Cardboard Corner: Review of Manila

If I tell you the theme of the game is Filipino fruit boats being poled to port, you’d probably hesitate then ask “What else you got?” But that would be to dismiss Manila too quickly. If you and your family are interested in race betting games similar to Camel Up! with an added layer of depth, this is certainly worth a look.

In Manila, 3-5 players (the more the merrier) play the role of bettors, hazarding their money on Filipino fruit boats, and whether they will make it to port safely or capsize. Dice determining the ebb and flow of success, there is a distinct craps feel—placing meeples, collecting on winning bets, and looking at what your bank still holds in terms of possibility. The process repeated multiple times, lady luck wanders around the table, bestowing or withholding to the players’ delight and dismay. With a simple stock market mechanism built into the foundation of the game, it’s the player who balances their risk and losses most effectively that wins.

The game board of Manila features the overhead view of a Filipino jungle canal. Boats laden with commodities enter at the bottom of the board according to first-player preference. Players then take turns placing their meeples as bets—not only on which boat will finish first that round, but also which boats will capsize. Those with successful bets share the booty. There is also an option for players to be pirates, placing highly risky but highly profitable bets on specific spaces. Dice are rolled, the boats move forward based on commodity, bets are won or lost, and the process repeats itself. The success rate of commodities arriving safely at port tracked in a separate table, at the beginning of a round players have the option of spending their hard-earned money to buy stock in the commodity they think will be most successful at the end of the game. When one commodity achieves a certain rate of success, players reveal their stocks, points are counted, and the player with the most points, wins.

With players gathered around the board, shouting encouragement and discouragement for certain boats (the roulette wheel of Manila), and the dice constantly rolling, there is a Vegas feel to Manila. Our family likes Camel Up!, which is a similar but different game, but I daresay Manila generates a hair more excitement. (The only drawback for small children in Manila is the stock mechanism which requires a little bit more brain power to understand and exploit.) With the rules simple and easy to learn, there are truly moments of family fun to be had.

The components of Manila are high quality, and certainly add to the Vegas feel. The plastic coins are among the best I’ve ever seen in a game. The wooden boats and pawns are thick and chunky, and feel good in the hand. And the cardboard and dice are solid, industry standard. The art is basic but functional—nothing fancier needed from the game. The box insert is designed specifically to hold components so they do not slosh around in transport. Physically it’s a great game.

In the end, Manilla delivers what players could hope from a betting game: exciting moments where fortunes are found and lost, the next round offering the same possibility. Each round building in tension as the boats get closer to port, the final couple of dice rolls elicit shouts and groans. The stock mechanism allowing player tactics and influence over the final outcome, overall it’s a very tight package. You don’t hear a lot about Manila today, which is a pity. It’s a family game definitely on par with the likes of Camel Up!.