Pirates

Game description from the publisher:

Build a pirate empire in the uncharted Plunder Islands of the Cairribbi— er, Carebbe— er, near the Gulf of Mexico! Seize your destiny of buccaneerrific awesomeness, and gather hordes of pirates, hoards of doubloons, ever greater infamy, and (of course) ever more treasure!

Dark Seas is a dicey island-building game. Each player plots out his own plundering route, filling its ports with docks, hideouts, and shady sea-faring characters. Players sail their ships around their islands, building their reputation by recruiting pirates, gathering doubloons, and acquiring treasure and infamy. Whoever amasses the greatest reputation wins!

Even for the mightiest pirates there comes a time when they must retire from their lives of invading and plunder — but what's coming afterward? Well, on the five peninsulas of Grog Island, they can invest their loot in rock-solid businesses, such as peg-leg shops, carpentries for figureheads, workshops for voodoo dolls, or the infamous "Grog Hole" pub.

The core of Grog Island is its unique auction mechanism, which uses five colored dice. The players use these dice and the pips on them to create and raise bids. While the winner of an auction can claim buildings on certain peninsulas, the players who have passed are also rewarded: Not only do they receive goods like grog bottles or treasure maps but they also visit merchant ships where they can trade these goods for money, parrots or treasure chests. The auction mechanism of Grog Island makes for tactical and interesting gameplay as in certain moments, passing can be almost as rewarding as winning an auction. Finding the right balance between bidding and backing out is the key to winning.

The game ends as soon as one player has claimed a certain number of buildings, then all players score the secret goal cards they received both at the start of and during the game. These cards may give points for majorities on peninsulas as well as for claiming certain types of buildings or collecting certain goods. The player with the most points wins.

Description of the game from Ravensburger (Translated by W. Eric Martin):

The action game with lots of navigation, working cannons, and a gigantic cloth game mat! Are you ready to take to the high seas as courageous pirates fighting against one another? Then hoist the sails, raise the anchors, and take off to adventure! Who will best steer his ship with skill over the seas? Who will aim, shoot and score with flair? And who at the end will with a little luck bring the most valuable treasures back to the harbor? In this game, you can show who's the real king of the sea.

Contents

1 gameboard (1m x 1.6m)
2 pirate ships (each with 1 figurehead, 1 steering wheel, 1 front mast with sail and mast basket, 1 main mast with 2 sails, 1 pirate flag, 1 lantern, and 1 rear trapdoor)
3 cannons
3 cannonballs (= arrows)
4 treasure trunks
1 tower with 1 tower flag and 2 doors
1 dial with spinner
2 provision sacks
2 rum barrels
18 record cards
10 order cards
6 gold coins (3 ea. of sea serpents and sharks)
1 construction instructions
1 game instructions

Note: This game is available by request only and requires having a membership and one of the back rooms reserved to play.
See game associate for details.

Come aboard and sail to Pirate's Cove... the legendary hideaway of thieving pirates and cutthroat buccaneers. The tales of those legendary pirates of old who've fought and survived these mysterious waters still haunt all those who yearn for a life at sea. Armed with a secret map and starting with a modestly outfitted sloop salvaged from last winter's storm, you set sail to Pirate's Cove - your eyes filled with visions of treasure and fame, your lungs filled with the salty air of the High Seas.

Your objective: to battle for the rights to plunder and become the most famed and feared Pirate the world has ever seen. To do so, you will need to navigate shrewdly, fight recklessly and pillage mercilessly. You will gain fame by winning battles; burying gold and treasure; and bragging about your exploits at the Tavern. At the end of twelve months, the pirate with the most fame will be declared the most fearsome Pirate of the High Seas!

The game has 12 turns and at the start of every turn, each pirate must decide (secretly) which of the 6 islands they will visit. All players reveal their navigation directions simultaneously and then the turn is resolved. If any two or more pirates end up at the same island, Combat ensues.

Combat resolution is determined by the strengths of your ship and the results of cannon fire (dice). The goal of combat is to scare away rival pirates so that you are the only pirate left at the island. If you stay in combat too long, your ship will suffer and make subsequent turns more difficult, so there is a fine balance of when to stay and fight and when to let the bigger ship have its booty. If you flee from combat, you end up at Pirate's Cove where you receive a small compensation for the turn. Once all conflicts are resolved, then the bounty for each island is given out.

Each island (except Pirate's Cove and Treasure Island) offer various amounts of Fame, Gold, Treasure or Tavern cards. The bounty is skewed so that some Islands are clearly better choices than others, so it can force you to decide (or bluff) if you think you can take the island should other pirates go after the same bounty. Once you have your bounty, you can purchase upgrades for your ship. Each Island offers a different ship component. The four parts of your ship are: Sails (determines speed and initiative in combat), Hull (how much treasure you can carry), Crew (needed to man the cannons), and Cannons. (The lower number of Crew and Cannons determines how many dice you roll in combat).

There is also an island with a Pub that offers useful strategy cards to help you in all aspects of the game. The last island is treasure island which offers no real bounty other than the chance to bury treasures that you have in the hull of your ship. Buried treasure is converted to Fame (which is the ultimate goal of the game).

Other random elements of the game include the dreaded Legendary Pirates who are highly dangerous ships that patrol the islands in order. One of 5 different Legendary Pirates (which include famous names like Blackbeard and The Flying Dutchman) is drawn at the beginning of every game, and stays until defeated. If you end up at the same island as one of them, you had better have a strong ship and helpful allies or they will blast you with their powerful cannons. However, if you can manage to sink their ships, you can score a good amount of fame! But beware, once you defeat him/her a new Legendary Pirate will appear to wreck havoc in the islands.

At the very end of the game, there is a chance for everyone to tell "tall tales" about themselves to increase their final fame standings. These tall tale cards are gained at the pub and offer yet another fun "pirate" mechanic. In all, Pirate's Cove offers you the chance to truly play like a pirate where you can fight and plunder your way to victory.

Who will lift the most valuable treasure chests?

Generations of seafarers have spent their time searching for the fabled treasure, but none have managed to find it. But now Flint's old chart has turned up, on which the hiding places are marked. Multiple pirate ships simultaneously reach the island group in which the treasure chests are hidden. But the restless ghost of Flint is guarding the treasure. Who will be successful and recover the most valuable treasure chest?