Vying for a top spot on the list of board games with truly bizarre themes is Pieland: Attack of the SNACs. Created by designers Alex Collins and Danilo Gallardo, Pieland casts players in the roles of animated pies, yes, pies.
The premise only gets stranger: these heroic pastries venture into the wilds to slay monsters before returning to town to gain experience, skills, and gear. It manages to capture a distinct RPG feel without any actual role-playing required. While the theme sounds as campy as a low-budget Saturday morning cartoon, the gameplay holds together surprisingly well. The art by Ryan Eaid leans into this whimsy perfectly, provided you’re willing to embrace the “mood” of the Pieland universe.
The monster-battling phase utilizes a “Yahtzee-style” mechanic. You roll a handful of dice, and if you’re successful in defeating a foe, you can choose to push your luck and hunt another. Success is frequent, which some players, including at least one of our Guilders, felt was a minor snag in the tension, but since a defeated monster is essentially just one game point, constant winning doesn’t break the balance.
Where players truly influence the game is through timing. If all monsters in a specific locale are eliminated, the game ends on that turn. If you feel confident you’re in the lead, you’ll want to hunt in the locale with the thinnest stack of monster cards. These stacks can deplete quickly, especially in a four-player game where a player might reasonably defeat seven or eight monsters in a single turn.
Once the hunt ends, it’s off to town. Here, Pieland switches gears into a full-on worker placement game. While two players can share a hunting location, the town spots are “first-come, first-served.” However, because you get two placements per turn, you can almost always secure the key spot you need.
Because of this, there isn’t an overwhelming amount of in-game tension. You win your battles and visit your desired shops with high frequency, leaving the core of the game to pure strategy: specifically, how to turn those town visits into the most efficient point-scoring engine.
From publisher Pieland Games (pielandworld.com), this title is weirdly satisfying. While no single mechanic is revolutionary, it takes well-known concepts, pares them down to their basics, and bakes them into a fun, accessible experience. So far in 2026, the new games hitting The Meeple Guild table have all been solid, and despite its campy nature, Pieland stands out as one of the most enjoyable “strange” games we’ve played this year.
About Author
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
Unusual Theme, Yet a Delicacy of a Game
The premise only gets stranger: these heroic pastries venture into the wilds to slay monsters before returning to town to gain experience, skills, and gear. It manages to capture a distinct RPG feel without any actual role-playing required. While the theme sounds as campy as a low-budget Saturday morning cartoon, the gameplay holds together surprisingly well. The art by Ryan Eaid leans into this whimsy perfectly, provided you’re willing to embrace the “mood” of the Pieland universe.
The monster-battling phase utilizes a “Yahtzee-style” mechanic. You roll a handful of dice, and if you’re successful in defeating a foe, you can choose to push your luck and hunt another. Success is frequent, which some players, including at least one of our Guilders, felt was a minor snag in the tension, but since a defeated monster is essentially just one game point, constant winning doesn’t break the balance.
Where players truly influence the game is through timing. If all monsters in a specific locale are eliminated, the game ends on that turn. If you feel confident you’re in the lead, you’ll want to hunt in the locale with the thinnest stack of monster cards. These stacks can deplete quickly, especially in a four-player game where a player might reasonably defeat seven or eight monsters in a single turn.
Once the hunt ends, it’s off to town. Here, Pieland switches gears into a full-on worker placement game. While two players can share a hunting location, the town spots are “first-come, first-served.” However, because you get two placements per turn, you can almost always secure the key spot you need.
Because of this, there isn’t an overwhelming amount of in-game tension. You win your battles and visit your desired shops with high frequency, leaving the core of the game to pure strategy: specifically, how to turn those town visits into the most efficient point-scoring engine.
From publisher Pieland Games (pielandworld.com), this title is weirdly satisfying. While no single mechanic is revolutionary, it takes well-known concepts, pares them down to their basics, and bakes them into a fun, accessible experience. So far in 2026, the new games hitting The Meeple Guild table have all been solid, and despite its campy nature, Pieland stands out as one of the most enjoyable “strange” games we’ve played this year.
About Author
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
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