Jamaica may be the best family game I have played since Ticket to ride. This is definitely a family game that should have been a SdJ Nominee if not the WINNER.

Pro's:
Rules for play are very easy to understand.

Game play is quick. We played 2 games in a little over 1-1/2 hours.

The game ins not language dependent, all the symbols on the cards tell you what to do.

The game has GREAT theme and the production level is TOP SHELF!

Con's:
It is a light family game, if all you like is deep strategy then this game is not, I REPEAT - NOT FOR YOU!


This is a racing game that pits pirate against pirate in a one lap race around the island of Jamaica. If some American company had done this game it would have been a simple boring roll and move. But thank God that this was not the case.

The "starting player for the round is called the "Captain", the captain rolls 2 large six sided dice and then selects which action (dice number) will be used in the morning action, and which will be used in the afternoon action.

Each player has the exact same deck of "action cards", and has 3 of these cards in his playing hand. The top of the action cards contain two symbols, one for the AM action and another for the PM action. Players must then decide between the cards in their hands to select the one that they want to use for this round. Some of the choices for actions include (Taking Gold into their cargo hold, Moving forward (good sailing), moving backward (a storm), adding Food to their cargo hold, or adding gunpowder for their cannons into the cargo hold) Each card gives a combination of (2) of these action to choose from.

The players starting with the captain then carry out their AM and PM actions and then depending on the location of their ships following the PM phase of the movement they will do one of the following:
Pay food to feed the crew out at sea,
Pay gold to dock at a port,
Fight in combat with a fellow player on their space, the winner gaining treasure of Gold, food, gunpowder, or secret treasure from the looser.
OR be able to dig for one of 9 buried treasures located ad different points along the racing route, and not have to feed the crew or pay port fees.

The Captain marker then passes to the next player to the left and the next round starts all over again as player add another one of their action cards to their hands and do it all over again.

The race around the island is over in less than 1 hour and then you want to do it again. This game is just pure FUN!

My wife and I both felt this was Game of the Year material for a FAMILY GAME! How this was not nominated for SdJ I will never understand.

If you like racing games, get this game. If you play games with your family this game needs to be in your game library. If you have boys it is a double MUST HAVE, and if you like Pirates you can't live without this game, the action cards have some of the BEST artwork I have seen in a game in a very long time.

My rating for Jamaica is 9.4 out of 10. This is a game I will pull out as a gateway game with people who are not gamers, it is a fun family game and it LOOKS GREAT. Did I mention that all the game bits, cards, markers and chips all items fit perfectly back into the insert, and each has it's own engineered space to sit.

Hope this helped you understand that you should not think twice about adding this game to your collection.