It’s been a long time since I’ve written a gaming rant, so here we go …
Last Wednesday, I played Martin Wallace’s Toledo for the first time in five years. Back in the day I reviewed it as an entirely adequate family game, but it didn’t thrill me. Now that I’ve played it again half-a-decade later, I think I can better explain why.
For me, Toledo’s main problem is that it depends on its players dutifully storing away cards, like a squirrel planning for winter. Sure, you could play your cards fast and furious, but that’s a recipe for losing. That’s because card play in Toledo stacks: you’re allowed to play as many cards as you like during a turn, provided that they all have the same value.
In other words, like most eurogames Toledo is ruled by the tyranny of efficiency: you have to figure out how to eke out the most efficient plays, to save a fraction of a turn here or a fraction of a resource there. Ultimately, those little efficiencies add up, and the player who has fractioned the most wins.