How to Play MicroMacro

In Micro Macro you want to solve cases. To solve these cases you need to find particular things on a giant map of Crime City, yes, the first box is called MicroMacro: Crime City. But there is a ton going on. So the game gives you clues as to where things might be on the map and then you need to identify the ones that go with your case.

The person in charge of the clues then verifies that you found the right thing. If you did, you go to the clue. If not, the other players, since the person who verified now knows where and what it is, continue to look for it. When they find the right thing, you progress to the next bit of story or question for the case. You continue that pattern until you’ve found everything for the case.

Then you can play a new case. Each box of MicroMacro comes with a number of cases that you can play. And you even can get an expansion that combines all the maps into a giant map for a larger experience.

What Doesn’t Work

Firstly, is this a game? I think that is going to be something that people struggle with when they talk about it. Not whether or not it’s fun, though some will maybe not find it fun, we’ll talk about that, but is it a game. There is no real lose condition. The clue reader stops playing possibly if you don’t identify the clue on the map. But it’s more of an activity than a game.

This is also a game where you need to like the idea of Where is Waldo. MicroMacro is a big one of that with some story that ties things together in a given case. But it’s really Where is Waldo, so you know if you like the sound of that or not.

Finally, the map is huge. Now, this is a good thing, because there is a ton of detail. But it’s a bad thing because it’s a table hog of a game. So you need to know that and you need space.

What Works

Firstly, the artwork works in the game. And it’s actually pretty awesome how much detail they fit into the huge map. And it’s black and white, so you can color in elements of cases if you want to create kind of your own map. I put it as a negative with how large the map is, but it’s also a positive because with a giant map, you also get so much detail which is awesome.

It is a game that works well for a good medium group of people. This is not a six person game, but it’s a good 3-4 person game. Why, so everyone can see the map. And that’s a positive in my book. It’s something to keep in your head though, as you play. But it makes it a really good collaborative experience as you search around the map.

It is also pretty fast, even the long cases with ten cards don’t take too long. And the short ones can just fly by. So it’s great for playing a few cases. And when it’s something like Where is Waldo, you generally don’t want to do just one. I also like that it is faster the more you play. Why, because you just see things on the map. You spot someone crushed by a piano in case two, good for you, that is going to come back in a later case. And it’s fun when those elements come back around.

Who is MicroMacro For?

This is a great activity/game for people who maybe don’t play as many board games. Or for those who do, it’s great to play when you want a little filler. To me, this is an end of the night game when you want to play a little more, but learning a new game or thinking a lot isn’t in the cards. So if you play like that in your game group, MicroMacro might be great for it.

All of that said, if you dislike Where is Waldo, MicroMacro is not going to be for you. It’s as simple as that, because that is what the game is. And you need to be fine with that as will the people you play with, otherwise it’ll go over like a lead balloon.

Final Grade on MicroMacro

I enjoy this experience. And I think it’s important to talk about it as an experience. Because it isn’t so much of a game as a cooperative Where is Waldo that tells little stories. But that is a concept that for me is fun. So I enjoy it quite well.

Now, I don’t love it. I don’t think it really has major flaws. It is exactly what it looks like. But it’s one of those things where will I want to play it all the time? The answer is going to be no. But some game nights where it’s maybe three or four total of us, sure, it’s going to be great to pull out and play again with the cases we haven’t done yet. And what’s what it should be, it shouldn’t be the greatest game of all time, but it is something that is a lot of fun.

My Grade: B-

I’m only giving my grade here. No casual or gamer grade. I think this is something that everyone knows if they like or not. So I’m just going to keep it simple and say how much I enjoyed it. And luck or strategy make no sense, this is a game of persistence.

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Top 10 Games I Want To Get My Hands On

10 – The City of Kings

Originally a game that I learned about from Rolling Solo, I think realized it is from a company that I like their stuff, City of Games, such as Isle of Cat and Isle of Cat Explore & Draw. Basically a company I’ll always be paying attention to. This is one that I could order, but it’s not a cheap game, because it’s a big kind of adventure game.

But it’s doing adventure in a different way. While you are still going out, fighting monsters, completing goals and things like that, so much of The City of Kings is about leveling up your character. Much of what you do is in preparation to face off against the big bad guy when they show up. It’s also more contained as well which I like.

9 – The King’s Dilemma

I’ve almost bot The King’s Dilemma from Horrible Guild a number of times. And it’s fairly surprising I haven’t because it’s a legacy game and I love legacy games. But the main reason that I haven’t is I don’t know when I’ll play it. And with it being in stock a lot of the time, it’s one that I plan on picking up when I know I’m ready to play it.

The King’s Dilemma is an interesting sounding game where you take on different factions in a kingdom. And then through the games you open up envelopes, deal with the dilemma’s that come out, voting on what your faction wants in the game. It seems like a big narrative experience and negotiation experience which sounds fun. Also seems like it needs a fairly specific group.

8 – Die of the Dead

I almost backed Die of the Dead when it was on Kickstarter from Radical 8 Games. And now it is hard to find, though I have seen it once used. This game just looked colorful and different which is what drew me to it on Kickstarter. And while it doesn’t look to be that heavy, it does seem to do some different things.

In this game you are trying to be the first player to get your souls back to the land of the living. You load up dice into coffins, roll them and try and place them on this three dimensional stairway. The whole idea of going back up to the land of the living with your souls. I don’t know a ton more about game play, but the table presence is amazing.

7 – MicroMacro: Crime City

From one that is hard to find to one that is easy to find we have MicroMacro: Crime City, and the standalone expansion. Both of those generally are fairly easy to get your hands on. And I’m mainly waiting for a time when I know that I want to play the game.

The basics of the game is a “Where is Waldo” type of scenario. You are looking around a giant map to try and find the specific clues for your case. And as you find some details you open up others which lead you down a path until you find the criminal.

Calling this a game is a bit tricky, but as an activity, it sounds like a lot of fun. Besides wanting to get it when I can play it, the other reason I’ve hesitated is I don’t know if I would play all the cases with it still feeling interesting and unique. If you’ve played it, let me know how it holds up after playing a lot of cases.

6 – Monumental

Another Kickstarter that I wish I had backed, but on Kickstarter it just looked good not amazing. For me, I think that this is a game that probably would work really well. But of course, now it’s hard to find because it has not come to retail.

In Monumental you play over two different areas. The first is a board where you are doing area control of sorts, fighting enemies, things like that. But what really intrigues me about the game is the deck building, a mechanism that I love. And the deck building seems interesting as well because you are playing down cards into a grid and then activating a row or column of cards. That just seem unique way to activate everything.

5 – Star Wars: Rebellion

Star Wars: Rebellion is a game that I’ve played, actually the rest of them are. Rebellion is a very fun two player game that is Star Wars in a box. It offers just such a good experience of the cat and mouse game of the Empire having a strong presence trying to find the rebel base. And the Rebels look to get planets on their side, build up their strength but really weaken the enemy.

There are two reasons that I don’t own this one yet. It is a long game that is two player only. So I feel like it won’t hit the table too often. Also, I know someone who owns it, I play with them. That last reason is definitely the bigger of the two.

4 – Village Rails

One that isn’t out yet, actually a few aren’t quite out yet. But Village Rails from Osprey Games is one I got to demo at Gen Con this year. And this feels like a simpler version and maybe more fun version of Village Green. The idea is similar between the two in what you’re doing.

In Village Rails you are building out rail routes and scoring points for those routes. You can buy and play engines that are going to give you more points as you place them on the routes. But you only have a limited amount of money. And the further something is down collection of engines the more it costs. Plus you are building out this grid of routes which can give you points in other ways as well. It feels like it offers just a bit more freedom in what you are doing.

3 – Asking for Trobils

Another one I played at Gen Con and actually just in my Top 100. Asking for Trobils from Breaking Games is a light and light-hearted worker placement game. Can you mess up your opponents, sure, but the artwork and everything about the game is just means to be fun and it comes through.

I like how fast the turns go in Asking for Trobils. You can go to a good number of spots, but generally you place a ship down, you get a thing and it’s on to the next turn. All the while you are working to get groups of stuff to be able to get Trobils. You might be buying more ships to get more actions, but whenever you want, you can spend your turn to pull you ships back. It’s fast and fun.

2 – Ready Set Bet

Ready Set Bet will be purchased soon. Ready Set Bet, a racing betting game, is coming out soon, in fact I might pick it up this weekend. Another one, actually these last four are, that I played at Gen Con this year. Ready Set Bet is a great experience and I think it’ll work in most groups because it’s a game that breeds excitement.

In Ready Set Bet one person is the caller, this can rotate or there is an app, for a horse race. They are rolling dice, moving the horses on the track. Everyone else, in real time, is betting on the horses. That might seem chaotic, and it is, but it’s chaotic in a good way. You really are just trying to guess right. But there are other bets, like the 4 beating the 7, or all horses being out of the gate, or close finishes, all things you can bet on as well in an attempt to make the most money.

1 – First Rat

And finally we have First Rat. While Ready Set Bet was more of an experience at Gen Con, I think that First Rat is the game that I want to get my hands on the most. And it’s not my normal type of game, yes, it has a great theme with rats building rockets to get to the moon because the moon is made of cheese. But at it’s heart you are pushing up a track, getting resources and trading them in.

But how you do that is really interesting and every different strategy you can have. When I played, I was pushing up my lights, the lights basically make the collection of other resources more powerful. But it meant I was collecting resources slower early on. Other players shot ahead to get resources as quick as possible to complete their rocket parts. The game is thinky but a nice balance of thinky and quick turns for me.

What Is On Your Wish List?

Let me know what some games that might be coming out soon to retail or are already out that you really want to get your hands on? There are so many games out there that it’s hard to keep up, and I think most gamers shouldn’t try and keep up. Looking at my list, I have a few games that are not old but not the newest and hottest games.

And then other games are new and exciting. But the ones that are the newest, those are also the ones that I’ve already tried. And even those, with the exception of Ready Set Bet, I’m fine waiting for the right time to get it. I want Ready Set Bet now because I think it could be a good game night game with that party nature to it. But others, Monumental especially, I’m probably unlikely to pick that one up, unless I find it for a really nice price used. And that’s okay, I don’t need to try every game, even though I’d love to.

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