many people as possible. The turn structures are fun and the limited space for resources make you think as efficiently as possible whilst trying to plan for future turns. I would have liked a solo mode but I can understand it might have been too fiddly to implement. 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 last few turns can seem pointless if you are not able to sell any more beer or bread or play any cards that will effect final scoring. This is especially annoying if you watch your competitor play one final scoring point card on their last turn. Find out how you can be part of Meeple University member to get access to exclusive perks, like exclusive badge next to your name (when commenting on our videos), and emojis in chat and live stream chats! :

Harvests that card for the resources shown on the top of the card – these go into the 9 box store show on the main board, and the card is placed to one side. Importantly the card is kept because resources will multiply if you lay another card on top which shows an identical resource (note: the resource has to show on the newest card to benefit from the multiplier effect of any existing resources; When it’s a fruitful year, you get to add lots of resources to your fields, grab beer and bread cards, swap cards with your opponent, as well as harvest, store, produce, or sell. Note that overproducing also brings out your charitable side as you must offer those goodies you can’t store to old loaf lover next door! Multi-Grain BreadBefore we get into round structure, let’s discuss the multi-use card actions. Cards can be used in one of three ways during a turn: Harvest and Store, Produce and Sell, and Upgrade and Clean. Harvesting provides resources, producing allows players to craft goods with gained resources, and upgrading provides powerful abilities and clears out the goods that have been produced (remember, you can only store one of each type at a time). The harvest and store action provides resources from the card played, as well as any matching resources from a previous harvest. The gameplay for Beer & Bread doesn’t look mean on the surface. You have to give extra resources up which might not sit well. But there’s a chance that you’ll be able to do it when your opponent can’t use them. And that turns a sour ale into something much more palatable! Beer & Bread is a multi-use card game for two. Its clever structure of alternating rounds adds a fascinating twist on player interaction, card drafting, and resource management. Final Score: 4 stars – Deftly balances the design space between alternating rounds, multi-use cards, and quality goods production.

All of the cards in the game have three uses. The top third of the card is used for harvesting, the middle of the card is used for recipes to sell beer and bread and the bottom third is used for upgrades. Happy Harvest Each of you represents one of these villages. Over the course of six years – which alternate between fruitful and dry – you must harmonize your duties of harvesting and storing resources, producing beer and bread, selling them for coins and upgrading your facilities. 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. During the dry years, three cards are added to the exchange area for players to swap and play.One other benefit of using the upgrade option is it clears your brewery and bakery ready for more cards to be played there. The cards removed are placed to the side of the board so all players can see how many of each type you have completed. Same Game, Different Rounds Beer & Bread gracefully dances with its artful balance of constraints and limitations. Surprisingly, the game does not feel restrictive or punitive, even when an occasional misplay occurs. Take the resources throughout both fruitful and dry seasons, for example. Granted, the fruitful is more bountiful than the dry, yet scarcity could still persist. Hence, players must strategically harvest resource. It paves the way for more substantial production down the line.