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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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Rick brought this for a short 4 player. It went quickly, even with instruction for 2 of us, with the whole game done in 40 minutes.
For the uninitiated, it is a light "bid to move a ship" game, with the ships picking up and dropping off treasures. Each player has 7 tiles, numbered from -1 to 5, with the number representing the bid (in barrels of rum) made to each of the 6 pirate ships Arriba to Fuego. So you arrange one tile per ship, with the 7th used for tiebreaking. If you bid highest, you move the ship that many spaces, unless someone also bid a '-1' in which case you move one less.
It is very light and quick, with chaos and luck ruling, as well as bluffing and attempts to out-think your opponent ('I should do this, but he'll expect me to do that so I can't do that'). Attempts to take this seriously will inevitably make you frustrated with it, but if you go with the flow, it is fun. An excuse to make pirate impressions should never be discounted.
Tom and Rick got the early treasures (I seem to recall getting all 3 '-1' tiles on the ship I managed to bribe), while Mike and I languished. However, I managed to overtake Rick on the back of some well timed moves, making use of the earlier/unexpected boats to grab some treasures and haul them back to my lair. However, Tom continued to build his treasure pile.
As the last treasures went onto the board, I had 26 (sorry, $26,000) and figured I might grab the treasure in Port au Prince and run along the coast to my home-base, but Tom both blocked me with another boat AND played his '-1' on me, which merely served to cement his victory.
I'll note that this is unlikely to leap into Mike's list of favorite games. And it is not one of mine either, to be fair, but as a filler or a game for lunch when time is short, it works well.
Tom: $39,000
Me: $28,000
Rick: $16,000
Mike: $15,000
After pondering on this game (why I don't know, it is hardly a game that needs much pondering), I was reflecting on the bid a high number and get to move it far mechanic. You have to bid high anyway to get to move the ship, plus it often creates rather useless moves where someone gets to move a ship in the middle of nowhere 1 or 2 spaces. I wondered if the ship movement might not be inversely proportional to the bid - i.e. bid high move not far or perhaps a fixed movement for each winner, adjusted by the -1 tiles.
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