Country: Haiti

Caribbean

Description of the game play from co-designer Michail Antonow:

The board shows the Caribbean in the 18th century. Six pirate ships lie in wait on sea, ready to pillage the rich ports or to rob the booty from other ships.

The sea is divided into spaces. Each player is in possession of three safe havens, marked in his color on the board. If only two or three players are playing, the safe havens in the vacant color(s) are treated as normal sea spaces.

The aim of each player is to lure the pirates to deliver treasure crates to one of their own safe havens, and not to the safe havens of the opponents.

The pirate ships do not belong to any player. That is why the players must bribe the pirates each time they want a pirate ship to act on their behalf. And what is the greatest temptation for a Caribbean pirate? Rum of course, barrels full of rum!

In every round the players try anew their best to bribe the pirates. The player who has offered the most rum to a ship gets to move that ship as many spaces as the number of barrels shown on the bribing chip. An active ship can (a) rob a crate from a port or from another ship, (b) reach a crate over to another ship, (c) swap crates with another ship, and/or (d) deliver a crate into a safe haven.

The aim is to have the most doubloons at the end of the game.

Hispaniola

3 to 5 players lead groups of South Seas pirates, angling for the captain's positions on five ships that make up a small pirate fleet. Why? Well, that's obvious: the captains get the bulk of the booty.

All cards (in different colours and numbered from one to fifteen) are shuffled and dealt out (fewer when playing with fewer players). After the trump colour has been determined, a traditional trick-taking game ensues. Whenever a player wins a trick, they get to place one of their sailors onto the captain position of the ship that matches the colour of the trick. If that post is already taken, then the other player must vacate the spot. That can sometimes end up with a sailor being tossed overboard - but they're not out of the game, they seek safety on an island. The more sailors this happens to, the better their chance of being hired again.

At the end of the game, the captains and sailors on the ships are worth points - sailors stranded on islands worth minus points. Minus points are also awarded when a player wins many tricks during the game - which is why these won tricks can also be passed along.