Speakeasy

A five-hour learning game sounds like a warning label, but Speakeasy has the rare kind of weight that makes us lean in instead of bounce. I’m Clay, and I’m joined by Mike from Meeple That Loses on Instagram to talk through Vital Lacerda’s Speakeasy board game and why it’s hitting so hard for fans of heavy eurogames, worker placement, and deep “efficiency puzzle” planning.

We dig into what makes the theme actually work: Prohibition-era Manhattan, building distilleries, running rum across the city, and turning deliveries into real momentum on your player board. Mike explains how Lacerda’s signature cascading turns show up here, plus the constant pressure of police heat and mob wars that can punish sloppy defense. If you’ve ever wondered what justifies a long, complex strategy game, this chat gets specific about the mechanisms that create tension, pacing, and payoff.

We also talk practical reality: ideal player count for newcomers, why pre-watch prep helps, and why the player aids matter more than you’d think in a rules-dense game. Then we zoom out to compare Speakeasy to other Vital Lacerda titles, including which games make the best stepping stones before you commit.

If you’re curious about Speakeasy, Vital Lacerda games, or the best thematic heavy board games to try at a convention, hit play. Subscribe, share this with your heaviest-game friend, and leave a review telling us which big game is next on your bucket list.

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome to the Operation Game Night Podcast. I am still your host, Clay. Still waiting for my buddy Travis to return or move to Colorado and do all his things. But in the meantime, we are fortunate enough to have some of our favorite gamers join us to talk about the games they've been playing. And tonight we have Mike from the Meeple That Loses on Instagram here. And he's going to be talking to us about a hot and heavy new game called Speakeasy. Mike, how are you doing tonight?

SPEAKER_01 0:48

I'm good. I wasn't sure what if we were going to end up talking about speakeasy and not Agent Avenue.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah, you never know what the hot and heavy is.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yeah.

Speakeasy Theme And Core Hook

SPEAKER_00 1:00

So tell me about your experience with speakeasy. Like, how much have you played this game? Like, what's what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Have you ever played a Lacerta game at all?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

No.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

No. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Oh, that's not true. I have played what's he made like one baby's first Lacerta game.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Uh uh Bot Factory.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Bot Factory. I played Bot Factory.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Perfect. Um, so uh with I I love Bot Factory, it's one of not top 50 games, we'll say. But anyway, a lot of Laserda games are are very heavy. And um with Laserda games, they're usually very thematic. And I think Speakeasy is one of the most thematic games I've ever played. But in Speakeasy, uh it's basically you're in Manhattan, it's 1920s, and prohibitions going on. And the whole theme of the game is you're trying to avoid police uh closing down your your your speakeasies and casinos and clubs. Uh you're trying to win mob wars with other famous mobsters that are out there, and sometimes you even you know pay them a little money under the table uh to become allies with them. Um and then you spend most of the game rum running uh throughout Manhattan, uh making uh rum or distilling liquor, stealing it from the harbor, uh from actual rum runners, and then taking it to your casinos, uh, and earning money both in your your your pocket chains and also you know money that you may have to launder in the in throughout the game to use. Um but that's really the where the theme comes. Um I'm not gonna go real in depth with it because there's so many uh I've heard many times people say Lacerda has uh makes jokes about it. You really only you you get two choices each round, and that's all you can do. Uh, but everything you do in a Lacerta game usually has that cascading effect of a lot of things going on. Um, but really what you're doing in here um is you're trying to develop your your mob organization um throughout Manhattan. Uh you have a very uh large board in the middle that has like the harbor and um uh downtown, uptown, central uh Manhattan. Um and I'm sure you'll pop up with a picture of it there. Um, and you guys are doing actions at the top of the board with different locations where you send your uh capos, your your bosses, out to make connections with people, and that's where you get to choose the actions you do, like building uh distillery, building a casino, um uh robbing the rum runners at the docks that are our circling around that board there, uh, and then fulfilling contracts. Um it is um trying to minimize this, I guess. But no, no, no, no, no. I want to know everyone give me every

Actions Cascades And Mob Wars

SPEAKER_01 4:10

rule. I want to know them all. Okay, so three hours from now will be good. Um, so on your turn, you're you're going to these locations. Um, and there's a primary action that you're gonna do, um, and then a secondary action. Uh, and then then there's like three or four free actions that you can do each turn. Um, and then uh, so that's what they I you can't really see because our heads are cutting off there, but uh in that space behind our heads, that's where all the locations are. Um that we yeah, there we go. Um, so you have I think it's seven locations. Um, so you take your turns going around, spending money, um, building casinos, uh, and delivering alcohol, basically. Um, and then at the end of each round, you have the I'm gonna slaughter the name of this, uh, the Luciano phase. Um, and that's where you are doing things, and it's basically admin, but there's also mob wars, um, where you have to have a certain amount of strength to take out like um Al Capone for lack of it. I know that's not one of them, but he'll come up on the board at some point, and he wants to take over his area, that area because, well, he's the big boss. Um, and uh, so you could lose everything you did if you're not strong enough to defend it from him by your own strength and using goons or uh your allies by paying off other uh big name mobsters. Um, and that really can change the board dynamic every time. Um and so you keep doing that round after round. I think it's only four rounds. Um, and each round you kind of lose your cappos and you have less access, like the first round, you start with four and then three, and then three, and then one, I think it is. Um it's basically wingspan then. Kinda, yeah, in that sense. Yes. The tallest certain basically came out with super advanced wingspan, uh, with mobsters. Um but no, um, so yeah, you're you're constantly having to uh it's an efficiency puzzle. You're just you're having to find a way to do the most with the least. Um that's the genetic the very general how the gameplay works. Um there are a lot of cool things in here compared to his other games um that I absolutely love. It's my I think it's my favorite Lacerta game at this point.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

I've heard people saying that. What what other ones have you played?

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Um, so I've played um my other the one that this knocked out of it was Escape Plan, which is basically an 80s action uh action heist bank heist film uh in a board game. Uh that is the other one I think that is super thramatic. Uh, but there's also the Galarist, which is about selling art and curating an exhibit, um that which they did similar to Bot Factory. They have House of Fado, which is a simplified streamlined version of that. Uh Vinos is one of my favorite mechanics versions of his games. It's an economic game, uh, all about wine. It's like advanced viticulture. Um, and then uh uh there's Lisboa, Kanban EV on Mars, uh Weather Machine, which is a beautiful game, but probably the coolest and worst experience I've ever had uh in a board game. Uh I you I think you have to be unique um to enjoy that game. Uh Riley actually, at this point, because of that game, uh thinks the tall Lacerda likes to be an asshole. Um, she's said that many times. Um, and it has struggled to get her to sometimes play a Lacerda game because of weather machine. Um, very cool theme, very beautiful board, way complicated. I think it's way harder than this one is. Um, and then I think I'm forgetting one that I've played of his, but this is by far the best.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

That's a lot of Lacertas to have

How It Compares To Other Lacerda

SPEAKER_00 8:25

played.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

I didn't know you were like that, Mike. I thought I thought you were like me. You know, I thought you were one of us, and now I know you're a Lacerta man.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Um, I I am that in the beginning of my board gaming journey, it went like literally Cascadia, tapestry, straight into Lacerta. Uh, and then I've settled back down towards the the Stonemeyer, uh, Faya Swamp, like those level games. So uh I do not get into this as much anymore. Uh, but this one uh is definitely one. I already have plans to get it back to the table in about a week.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Oh wow. How long did it take you to play?

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Uh game one was a learning game with everybody. Uh, we played a four-game uh four-player game. No one has ever played it before. Some people have never even played a Lacerda game. It was at a one-day board game convention. Um, and that took about five hours from uh teach to finishing. There were some AP players involved. Um, but I will say also with this, and in any game I've ever played, they put the best possible player aid in this game that I've ever seen. Almost everything is broken down perfectly for you. There's a few symbols, but I never really had to go back to the rule book. I could find usually what I needed in that player aid. It's like a multi-page one, but it was so good. Uh, and they gave you one for everybody, so it wasn't like you were passing it around.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Um that's a big win if you don't have to get in the rule book for a game like this.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Yeah, uh, and given that we all can we agreed, we all watched a video. I read the rule books, um, and then those player aids. But yeah, it was about five hours, uh, with a few breaks, bathroom and stuff, because you at that point you have to stop.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Um and everybody everybody was videoed and prepped for this, and it took five hours.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Yeah, with this kind of thing, you kind of have to. Um just so you go into it and you everyone has a base idea of how to play. Um, and that really that teach, when I say teach, they it was more like everyone was looking at the board, matching things up, being like this is what's uh where where the city tiles go, this is the locations. Um, it was really just getting acquainted with the physical board. Um, because there is a lot on there. I mean, you have a ton of locations and sp uh information on the board.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

So you're saying at its core, on your turn, it's a worker placement game?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Yeah. Uh well, yeah, it's a worker placement game. Um, but the only part that's really worker placement is on the bottom of the screen. The there's the seven spots there. That's literally the only worker placement part of the board. Everything else is a map or uh or a place to buy uh rum or the side that's closest to our

Playtime Learning Curve And Player Aids

SPEAKER_01 11:30

heads, those are all the gangsters that have shown up in the game so far. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

So what makes one like a game like this? Like, is it the feeling of being clever and solving the puzzle, or do you like you said it's the most thematic game? Like, do you really feel the theme and you're like, oh my god, I love that I'm selling this rum over here and there? I mean, what just what justifies five hours of calculating?

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Um I think most games, when themes involve, especially heavy games, you the designer usually has to find a way to tie what you're doing to the mechanic that you're playing. Uh, for instance, uh you you one round you put out a uh distillery on the map in in by Central Park. Um, and now you can take actions to to produce and deliver rum. So you're taking those actions. So then you also have pick up and deliver, and with that, you're picking up by your distillery, and then you're crossing uh all the little suburbs to get all the way downtown to deliver the rum to your establishments. So it's really just you it's an imagination thing, I think, in the end, because you're the mechanic matches what the theme is doing, and I think that really plays into it. And uh with these types of games, usually like you go to the restaurant and you send your capos to make a deal. Um, the restaurant is not this action, actually. Um, but you you go to the restaurant, you make deals with people, and that allows you to do certain things, like uh setting up to rob the docks. Um, so it's really just it's uh creating that imagery in your head that ties to the mechanics. Uh, but in the end, like I really game is very procedural. Um, so you kind of just have to let yourself believe what you're doing, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Do you think this is do you think I could enjoy this? Like, what would be your pitch to me to say, you know what? I know you're uncomfortable with long games, especially long games that rely on complexity to like generate that length and experience. Like how well, how would you pitch it to me? Like, this is worth trying.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Uh, well, first off, for you, it would definitely be a two-player game. Uh, okay. Yeah, because that's the other part that comes with it, is there's a lot going on to do your first little certa game at four. Um, you would probably bang your head on the table. Um, and that's even with prep work. Um, so that would be it. And I I honestly I would just when I taught you the game, because I would personally want to teach you the game, I would exploit it in, like I said, using

Why The Theme Works At The Table

SPEAKER_01 14:35

the theme to explain the mechanic that you're doing or the action you're doing, so that when you're doing it, you can you make that mental mind meld of I'm delivering my rum so I can get money and put it in my vault. Um, like that's the only way to make this for a newcomer who doesn't just like efficiency puzzles. You'd have to explain it in a way that the theme comes through.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Does it feel like you're really building over the course of the game?

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Like that map gets crazy. Um, so you're getting these, and they're very, very well detailed um meeple buildings. Um, so when you start filling it up, you can't see it here. There are like skyscrapers and stuff, so your your buildings are really filling up the board. Um, it almost I don't want to say like a choir, but like you you you'll have in some sections four or five of those buildings, and the police and your goons all hanging out there. Um it I think it gets pretty thematic.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

I guess I'm kind of loving those little trucks.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah, the trucks are green. Um what those are the production the Eagle Griffin did with this one and um with the Tallaserta and Eno Tool art, like is so cool, and it really does. It really creates a very pleasing aesthetic on the table. Uh, very cool presence. Um, but also with that, sorry, the production, if you look at the player boards, um this is one of the things, like production-wise, it's a dual-layered board.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Um, and no, we're searching for a player board. Where oh, where would a player board be? As Travis would say, this makes for good radio.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

That was kind of yeah, that's kind of it. You you can kind of see it there, but on there you also have a lot of tracks. Um, and you see the four, there's four chairs in the middle of your living room or your office in your speakeasy, and that's where your capos sit. So you have your capos sit there, and it's like you're having your meeting uh there, and then you have all the tracks there that are doing things to strengthen it, like how much liquor you can produce, how much you can deliver, how strong your your mafia family is. Um, but on the top where you can't really see, well, you kind of can, there's like this orange square um through windows and picture frames. There are cards you're gonna get that are gonna increase your uh abilities through the game, and it's a dual layer and it slides in there, so it looks like a picture frame, uh, or uh there's a doorway over to the one of the sides, and it's like you're looking into the club where people are dancing. Um, but as you change those out, it really changes how the board looks, uh, or your player board looks. Uh, the production quality on this is amazing. Um, and that's a selling point a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

That's a that's a

Production Value Price And Onramp Games

SPEAKER_00 17:35

big selling point for me. I love uh I love a game that looks hot to trot on the table. So yeah, yeah. How much does run you?

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Uh I think 130. 130, okay, something like that. Um no, I wouldn't jump into this one first, to be honest with you. It would be my favorite to teach someone, but escape plan uh would be or bot factory, house of photo, um, and then like escape plan, those are where I would start, and then jump into this. It kind of gives you like stepping stones into it. Um, but I think everyone should try this at least once. If you're at a con, you see it, um, and you're you're like if you fight any like midweight game, I don't think the jump is that crazy. It is crazy, but not that crazy.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Okay, yeah. I'm I will I want to do it. Like it's it's on my bucket list, but I definitely want to do it with somebody like yourself, yeah. Who who's you know been around the block, he's been there with Vital a time or two, and uh can and kind of ease me into it. But yeah, you I I mean it sounds cool, the theme's awesome, it definitely looks beautiful, yeah. And from what you described, yeah, it sounds like a fun time.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

This is also not a game you start at 10 o'clock at night, like our tapestry game. Um, because that this would probably be like a two in the morning endpoint.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Holy cow, yeah, that was wild. Yeah, but this is a first thing in the morning. You got your call. Oh, yeah, and that's what we did. Yeah. No, I dig it. Um, oh man. Well, thank you for coming on and talking about this. Is there anything else you want to shout out about this game?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Uh I can't wait for his next one, the Great Library, because I feel like that's gonna be a similar themed game. Um, so yeah, that that's about the no, this game is wonderful. Uh, it's probably in my top 10 right now. I just did a whole I did a whole ranking read uh the other day, and the this is definitely top 10. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

That's awesome. Well, I'm glad that you're playing the big games so that we can get generate so people on this podcast are sick of hearing

Kenizia Detour And Final Wrap

SPEAKER_00 20:00

about the oldest Reiner Kenizia games that have ever been played. So now you guys have the content you've been looking for.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

I love the Kenitsia stuff. You I have more Kenitsia games than anything now because of you.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's a rabbit hole. If I see his name on a box, I'm gonna get it. And like it's just almost just an instant buy. Yep. And at this point, I'm just like collecting them, and I know that I can rely on them to always be they're solid. Easy to get out, yeah. Easy to get out, and they're solid, and that's that's a lot of my gaming.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

So maybe I need to pop out Blue Lagoon this week, too. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Have you played through the desert?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Oh, yeah, I have that too.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Okay, all right. I didn't know. Uh, we'll talk offline. Sorry, I've got we got sidetracked the talister, speak easy, kinesia.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

That's the match, that's the matchup we need. Kinesia Lasterta game.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Let's get a co-design. All right. For Operation Game Night, I have been Clay. He has been Mike from the Meeple That Loses on Instagram. Check him out. He's playing all the good games, and we are out of here.