Pies

Pies Deep Dive

What the Community Thinks About Pies

Reviewers agree on very little about Pies beyond its look. Let's Table It, the channel behind the Thanksgiving food list, admitted that the trick-taking label had put it off before the hosts read the rules. Once they did, the beautiful artwork drew them in, and they concluded the game has enough depth in its trick-taking and tableau building to return to their table. Board Game Co, run by Alex Radcliffe, sits at the opposite end. Radcliffe rated the game 2.5 out of five, and also disclosed that All Play, which publishes Pies and sponsors the Board Game Co channel, could bias a review, though Radcliffe did not think it had colored this score. Board Gaming Ramblings landed between the two. Their hosts found the recipe fulfillment cool and the card stealing a bit mean, and they said the game would not be missed from their shelf. When Board Game Co came back to the game in a later video about its collection, Radcliffe called it okay but not bad, and simply not fun.

Core Mechanics That Define Pies

Trick-Taking Without Taking Tricks

Pies uses a trick-taking frame, but reviewers stress that winning a trick does not score anything. Let's Table It explained that players play cards trying to be the highest number, yet that does not let them keep every card on the table. The player who wins the trick chooses which card to take, and some cards carry abilities that steal from another player or protect a player's own cards. Radcliffe described the same core as closer to an auction. Players bid with the cards they play, and the highest card may claim a lower card if that is the one the player wants. Because the hand is about collecting the right card rather than the most tricks, Radcliffe argued that the game is less about taking tricks than about collecting cards to assemble recipes.

Tableau Building Through Orders

The second mechanic is the one that actually produces points. Let's Table It described orders that a player places into a personal tableau. To fulfill an order, the player spends matching or mixed sets of fruit to make a pie, and the finished order stays face down in a score pile that is counted at the end. Reviewers liked how flexible the orders are. A letter-style order can be filled with any combination of fruit, so a player does not need a specific pair of cherries and rhubarbs. Board Gaming Ramblings also singled out this recipe fulfillment as the part of the game they enjoyed most, even while they were lukewarm on the trick-taking around it.

The Pies Experience

Multiplayer Solitaire With a Sting

Board Game Co's strongest impression was that everyone at the table is playing a private game. One player may want the 15, another the 10, and a third the five, so each person can be satisfied when a trick resolves. The result feels less like a shared contest than a set of parallel puzzles running side by side. Radcliffe said that this solitaire quality is then complicated by the theft. The mood shifts from quiet planning to friction whenever someone takes a card another player was counting on, and Board Game Co described the game as both your own game and chaotic at the same time.

A Friendly Table With a Mean Streak

Board Gaming Ramblings had a lighter reaction to the same tension. The hosts called the game a bit mean because players steal cards from each other and try to do things that are bad for the people around them, yet they said they liked it anyway. Let's Table It framed the mood as a promise players make before sitting down. Taking cards from one another is part of the game, so a group that will not tolerate that kind of interaction should choose something else. The experience, in other words, rewards players who enjoy a little table talk about who just cost them a pie.

What Makes Pies Stand Out

Artwork That Draws Players In

Let's Table It said the artwork was the first thing that caught its attention. The hosts called it beautiful and said it was the detail that pulled them toward the rulebook in the first place. For a card game built around a trick-taking frame that many players find familiar, that visual hook helps Pies feel distinct on the shelf and at the table.

Plums and the Last-Player Advantage

Let's Table It highlighted the plum pile as a source of strategic depth. Whoever plays last in a trick gets a free card from the plum pile, so the player who has the least to gain from a trick can still come out ahead. Board Game Co called the plums wild and very helpful, while noting that the player using one must play the lowest card. Let's Table It argued that plums are not weak cards because they are just as useful as any other fruit when completing an order, and that going last can be advantageous for exactly that reason.

Potential Drawbacks

Take-That Interaction

The most common criticism concerns the card theft. Board Game Co said the interaction feels annoying and fiddly, because the players are each doing their own thing while still being pushed around by the others. Radcliffe was clear about not enjoying take-that mechanisms unless they are handled with care, and felt Pies did not manage that balance. Players who prefer a calmer table may find the sting harder to accept than the reviewers who liked it.

Familiar Trick-Taking Territory

Let's Table It admitted that trick-taking games can feel very similar, and that the genre has been overworked. Board Game Co reached a related conclusion from the other direction. Radcliffe said the game is not the easiest trick-taker to get into, and that it is not as rewarding as the better trick-taking games that use stronger point-scoring combinations. In a later video, Radcliffe repeated that there are a million better trick-taking games out there, which suggests the game's place in the genre is the main hurdle for critics.

If You Enjoy Pies

Board Gaming Ramblings said they prefer Mori to Pies. Their praise for that trick-taker centered on a clever design where the cards most likely to win a trick carry negative points, while the lower values carry positive points. Players who enjoy Pies's trick-based interaction and its push-and-pull around collecting cards will find a similar pleasure in Mori, where a player must decide whether winning a particular trick is worth the cost. The hosts also compared their play of Mori to Tango, the two-player trick-taker they often bring to the table. Players who are drawn to Pies for its recipe fulfillment will not find the same tableau focus in either game, so these picks are best suited to fans of the trick-taking side of the design.