Simple, fast, and somewhat fun. That's how I'd describe Caribbean. Certainly not something you're going to pull out for the focus of your game night, but something to end the night with that plays in about 20 minutes.

Caribbean is a game wherein each player seeks to control the use of pirate ships, bribing them using a simple bidding system to transport their own goods. The well-illustrated board, depicting (of course) the caribbean islands, features several ports where treasure chests will originate at the start of each turn. It also shows destination ports, of which each player has 3 in his own color. This is where treasure chests need to be delivered to earn the gold shown on the chest.

There are 6 ships, lettered A-E. Each player has a set of cards, numbers 0-5 with a -1, which he will use to control the ships' movements. He does this by allocating a card to each ship, with one left over as a tie-breaker. Once everyone chooses their cards, the ships move. Starting with the "A" ship, players reveal their cards, and whoever has the highest number moves that ship that many spaces. In moving a ship, a player can move up to a port and grab a treasure chest. He gets 2 gold for doing this. If he has enough movement points left, he can bring the chest to his colored destination port, and receive in gold the number shown on that chest.
This process is repeated for the other 5 ships. At the start of the next turn, 2 new chests are turned face up and placed on their respective ports.

For no additional movement cost, a player can swap treasure chests with a ship lying on a space next to it. He may also steal a chest from an adjacent ship. These extra options add flavor and a bit of strategy to an otherwise mediocre game.

The board is very well done. The ships are cardboard and need to be put together each time, which isn't a big deal, but they do have the tendency to fall apart easily. We ended up just gluing ours together. They store easily enough in the box along with the other bits.

The doubloons are pretty lame. There are copper, silver and gold, each representing 1, 5 , and 10 gold. They are round and smooth on each side, and that's about it.
The cards are printed on the same cardboard stock as the ships, which is heavy and nice.

At $17-24, the price is a little high for what the game is and offers. We've gotten much more out of Transamerica, which is the same price and the same size box/game, and is also published by Rio Grande. However, those who like pirate-themed games or auction mechanics may find this a fun filler for times when you have a few more minutes to kill before everyone goes home for the night. The auction system, which is very basic and simple, finds a good place in this game and adds some tension when you're wondering who will end up getting the ship that you want.

There are some basic decisions to make while playing this, and it's far from being a game that plays itself each time. But, if you're looking to spend $17-24, buy yourself St. Petersburg and end up with a game that is REAL fun and tense.