Review - Taste Of Poland (2015) - Bomba Games

Being of Polish heritage, when I saw this game show up at Essen last year, I thought, "This would be an interesting game to try..." Lo and behold, they came out with an english language version! Also, I would like to add, prior to the review, I feel Polish shame, because I have eaten zero of these items. Pirogi, Golumpki and Chrusciki did not make the cut.

The Blurb

“Taste of Poland” is a culinary trip around Poland. We evoke tastes characteristic and unique to each region of the country. In this game, each of you will try to make the most meals by collecting the ingredients needed for their preparation. The player with the highest number of taste points becomes the winner and earns the title of the biggest foodie.

The game consist of a series of rounds in which players take turns carrying out two phases in a certain order. Beginning with the active player, each player plays his or her round. After the round of the active player, the person to the left of the active player becomes the new active player.

Each round consists of 2 phases.  During the phase of the active player, he plays a dish card and draws new cards from appropriate decks.  The remaining players (who begin at the same time as the phase of the active player) each have the opportunity to prepare the dish played by the active player.


The game ends following the turn of the active player in which the last card is drawn from the face-down deck. The remaining inactive players get one final chance to prepare the dish depicted on the card played in this round by the active player (provided that they have the necessary ingredients at their disposal). To calculate the final score, each player adds up the Taste Points from the dish cards (prepared dishes) collected in their score pile. Additionally, players receive one Taste Point for each full meal consisting of 3 different types of dishes.

The Gist

Get focused by watching an episode of Poland on a Plate and play this fast paced cooking game!

The Play

For a 2-player version of this game, in turn order, a player will put down a card and try to have their opponent make the dish, then the second player will do the same. After each player goes, a card is drawn randomly and both players race to make that dish and score the points. With 3 or more players, every round is a frantic race to make the recipe.

Tyler was up 4-0 early, making Jam Dumplings & Masurian Fish Soup. In phase three (which we referred to as the free-for-all round), Ty made Silesian Black Sausage and went up 7-0. I finally got on the board for 1 point with Square Noodles. About halfway through the game, Ty was shellacking me pretty badly 18-8. I managed to cut the gap to 18-11, but then he pulled away and beat me 34-25.

The Bits

Dad:

"The card quality is very good. Thin, but not too thin. The manual was pretty straightforward and we had no problem picking it up right away.  The actual pictures of the dishes make me want to eat a bunch of them.  Here are some of my favorites!"



    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ty:

 "The cookies look delicious!"

The Good, the Bad and the Rating

Tyler is just way too fast for me in that free-for-all round. There is almost no way I can ever see beating him at this game when we play it as a two-player game.

Dad:

"This game is quick and light. The two-player version has interesting choices, because if you need cards in your hand, you have to play higher point value cards which can potentially give someone else more victory points. To me, it's a much better version of Lord Of The Fries."
4/5

Ty:

"The game is good. I like the mechanic of the game where you have to be faster than your opponents. I don't think there is much food in the game I would actually eat"
3/5