Every year, board game enthusiasts eagerly anticipate the arrival of that one big box. This year’s contender is Speakeasy, the latest masterpiece from the renowned design team of Vital Lacerda and artist Ian O’Toole.
Set in the vibrant yet dangerous world of 1920s Prohibition-era Manhattan, Speakeasy isn’t just about selling illegal hooch. It’s a captivating blend of Area Control, Worker Placement, and Card Management that solidifies its position as the must-play Euro of the year.
Every year, board game enthusiasts eagerly anticipate the arrival of that one big box. This year’s contender is Speakeasy, the latest masterpiece from the renowned design team of Vital Lacerda and artist Ian O’Toole.
Set in the vibrant yet dangerous world of 1920s Prohibition-era Manhattan, Speakeasy isn’t just about selling illegal hooch. It’s a captivating blend of Area Control, Worker Placement, and Card Management that solidifies its position as the must-play Euro of the year.
Lacerda’s signature intricate and interlinked systems shine through in Speakeasy. It seamlessly combines the efficiency of a Euro game with the intense tension of a Mob War. The game unfolds over 11 rounds, divided into four Acts, culminating in a final scoring phase where the player with the most accumulated money emerges victorious.
King Mobster?
The core of each turn revolves around the Worker Placement action, where players strategically position their Capos (primary workers) on the main board. These action spaces offer various options, allowing players to:
Improve Operations: The game features five personal development tracks on your player board: VIP Room, Party, Stills, Fleet and Strength. Boosting these tracks boosts your production, sales and muscle capacity and, crucially, your overall Infamy score. This score grants powerful bonuses like extra cash or immediate card draws.
Build/Upgrade Establishments: You begin with basic Stills for producing booze and Speakeasies for selling it. The ultimate goal is to upgrade to lavish Nightclubs and Casinos for significantly higher sales value.
Card Play: You can play an Operations Card for an immediate bonus and the ability to take a standard board action. This allows for powerful, combo-driven turns.
Production, Delivery and the Pick-Up and Deliver Loop: Your empire’s financial engine hinges on moving barrels of liquor.
Production: Use your Stills to generate Barrels of booze.
Acquisition & Robbery: You can move barrels from your Stills to your Speakeasies using your Trucks or go to the City Docks. Here, players can use the combined Strength of their Family Members and hired Goons to ambush Rum-Runners (non-player ships). This ambushing allows them to steal the rum and valuable crates of cash. This is a classic Lacerda Pick-up and Deliver loop but with the added risk and reward of high-stakes piracy.
Area Control: The Tense Mob Wars: Control the area to gain an advantage in the mob wars.
Every game Act culminates in a period of scoring and conflict, injecting crucial Area Control tension into the Euro mechanics.
The Lucky Luciano Phase sees players earn money based on their control of Manhattan Districts. The Mob War phase is the knife fight, where players compete for district control not only against each other but also against a relentless Mobster Faction (the automa opponent). Players use their Strength and Family Members to take over districts and defend their establishments, ensuring a dynamic and competitive board regardless of player count.
A key resource is Leverage. It’s used to activate Family Members for smooth business operations, grease the palms of Cops to avoid building shutdowns, or steal from others. Managing money is also crucial. Players can “Cook the Books” by hitting public milestones and storing cash in their Safe, making it tax-free and protected from opponents. However, spending this money on board actions requires laundering it at an unfavourable 2:1 ratio, creating a fascinating tension between securing wealth and maintaining liquidity for immediate growth.
Verdict: An Offer You Can’t Refuse
Speakeasy is a stunning accomplishment. Vital Lacerda’s signature interlocking systems and Ian O’Toole’s evocative, thematic art create pure synergy. It’s a game of tough decisions, high-stakes planning, and satisfying explosive turns. Clever card play and strategic worker placement lead to dramatic financial windfalls.
If you enjoy a heavy, satisfying Euro demanding your full attention for two to three hours and offering a true sense of theme-integrated strategy, Speakeasy is not just a contender; it’s the Big Box Game of the Year. Grab your fedora and start making some money.
In the crowded realm of heavy Euro games, a common criticism is the feeling of “multisplayer solitaire”. While you might efficiently build your engine, your opponent’s actions often only impact you by taking a worker placement spot you wanted.
However, Speakeasy, thanks to the brilliant integration of its theme by Vital Lacerda and Ian O’Toole, effortlessly overcomes this criticism. It doesn’t simply ask for efficiency; it demands aggression, combativity and constant awareness of the brewing Mob War.
Speakeasy combines the satisfying intricate engine-building that heavy Euro fans crave with an essential persistent layer of high-stakes interactive conflict. It’s a game for players who want to build their empire and crush the competition standing in their way – a Vicious Euro that offers a welcome departure from the genre’s typically quiet puzzle-solving.
