中文 (台灣)
- 2023 年 12 月 14 日
- Thu
CONTENTS
Interested in discovering some unique Asian games? We stumbled upon this Chinese version of ‘Salad Master’ & ‘Meat Master’ released by Homosapiens Lab (click here for the page). At first glance, it seemed like an educational game. But guess what? It’s more than that!
As they say, ‘You are what you eat.’ Our appearance, health, and actions are all linked to what we eat daily. To become a better version of ourselves, understanding our daily food is key! This highly-discussed board game from Japan, ‘Salad Master,’ it’s not just about playing; it’s about discovering the nutritional content of various foods. Some revelations will blow your mind and make you rethink what you know!
‘Salad Master’ features 60 common fruits and veggies, citing authoritative data from the ‘Japanese Standard Tables of Food Composition.’ It presents the ‘calories, protein, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber‘ content of each, allowing players to broaden their food knowledge while having fun! Beyond accurate information, this game has soothing Japanese-style illustrations. Allowing players to absorb nutritional knowledge about food in a relaxed and enjoyable gaming atmosphere!
The most crucial aspect of any board game? Yep, its gameplay! ‘Salad Master’ shines with its easy-to-learn mechanics—master it in 15 seconds, pick it up in a single round. Yet, it provides opportunities for players to outwit each other, whether playing with friends, family, teachers, or solo—making learning about food nutrition!
How to play 'Salad Master'
🟡 Players: 1-5 players
🟡 Game Duration: 15-20 minutes
🟡 Age: 8 years old and above
🟡 Card Size: 5.7*9
To begin, shuffle all the Food cards with the ingredient side facedown, and deal 3 cards to each player. The front displays the vegetables facing the player, while the back contains information about the food (dietary fiber, calories, protein, carbohydrates) which the player cannot see. However, everyone else’s cards are visible to you as they are placed on the cardholder.
👇 Below is the information you see on other players’ cards.
👇 Summary Card / Objective Card
Subsequent gameplay repeats: When you’re the next starting player, everyone currently holds only two food cards in their hand. You (the lead player) will pick one food card to replenish, while others observe your move, guessing which Objective card you’ll select. You (the lead player) will then choose an Objective card. Other players will sequentially select new food cards.Then, everyone plays their cards to win the round. This cycle repeats each turn until someone collects 3 Objective cards, achieving victory and ending the game!
👇This side will be facing towards you.
Review of 'Salad Master'
First, let’s talk about the game’s playtime. It really takes about 15 minutes, and we can wrap up both ‘Salad Master’ and ‘Meat Master’ within 30 minutes. The rules are super simple – draw a card, make a guess, play a card to finish a round. Plus, you get to check out other people’s cards, adding a bit of interaction. It’s funny because what you thought about high fiber and low calories sometimes turns out to be completely different from reality. (Honestly, where did those assumptions and misconceptions come from, or who knows where I heard them 🤭)
Looking at the card with grapes, I never expected grapes to have less dietary fiber than garlic. Garlic has high calories and carbs, while grapes pack in quite a bit of protein. If you’re a vegetarian into fitness, this game’s data is useful. It helps you find fruits and veggies with higher protein content to include in your diet.
The vegetable and fruit cards have some fascinating information, many of which you might not have tried before. When choosing the Objective and Food cards, you also need to consider your combinations to win the game. Overall, it’s pretty suitable for playing with kids. Adults will enjoy it too, and you’d likely want to invite friends to join in – it’s quite entertaining and the kind of game that makes you want to play it again.
Similar to ‘Salad Master,’ ‘Meat Master’ also includes a collection of 60 types of seafood and meats, allowing you to learn about different meat products from the deck. What’s distinctive here is that Homosapiens Lab incorporated Taiwanese romanization. Do you know how to say ‘lobster,’ ‘shrimp,’ or ‘octopus’ in Taiwanese? (Apologies, even I don’t know that yet 🤣). But in this game, you’ll get to learn! (Don’t worry, ‘Salad Master’ has Taiwanese too). Originally featuring food names in English, this set now includes pronunciations in Mandarin, English, and Taiwanese!
How to play 'Meat Master'
🟡 Players: 1-5 players
🟡 Game Duration: 15-20 minutes
🟡 Suitable Age: 8 years old and above
🟡 Card Size: 5.7*9
Similar to ‘Salad Master,’ each player gets dealt three random meat cards, while the remaining cards form the draw pile. Shuffle and reveal three Objective cards. The starting player selects one Objective card (e.g., ‘the second-highest calorie food,’ ‘the food with the lowest cholesterol’) without seeing the cards’ backs. Players play their chosen card they think will win the Objective card chosen by the starting player. After all players have played their cards, they’re revealed to determine the winner, who claims that card. Win three to win the game!
👇 Backside of the cards. Symbols from top to bottom represent calories, protein, fat, cholesterol.
Review of 'Meat Master'
What struck me the most was realizing fish have quite a bit of protein, marbled beef and beef tongue pack in a lot of calories! According to online data, for calorie burn: an hour of jogging (145 meters/minute) burns about 282 calories, while an hour of brisk walking (6 kilometers/hour) burns around 132 calories. To put it simply, an hour of jogging burns about 300 calories, yet 100 grams of marbled pork has 366 calories. Imagine a hotpot meal with mixed meats surpassing 100 grams — how many hours of jogging would it take to burn that off? No wonder losing weight becomes challenging without a balanced diet plan.
Another observation was that shellfish have significantly lower calories and fat compared to fish and other meats, yet they’re not far behind in protein content. If you’re craving meat but aiming to avoid packing on weight, according to these cards and information, shellfish seems like a pretty good choice.
For those keen on learning about a balanced diet incorporating both fruits and vegetables, ‘Meat Master’ and ‘Salad Master’ make a great pair. They offer a certain level of gameplay which makes them more than just textbooks turned into board games. They’re engaging enough for kids to play repeatedly. It’s a rather unique and interesting approach to gaming with these thematic elements.
👉 BGG Page: Meat Master, Salad Master
👉 More articles: Rubber Paper Scissors Designer Diary: The Transformation of a Drinking Game
💠 Game Designer: Yu Miyazaki
💠 Art Design: TANSAN
💠 Chinese Edition Editor: Chen Zhifan
💠 Published and Copyrighted by: Homosapiens Lab
💠 Food Ingredient Data Source: Japanese Standard Tables of Food Composition, 2020 Edition (8th revision)
💠 Taiwanese Romanization Supervision: 李江却台語文教基金會
