GeekInsight
United States
La Mirada
California
Giant Fire Breathing Robot
gfbrobot.com
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Piece o’ Cake, published by Rio Grande Games, is equal parts light diversion and intriguing puzzle. This game is simple enough to be taught in five minutes, played in twenty, and easily accessible to even very young children. The box says ages eight and up, but I’d be comfortable playing this with a first grader. On the other hand, there is a subtly complex puzzle mechanic in the way each player chooses to divide his pie. In my view, this is an excellent light game, and one of the best games to play with young children.
The Basics. Piece o’ Cake operates on the rule that has served up equitable cake portions for generations - one person cuts, the other chooses his slice first. If you can do that, you’re ready to play Piece o’ Cake. Come to think of it, though, the game really centers around slices of various kinds of pie, so it should be called "Slice o’ Pie." But, maybe that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
Piece o’ Cake comes with fifty-seven tiles each representing a slice of pie. The tiles are gathered into five face down stacks of eleven and the remaining two tiles (chosen at random) aren’t used. Then, one player grabs a stack and deals out a pie of eleven slices. It is now his turn to cut the pie.
You can cut the pie into as many pieces (each piece with one or more individual slices) as you want - up to the number of players. Then, starting with the player to the cutter’s left, each player picks one of the pieces. So the cutter picks last.
When a player grabs his piece, he can immediately eat any slices he wants and save the rest. Any slices that he eats are worth a small number of points equal to the amount of whipped cream dollops on them. Alternatively, they can be saved for, as my group termed it, leftovers. Whoever has the most leftovers of each particular pie gets bonus points equal to the total number of slices of that pie. So, for example, there are eleven individual slices of chocolate pie. If I had five slices and the next player had only four, (and the remaining two had been eaten for whip cream points), then I would get eleven points for having the most, and the player with four would get nothing. So it’s good to save if you have the most, but if not, you’re better off eating the slices for points.
Then, it’s the next player’s turn to cut up the next pie. Play proceeds with each player taking a turn to cut up the pie. While on the surface, it seems to be a rather simple game, there is a deeper level of strategy present. The cutter must determine what cuts will help his opponents least. If you know that two other players are fighting for most of a pie, and some of its slices appear on the pie you are cutting, it might be best to separate the pieces so that they continue to fight. Alternatively, there are times when it might be better to put the slices together (if possible) so that your opponent will choose it and leave you a larger piece with more slices.
In addition, the players must constantly evaluate when they should be eating slices and when they should be saving. Ideally, you’ll only have one slice more of a given pie than your opponents. Any less and you lose points. Any more, and you could have eaten the excess for points. So there’s a tension there and you never know what the next pie might bring.
Components: 4 of 5. The game consists of fifty-seven pie slices. The pies are on thick stock allowing them to be handled, shuffled, and bandied about. I would not hesitate playing with young children who would abuse and destroy lesser games. Also, it fits snugly into a well designed box so that the tiles don’t fall everywhere. The game is highly portable and easily played in most locations.
Strategy/Luck Balance: 3 of 5. The game’s description seems simple. And the pie slices come out in a random order which limits strategic options. But the ability of the cutter to designate out the pieces of pie brings a huge level of decision making that impacts the game. While it won’t bring the in-depth brain burning of a Power Grid, it does present a highly satisfying puzzle-like challenge element.
Mechanics: 4.5 of 5. The game plays flawlessly. And, because of the ease of teaching the game, it’s quick to get to the table with new players. It’s also the kind of game that you can say, "Watch for a turn and then you’ll get it." So it should be easy for even nongamers to pick up. My one minor quibble is with the scoring. With five players, it can be a bit of a burden to go pie by pie for eight different varieties, figure out who has the most of each, and tally those scores without a pen and paper to write things down.
Replayability: 3.5 of 5. Piece o’ Cake is never the same game twice. The pies are placed down randomly, so you’ll be faced with a different makeup each time. Two potential slices are randomly taken out each time as well, which adds an element of uncertainty as to how many of a given pie type might be left. Plus, each player will cut the pies differently adding additional and new challenges. That said, this game is best used for filler or when waiting for additional members of the group to arrive. With its short play time, it doesn’t provide the sustained engagement that heavier games do.
Spite: 1.5 of 5. Spite is relatively low, but present. After all, as the cutter, it is best to figure out how to least benefit your opponents. And, as the person selecting pieces, it may behoove you to take the piece that would have been even better for someone else. That said, spite is clearly not the focus of the game. And, while possible to spite your neighbor, each player is generally more concerned with collecting his own slices than interfering with the collections of others.
Overall: 4 of 5. Taken as a light game with a short play time, Piece o’ Cake is fantastic. I very much enjoyed cutting up the pies and looking over the potential slices that I thought my fellow players would take. Though it doesn’t provide the strategic depth of some games (nor is it meant to), this light diversion is entertaining, worthwhile, and enjoyable each and every time we play. I would also have no qualms playing this with kids. If you have a youngling that needs to learn him (or her) some board games, I would definitely go with this. Easy to teach and still fun for you.
*A special thanks to Rio Grande Games for providing a review copy of Piece o’ Cake.
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William Crispin
United States
Wilmington
Massachusetts
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Like Can't Stop this is a game distilled to a single mechanism. So the game lives or dies on how well that mechanism works. I think it works well here and it's simplicity is nicely balanced by the short length of the games. It just does not overstay its welcome. The people I can see not enjoying it are individuals who prefer games with multiple paths to victory that can be explored.
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Evgeni L
United States
Beaverton
Oregon
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wwscrispin wrote: Like Can't Stop this is a game distilled to a single mechanism. So the game lives or dies on how well that mechanism works. I think it works well here and it's simplicity is nicely balanced by the short length of the games. It just does not overstay its welcome. The people I can see not enjoying it are individuals who prefer games with multiple paths to victory that can be explored.
It's a quick filler, it is supposed to be simple, that's just how fillers go. Most people I know prefer different kinds of games for different situations. Fillers have their time and place.
By the way, even Piece o' Cake has at least 2 paths to victory - eat a lot or collect a lot 
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Jeffrey Allers
Germany
Berlin
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MyParadox wrote: My one minor quibble is with the scoring. With five players, it can be a bit of a burden to go pie by pie for eight different varieties, figure out who has the most of each, and tally those scores without a pen and paper to write things down.
I'm glad you enjoyed the game, and thanks for the review!
A tip on how to make scoring easier:
At the end of the game, before scoring, simply discard every group of slices that do not earn a majority. Then each player can easily add his/her majority points together. After that, he/she flips over his/her "eaten" pieces to add the whipped cream points, one at a time, to the majority points. That's easy to do without a pen and paper!
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GeekInsight
United States
La Mirada
California
Giant Fire Breathing Robot
gfbrobot.com
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jeffinberlin wrote: A tip on how to make scoring easier:
At the end of the game, before scoring, simply discard every group of slices that do not earn a majority. Then each player can easily add his/her majority points together. After that, he/she flips over his/her "eaten" pieces to add the whipped cream points, one at a time, to the majority points. That's easy to do without a pen and paper!
Yep. I don't know why that easier method didn't occur to me. :D
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Jeffrey Allers
Germany
Berlin
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MyParadox wrote: jeffinberlin wrote: A tip on how to make scoring easier:
At the end of the game, before scoring, simply discard every group of slices that do not earn a majority. Then each player can easily add his/her majority points together. After that, he/she flips over his/her "eaten" pieces to add the whipped cream points, one at a time, to the majority points. That's easy to do without a pen and paper! Yep. I don't know why that easier method didn't occur to me. 
To be honest, it took me a few games to figure out the best way to add up the points, too!
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