Game Review: Toledo

By Greg Schloesser
September 6, 2008

Publisher: Kosmos / Mayfair Games
Designer: Martin Wallace
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 60-90 minutes
Rules Language: German/English
Link:

Step back into time to 17th Century Spain, where you will become a member of a famous sword-making family. You will be competing with other families in the forging of renowned Toledo steel, hoping to be the first to present the best swords to the Emperor. You must move through the crowded streets and do business with the various merchants and craftsmen in order to acquire the steel and gems required to forge the swords. Of course, you must also visit the swordsmith in order to forge the weapons, while a stop at one of the taverns will keep you moving along your journey.

Okay … so a game about crafting swords isn’t the most exciting theme I can imagine – but don’t let the theme deter you from playing, as Toledo is actually quite good. It was a pleasant surprise for me as I had not previously heard of the game before playing it back in April 2008 at Alan Moon’s Gathering of Friends. The game was a bit of surprise for most people, as it is much lighter fare than what is normally expected from designer Martin Wallace. There is even a message on the box stating, ”Toledo is a casual, social boardgame.” But again, please don’t let that deter you from giving it a try.

Emerging from the Forge

The board depicts an overview of 17th century Toledo (that’s Spain, not Ohio!). Each turn, a player may play cards to move and possibly transact business, play a business tile to the board, draw new movement cards, or even move back to the starting castle. Each player begins with eight business tiles, and all players usually spend the first several turns filling all of the spaces along the path with these tiles. There are not enough path spaces for players to place all of their tiles, so delaying this process will likely mean that a player will not place as many as his opponents, which is not a favorable situation. Some have suggested that placing business tiles should be part of the set-up, but making it part of the game does give players other strategic options, even if they may not generally be favorable.

Businesses come in four types: steel or gem merchants, swordsmith, and fencing master. Each business can accommodate one or two pawns, and if a third player wishes to transact business there, he must duel one of the current occupants. Depending upon the tile landed upon, a player may acquire steel, gems or dueling tiles, or craft a sword. If a player is conducting business on one of his own tiles, there is no cost to the transaction. If, however, he is transacting business on an opponent’s tile, he must pay that opponent a movement card, the value of which depends upon the level of the path upon which the tile is located. It is certainly more efficient to conduct business on one’s own tiles, but that is not always possible.

Players collect steel and gems in order to craft swords. There are a variety of swords that can be crafted, some requiring just steel, while others require steel and gems. It takes longer to acquire the steel and gems required to craft the more valuable swords, but they are potentially worth more victory points at game end. However, the game ends once a player gets three pawns to the palace at the end of the path, so the race aspect makes targeting only the more valuable swords a risky strategy, as the player may not get full value for them. I’ll explain the scoring a bit later.

Players move along the trail by playing one or more movement cards, but they must all be of the same value. When moving, a player will try to move his pawns to desired locations, often by stringing together a series of like-valued cards. After each card is played, a player may transact business on the tile he lands upon, then continue to move. A player does not automatically replenish his hand of cards, but must use a turn to draw two cards. When at one of the two pre-printed tavern spaces, a player may also discard one card to draw three new cards. The only other method of gaining cards is when an opponent transacts business at one of a player’s tiles, in which case the player gets one card from that player.

Fighting for Space...

When a player wishes to transact business on a tile that is fully occupied, he must duel one of the occupants. Dueling is a simple matter of flipping cards to determine the victor in a “best two-out-of-three” match. Each card depicts a fencing duel graphic, with either the attacker or defender highlighted. Further, the background of the graphic will be one of four colors, three matching the dueling tiles and one neutral. When a card is revealed during a duel, if one player possesses the dueling tile of that color, he wins that round. If neither or both players possess a matching dueling tile, then the graphic is consulted to determine whether the attacker or defender wins that round. Thus, the more dueling tiles a player possesses, the better his odds when dueling.

So how does one acquire dueling tiles? By conducting business on a fencing master tile.  The dueling tiles come in three colors, and a player can choose either one of these tiles or a movement tile. The movement tile allows the player to play one card of a different value when moving. This card, however, must be played at the beginning or end of the sequence of other movement cards played. The movement tile is extremely valuable, as it gives the player much greater flexibility in moving. The danger, however, is keeping it until the end of the game, where it applies a –2 penalty to the player’s final score. The only way to get rid of the tile is to acquire all four tiles, which forces the player to spend much of his time in this task.

As mentioned, the ultimate objective is to collect steel and gems, then have a swordsmith forge these materials into a sword. The more steel and gems required, the more valuable the sword will be. When a player moves one of his pawns to the end of the path and into the palace, he presents a sword to the emperor, placing it underneath his pawn. As soon as one player moves three pawns into the palace, the game ends and players tally the value of the swords, gems and artwork.

...and Comparing Weapons

Swords are worth full value if a pawn that has reached the palace is assigned to it. Otherwise, a sword is worth only half value. This is usually significant, as swords range in value from 2 to 15 points. Any collected art – which can be acquired at the one pre-printed artist space – earns 1–3 victory points, depending upon its printed value. Finally, any leftover gems are worth a half-point apiece. Any remaining steel becomes little more than a paperweight and yields zero victory points. Any ties are resolved in favor of the player who has the most movement cards remaining.

Although Toledo isn’t garnering a lot of positive press, I find much to like here. The game offers players lots of choices, and requires some skill in managing one’s cards. There are various paths to pursue:

• Do you concentrate on crafting swords quickly, sacrificing quality for quantity?
• Do you opt to become a fencing expert so you can dislodge opponents from locations you desire to patronize?
• Do you become an art collector, hoping to grab the valuable works, leaving your opponents with less desirable pieces?
• Do you try to rush for the finish before your opponents can forge many swords?
• Do you risk acquiring the movement tile for greater flexibility, but thus being forced into acquiring the other tiles in order to avoid its end-game penalty?

There have been some complaints leveled against the game. Some claim that the game will become stale after a few plays as the goal and path are the same each game. I don’t know about that. I’ve played probably eight or so times now, and each game feels fresh and exciting. The location of the tiles on the path does force players to alter their style of play, and each player’s individual strategies also force players to revise their own. I’ve also heard complaints that a “forge a sword and race for the finish” strategy can ruin the game. I’ve seen it tried and have seen it successfully countered each time. I don’t think it is a viable strategy with observant opponents. I’m not saying the game will appeal to everyone – especially those desiring deeper fare – but I find it quite entertaining to play.

There is no arguing that Toledo is a bit of a departure for Wallace, who is more well known for the deeper and more strategic titles he usually releases under his Warfrog label. That’s not to say he hasn’t released lighter fare in the past, but he has truly made his name with games offering more depth. Wallace aficionados may bristle at the lighter game play of Toledo, but the game is clearly aimed at a more casual gaming audience. I actually enjoy the game quite a bit and consider myself a big fan of Wallace’s meatier work.

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