Maracaibo Digital
reviews and complaints

It would be tempting to give this 4 stars because of the lack of online multiplayer and AI… but, reading the devs responses to other comments that they wanted to build a “solid foundation" first- I have to give them props that they definitely accomplished that goal. This game is built very well! Also, major bonus points for probably the best digital board game tutorial I have ever seen- it was so thorough and easy to follow.

The only thing I will say is that it's a bit disappointing this isn't full screen on the iPhones… I get it with the notch and everything… but that's pretty much expected at this point.

Great job on the look and feel. I love this game and can't wait to keep playing. That said, having Jean use different rules to score and not be playing in the same way isn't great. Also, online multiplayer would be worth a subscription fee, as long as it was reasonable.

Loving this implementation of one of my favorite board games. In this game you are a hired gun on the high seas hire your crew (card tableau) and specializing in a few actions while racing your opponents to the end of the round. Thinky fun! I'm currently just playing the solo mode within the campaign so I can't comment on multiplayer.

With a few tweaks the game will be perfect but even as is it's great to pick up my phone/iPad wherever I am and play a game of Maracaibo. If you have a smaller phone I wouldn't recommend it but it works fine on my old 8 plus.

I like this digital edition of Maracaibo. The imagery and icons are the same as the physical board game. It feels the same as physical. They also simplified combat so that it's clear what options you have and the penalties you might pay or benefits gained, etc.

I play board game apps so that I can play solo against AI. Unfortunately, the only AI in this game is Jean the Solo Mode opponent. Instead of playing against an AI player you're playing a solo mode against Jean who plays by different rules. I find Jean to be pretty difficult to beat. It might just be me but it seems like if you play against Jean the best way to beat them is to quickly navigate to the last space while making some good plays along the way. Each turn Jean gets heaps of rewards usually.

I would much rather play against AI that is following the same rules as me to feel more like a normal multiplayer match.

Otherwise the app is good and is fun to play? It's also a great way to learn the game through the tutorial.

I'm very familiar with the board game. Most of this digital version plays very smoothly (I'm using an iPad mini 6). However, on the last round of my first game, I could not complete my turn. It would not let me draw up to my hand size, and therefore wouldn't advance to Jean's turn. I saved and restarted my turn numerous times, but still the same problem… My guess is my rating will go up if I can continue the game I started. I will say I'm ok without an AI (as others have indicated they desire). Jean is a fun simulation of an opposing player. And this app does make it easier to manage Jean. A digital game against others would be nice however.
EDIT: OK, after I shut the app, it did let me complete the game. There were a few times during the game when Jean couldn't complete his turn, and I had to save a reload the game.
Bottom line: A little buggy, but a nice implementation. Information is pretty easy to find. So, if the bugs were eliminated for me, this would be five stars. Well done overall.

Online multiplayer would be better but this is a really fantastic implementation of a complicated board game. The little tooltips to explain every card and tile are especially wonderful. Really been having a great time with this so far.

(Actually it would also be great to have a turn log so you can see what happened earlier.)

I was initially very frustrated as others were by the lack of online multiplayer and a true AI. But I have nevertheless found myself coming back again and again to play against the automa,Both in standard mode and through the Campaign. While I still desperately hope that they add an AI opponent, the implementation of a great game is still well worth the cost of admission. The main problem with the automa is that its movement rules make for a fast game without the interestingVariation in tempo that is such a core part of these Alexander Pfister games.

Developers take notice. This is the cleanest port to digital I've ever tried for a board game. It strives to be as close to the physical board game experience as possible. It's the boards, the cards and simple menus. AI is the actual solo mode from the physical game. Again, I really feel like they wanted to keep this as close to the physical board game experience as possible and they succeeded. I'm looking forward to any future projects this developer announces.

This is a faithful representation of the board game. I think Maracaibo is one of Alexander Pfister's best games. Though I am not keen on the theme, the mechanics are solid and its a lot of fun. The game functions as an engine building rondel race where you always want just one more turn at the end, which feels like a well balanced design. There are so many different paths to victory and finding how the cards can work together is a treat. I am terrible at beating the automa and would love to see an AI.

The campaign is fine. It tells a reasonable enough story and you can replay the game or play without it. All in it feels like icing on an already delicious cake.

I did run into a bug early on and the developer reached out and was very helpful. I think this is a great experience that is improving all the time!

Maracaibo is a challenging game to fit onto a tablet screen, but the developers did an admirable job.

It is worth noting that there are no AI opponents, other than an the “Automa" rules from the board game. A digital board game without AI opponents is incomplete in my opinion, hence the missing star on my review.

The app description is accurate in terms of it only including an Automa opponent and pass & play (no online multiplayer either)… but frankly, I don't check for those things because I assume they will be present in all board game apps at this point.

This feels like a very solid implementation of the Maracaibo board game. It has a ton of potential, but it is also hurt from various things that simply need polishing.

All actions should be undoable within a single turn. In essence you should be able to restart your turn if desired (or at least make this an option in settings). At the moment the undo seems limited, even within a single turn.
The tutorial would greatly benefit from a back button, so that you can easily step back a screen or two and re-read something.
The game doesn't handle mobile devices properly that have the default system font set to a larger size.
On Apple silicon devices (macOS versus iOS) the game starts is the wrong orientation and can not be rotated, so it is basically unplayable, even though it appears to be running fine.

On the featureside, it would be great if there was support for multiple online players, both realtime via local bluetooth or internet, and a delayed email-style turn taking feature, where oneplayer takes their turn the other player recives a notifcation that it is their turn and then whever they start the app and take their turn, the next player is notified, etc, so that a game can be played as time allows over a few days, or whatever.

It would also be great to see content from the new expansion and any additional promos, etc.

Great reproduction of the board game. The solo mode (AI) is very challenging (after three games I have only been able to beat the “very easy" level just barely). It would be nice if there was a more Player-like AI in addition to (or instead of) the board game automa mode (since that's what software can do differently / more / better than a board game). Another reviewer mentioned inability to Redraw cards after planning and I did notice that miss too…hopefully they fix that.

Another person mentioned the board being stuck to where you cannot view the bottom section. this happens to me about 50 percent of the time if I have an unfinished game- if I exit out and log back in , it fixes it SOMETIMES. The way you can tell is if there is a small snippet of the scroll that appears saying to move your ship 1 to 7 spaces. If I log in and see that little Snippet at the top, I immediately shut out of the game and restart it until it goes away - pretty frustrating but it is not game breaking like another mentioned _. Hopefully this gives insight to fix it- also , if they added multiplayer this would be one of the best board game apps on iOS. Thanks!

Really high quality adaptation of a great game. Even the soundtrack is good. Good tutorial. Jean!

One question, is there any way to make it take up the whole screen on an iPhone 12 mini? Would give significantly more real estate but I'm guessing it's a fair amount of work to add this?

Update: Thanks for your reply! Avoiding the notch issue, there may be a way to just hide the white bar at the bottom of the screen which is making everything smaller. Thanks again for the amazing app!

So the digital implementation of the game is pretty good, however, like many others have noted this game lacks AI opponents. I think many would agree this is a major faux pas in 2022 and the dev response of “ a ton of people want it but it's unlikely at this moment" is also not great. Many would also agree this is an essential feature and the game is incomplete without it.

Having a good pass and play set up is essential, especially for those who want to experience the game at many different player counts (which can be impossible IRL). A solid 2/5 until the game is completed with AI opponents.

So while the gameplay and presentation is passable the screen real estate is poorly managed and the fact that it is pass and play only makes this a colossal waste of money. I would recommend if there was network play but having the option of pass and play or a single automa opponent makes this a failure.

Skip this and buy one of the hundreds of other games that have true multiplayer. Wish I could get a refund.

The automa force player to play a fast game (it voyages 1.5-2 times faster than a rational player) and invest equally in all aspects (it simply gains scaled additional points based on its advantages over player on quest, upgrades, and explore while there's no bonus regarding how far head you get). Such a destroyer of game experience

I have this on an iPhone 12 Pro and it will not scale to the screen consistently. I had to abandon the tutorial but was hoping I could just play a game ( I know how to play the board game ) but it immediately got stuck on the opponent's first turn by having no way of advancing the text to move the game forward.

The way you scroll and scale the screen is terrible, and often leaves icons you need to click in a spot that makes it next to impossible to do so without activating something else.

This game needs serious work and thus far was a waste of money.

Playing on iPhone 13 Pro. I'm trying to learn via tutorial but the camera is at the top of the screen. I can't see the board at all and have absolutely no idea what's going on. Prompts come up but I can't see what's happening. If I can't learn the game I can't play it.

I basically threw away $8

Beautiful representation of the game. HOWEVER, the idea that AI has it been included is inexcusable. I would have never purchased this if I would have realized it. Not your fault. But, if I wanted to play solo, and I absolutely do NOT, I'll use my physical copy. Fix this problem immediately. You will sell millions.

This review is based on experience with this App on iPhone 8 Plus (large screen).

I can't use this app at all. I've never played the board game, so the digital versions use of iconography exclusively made the game very confusing, and the content is so tiny on the phone I honestly don't even know what I'm clicking. I went through a lot of the (lengthy) tutorial and it didn't help much.

I don't recommend unless you've played the game, can squint real good or are using iPad version