Game: Caribbean

Thread: Blue defeats Red

jgrundy — 2008-11-12T12:21:09+00:00

I'm already beginning to wonder how much advantage / disadvantage the various colours may have going head to head.

We've had a couple of games, enough to get the basic idea. So far, Red has been clobbered in each game. Usually, my wife plays Red so tonight we drew colours at random.

She was Blue vs my Red. Tonight, she really concentrated so it was a delight for me to be able to reverse our habitual tease... it was me who got to say "Hurry up Carrie" almost every turn. The game lasted several turns beyond the five that put new treasure on the board.

She took large margins in both the first two turns, leaving me a huge challenge to try to claw back the difference. The following turns saw ties for movement almost every turn, and not much change in the lead. By the end of the game we were often playing 5 on a ship with a 4 kicker... but hitting different ships doing it!

In the final turn she was at $59000 and thus needed only $3000 to win, while I was lagging a long way behind at a lowly $44000. Three ships held treasure, $8000, $6000, $5000 so banking any of them would see her win. I devised a cunning plan which gave me a chance at banking all three, but alas she chose a different one of her many options to win, and... won!

Thread: It's not pirates, but the two of us enjoyed our first game.

jgrundy — 2008-11-08T07:48:10+00:00

I acquired Caribbean in a math trade a few months ago, and at last got to crack it open with my wife. The game was pretty easy to explain, with the only trip up being in round three or so when she forgot ships can't move through each other.

The game lasted seven rounds. We went a little over the suggested time (30 minutes) which is usual for us in games. There was plenty of head scratching and nail biting as we played seemingly "useless" ships to block each other's paths, snuck in to unexpectedly steal treasures, and set up relays of seemingly low utility ships to suddenly snatch 'n grab high treasure values all the way home. Some neat tactical tricks emerged, even for a first game.

I do note... you aren't even presumed to be pirates in this game. It's not completely paper thin themeing, but it's no where near a simulation. But the ambience of the game is colourful enough... we weren't expecting swashbuckling swordplay and broadside cannons so we weren't disappointed.

I'd had a practise spin against myself the night before, and that one game experience clearly showed through in our "real" game as I took an early lead and slowly expanded it every turn bar one (and that turn she clearly pwnd me) to ultimately win $65k to $47k with things yet to be finished on the board. Which bodes well, since there's clearly things to learn through experience and utilise deliberately, putting to rest the fear that the game would be dominated by chaos.

The tactical possibilities seem broad, the possible combinations of moves to achieve a purpose seem wide, making the relative values of the ships in a given position subtle.

We'll be breaking this out in our next group session to see how it goes with three or four. (Hmm. I see from ratings comments that those who play two players or maybe three find this game more favourable than those who play four.)

From our first play with two players, this is a happy acquisition.

Thread: Re: Four player game doesn't work !

jgrundy — 2008-11-08T07:26:25+00:00

Agreed.

No matter how many players there are, the game pays $123,000 doubloons by the end. This is $32,000 in $2,000 bonuses for plundering the ports in the first place, plus $91,000 in treasures returned to safe havens.

Each of the target scores for 2/3/4 players, someone necessarily must reach the target.

Thread: Re: Four player game doesn't work !

Tchaik — 2008-09-14T18:28:26+00:00

Just received the game, but I think you didn't read the rules closely enough. Isn't it the case that

1) There are 1k, 5k and 10k doublons chips, so there should be plenty enough of cash?

2) Odds of ties clearly go up with the number of players, I'll see how my group plays this

3) You receive an extra 2k doublons when you plunder a city, so total money should have been 32k higher. Since you guys didn't record who plundered which port (only who ended up with the treasures, which might not be the same people), the final positions could have been very different. No matter what, the 31k goal was met (since there is more than 31k x 4 doublons to distribute when you account for that extra 32k).

Image

jsper — 2008-09-11T15:41:17+00:00

Promotional sheet in english

Thread: Four player game doesn't work !

linael — 2008-07-27T09:40:40+00:00

Until now, we had always played this game with 2 or 3 players. But last night, we were four around the table, and I suggested this game (as the theme my co-players asked for was "Pirates").

But we had one of the strangest Caribbean games aver.

1) Very soon in the game there were not enough money chips to pay. There are 20 chips valued 1 - but each of us had secured the following amount of money after a few turns :
Player A : 7
Player B : 6
Player C : 8
Player D : 7

With 20 chips valued 1, this was impossible to pay for... so we decided that, instead of using the money chips, each player would keep the treasure chests as a "money token". Though we were supposed to place the chests back on to the ports, face down, it didn't disturb the game in any way (if you'd really want to keep track of ports that have been plundered, I suggest placing one of the useless money chips there )

2) Around mid game, we ended up struggling for the same ships over and over. Which gave very strange bidding rounds over and over :
Player A for ship A : 5
Player B for ship A : 5
Player C for ship A : 3
Player D for ship A : 2

Players A and B are in a tie, but wanting the ship so badly, both had kept their 4 card as 7th card. Still a tie... and this went over and over.

3) Even worse, we didn't meet the end game condition. Once we realised the last chest had been won, but no player had reached the required 31.000 mark, we started counting our points :

Player A had 28.000 (chests values 6, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4)
Player B had 19.000 (chest values 6, 6, 7)
Player C had 28.000 (chest values 8, 8, 7, 5)
Player D had 16.000 (chest values 7, 5, 4)

So we had a clear looser, but no winner. We were all very disappointed, so much effort, and no clear result...

Image

olavf — 2008-06-20T14:01:42+00:00

Dutch Cover

Thread: cool theme, OK mechanics, just sort of fun.

Jim K — 2008-05-13T18:47:52+00:00

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.

Thread: Re: rules question

TermiGator — 2008-03-19T08:22:27+00:00

As I read it you don't have to rob the town. So you could lead the game into a stalemate.

It's not even that unlikely as not only 8.000 but 10.000 (robbing the town and the treasure) misses from the 123.000 in the game.
So there are only 113.000 wich could mean for example:
2-Player: A 61.000; B 52.000 (which is not close at all!)
3-Player: A 40.000; B 40.000; C 33.000 (C might get tempted)...

But honestly: I'd hate the game to end in a tie!

Thread: Re: Question about bidding

TermiGator — 2008-03-19T08:13:42+00:00

Tycho wrote:
the newly bid rum-barrels don’t count, but a newly bid theft-card does reduce the steps by one.
which means that winning a tie with a -1 isn't an ideal outcome.

I always wonderd about that question too. Can you win a tie with a "0" or even a "-1"?
Winning a tie with a "0" sounds fine for me, as it also counts as a "rum"-card. (Rules say each player has 6 rum and one theft card)

But pointing out that rule line makes me think: YES YOU CAN ALSO WIN WITH A "-1".
It is unlikely to win with a "-1", but when you do you are that damn lucky - the game punishes you by reducing your movement yourself.

Image

Festivus — 2008-02-23T03:55:30+00:00

Caribbean Treasure Chest Tokens (2 of 2 sets)

Image

Festivus — 2008-02-23T03:55:01+00:00

Caribbean Treasure Chest Tokens (1 of 2 sets)

Thread: Re: Why You Should Include Caribbean in Your Game Collection

JustaNewbie — 2008-02-07T04:06:08+00:00

Thanks for the info, i saw it today for sale and i almost picked it. There was only 1 copy left, i am going back to the store tomorrow and i hope it is still there. EXCITED!!!

Thread: Re: Why You Should Include Caribbean in Your Game Collection

JustaNewbie — 2008-02-07T04:04:34+00:00

Thanks for the info, i saw it today for sale and i almost picked it. There was only 1 copy left, i am going back to the store tomorrow and i hope it is still there. EXCITED!!!

Image

chezzilla — 2008-01-13T05:41:00+00:00

Thread: Re: Stealing Treasure Chests

olavf — 2007-12-29T22:48:22+00:00

Thanks! Will make it much more dynamic than the way we played it.

Thread: Re: Stealing Treasure Chests

spacerx — 2007-12-29T01:44:48+00:00

pick up, delivery and stealing can all be done at any point during your move.

Thread: Stealing Treasure Chests

olavf — 2007-12-28T22:04:06+00:00

A question about Stealing Treasure Chests:
is it an action at the end of your turn or can it be done on the move (i.e. for example: move 2 spaces, steal, move another space)?

Thread: Re: Why You Should Include Caribbean in Your Game Collection

Yokiboy — 2007-12-09T16:08:49+00:00

Nice little write-up. I too enjoy this game for much the same reasons.

Thread: Why You Should Include Caribbean in Your Game Collection

petermal — 2007-12-09T02:28:22+00:00

Caribbean, around since 2004, is modestly ranked at about 900, but don't let the lower ranking keep you from trying this little game out. I picked it up at a FLGS for about $15 (on sale) mostly because it was a good price and the ships looked really cool.

I won't go into details regarding the mechanics, bits and other nuances of the game, but rather I just want to let you know why you should add it to your collection. For more information check it out at: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/13301

The games I've played recently are Shogun, Puerto Rico and Power Grid. Obviously, Caribbean doesn't compare with them, but it does provide a fun and quick game before, after or in between. Not too long ago, some friends and I needed a "filler" in between games of Power Grid and A Game of Thrones. We were waiting for another player and so I pulled this one out. I think we played it twice, mostly because it was fun and we got to steal treasure from each other.

1. Simplicity - Don't let the simplicity fool you. Even though the rules are easy to understand and are printed on 4 pages, there is a lot to this game. Each time I have played this game there have been inexperienced players, and each time they have completely understood how to play the game after 3-4 minutes of explanation and a practice round.

2. Good for kids - While this game is fine for those that like heavier games, it's theme, components and relative simplicity make it ideal for children.

3. Interaction - Many games of this weight don't allow for much direct interaction between players, but this is one of Caribbean's strengths. This happens, because on a turn players may steal treasure from a ship or city that another person either worked hard to get or was planning on getting. Call me sick, but there is good fun in watching other players writhe when you thwart their plans by eliminating or forcing them to change their upcoming move.

4. Ease to set-up and portability - This is a game that you can throw in a backpack and have set up in about 3-4 minutes.

5. Length of Time to complete a game - This is also a game that finishes in under 30 minutes (once everyone know how to play).

There's alot to like, so give this game a try today!

Image

tommih — 2007-08-12T06:34:15+00:00

Box front of the Finnish edition.

Image

phibbi — 2007-07-17T18:18:33+00:00

The Arriba with her precious loot

Thread: Re: Island Blitz

Meat — 2007-06-25T14:44:23+00:00

bikini wrote:
The owner of the game added some glue to keep them secured permanently (although I dont know if this is entirely necessary).
After a couple of plays of my own copy, I broke out the craft glue to secure my ships. I also did so with the stands for the bidding cards. Most were fine, but two (the D ship in particular) would fall to pieces if you looked at them funny.

Thread: Island Blitz

bikini — 2007-06-25T10:33:38+00:00

This was the last game of the evening and it had to be a short game. There were just 3 of us left - all of us new to Caribbean.

Game Length: As a quick filler I would rate it:

The box says 30 minutes, we played it in about 50-60. Perhaps because it was our first time playing this.

Production Values:

Excellent. The board and pieces are well illustrated. There is not too much to the game; board, number tokens. token holder, treasure, money and ships. The treasure, tokens, token holder and ships are made out of a very thick cardboard. Holding the tokens feels strange, but they will last. The flat cardboard parts of the ships are slotted together to form 3D vessels which carry the treasure on board. The owner of the game added some glue to keep them secured permanently (although I dont know if this is entirely necessary). The money consists of small bronze, medium silver and large gold plastic discs.

Rules: I never read them myself, so I will rate them on how easy it was to understand and to play.

It took about 5-10 minutes to go through, but the learning curve is longer. Set up is quick. There are 6 ships each with a name beginning with a, b, c, d, e and f (cant remember them all, I think there was an Evita, Fuego...). Each ship is moved once per turn, they move in alphabetical order. Who gets to control the ship is determined by a blind bid.

Each player is given 7 tokens (5,4,3,2,1,0,-1). Before the turn begins each player descretely selects a token for each ship and places the token into their token holder according to the ship name. One token is kept in hand and used to resolve draws.

Starting with the "A" ship each player reveals their respective token, the highest number gets control of the ship and is allowed to move it as many spaces as the token they used. Each -1 revealed reduces the distance the ship controller can move. If a draw occurs the involved players reveal their extra token, face down means they abstain, but if revealed face up the higher number wins - the draw token is then removed from play that turn. A further draw means nobody gets control of the ship.

There are few special rules that allow ships to steal, transfer, swop treasure off another ship.

Not all ports start with treasure, but each round additional treasure is added. Once picked up the treasure needs to be returned to one of your 3 coloured bases to score. Treasures have different values. The only other way to score is when picking up the treasure you get 2000pts.

Game Play:

It certainly is quick. Although not random, it certainly is variable. It is not possible to have a strategy as you dont permanently control any of the boats, the blind bid/auction mechanism can ruin any plans and so much changes each turn. Tactics come into play by successfully guessing the actions of your opponents. Succesfully predicting what they will do for themselves and against you will allow you to grab the opportunity. The game may be simple, but there are many decisions and choices to be made. And these choices change constanly.

Conclusion:

This game is for you if:
- you want something quick and easy, but not too simple.
- you don't mind not having total control each turn
- can make quick decisions

I enjoyed it, even though it can be frustrating to have your plans dashed constantly.

Thread: High seas on speed

bikini — 2007-06-25T09:32:42+00:00

Well there was time for one last game of the evening, provided it was quick enough. So out came Caribbean.
By this stage of the evening there were 3 of us left, none of us had played this game before, but Gavin was familiar with the rules.

Most of the intial treasures appeared at the bottom of the board, so there were limited easy scores in the first round. Not that Gavin and I had a first round as we either lost to Charmaine or called the same scores for each ship, even down to the blind bid! Charmaine started the game by declaring that she had no idea what was going on and then proceeded to play like a seasoned pro and quickly built up an early lead.

By the 3rd of 4th turn we had started to get more creative and cunning. The ships also seemed to gather into 2 closely grouped armadas. Gavin and I continued to nullify each other out on most occasions, which prooved beneficial to Charmaine.

By the 5th turn Charmaine had a handy lead, Gavin was making up ground and I was stuck in a dead-calm! Charmaine almost clinched the game in the 6th turn, but was 1000pts short. This made it very difficult for us as all she had to do was pick up a treaure to win - and she had too many options! She achieved this with her first ship, but we played on till the end of the turn to ensure Gavin couldnt steal a win at the death.

It wasn't to be, Charmaine managed to stretch her lead even further, while I wallowed in a dismal 3rd place self-pity.

Image

GeoMan — 2007-06-12T17:16:54+00:00

Thread: Re: Sailing and second guessing

duchamp — 2007-05-10T18:38:33+00:00

Yes, it`s hard brain struggle to avoid situations like this. If it`s obvious, that you and one of your opponents are both keen on a ship with lots of money on board, what will happen? Do you change your bid to another ship and reduce your opponent`s move with -1 or will he - maybe - change his mind and does so? That`s poker, my friend, right in the Caribbean. And in some case or the other you have a laughing third player.

Thread: Sailing and second guessing

Paul Mackie — 2007-05-09T14:01:45+00:00

Here’s another game I’ve been eager to try, mainly because of the theme and the components - those pirate ships just look tres cool. In fact, on one of those rare occasions where I actually walked into a games shop, months ago now, I nearly bought this because of those features (Aqua Romana had a slightly stronger attraction that day). But I digress…

So each player secretly allocates a number between -1 and 5 to each of six pirate ships. These are then revealed in alphabetic order on the name of the ships, and the player who played the highest gets to move the ship that number of spaces in any direction. Ties are broken through the use of one of your numbered tokens kept unallocated. Each -1 played by an opponent reduces the range of the ship. The object is to move ships into various coastal towns (those loaded up with a treasure chest), sack the town for an immediate 2 points, then get the loaded ship back to one of your ports for another cache of points (between 4 and 8 I think it was). One clever trick is to use a ship to steal the cargo from another - an effective tactic if you can make it back to base in the same turn.

The hidden information of your and your opponents’ number allocations is at the heart of this game, and is reminiscent of lots of others (Vino, and even Wallenstein and Shogun come to mind). But the second- and third- guessing can be brutal. Richard and I ended up pussing each other on one turn when we both played our 5s for the first ship, then both revealed our 4s as tie breakers, leaving us both without a major play or back-up for the rest of the turn. While I had what I thought was a strong start to the game, plays like this allowed Nick and Andrew to ratchet up their tallies while Richard and I struggled. In the post-game wash-up the consensus was that Caribbean might best be suited to three players to reduce the chaotic effects of the hidden information. Of course, others might really enjoy these elements in a game, in which case you should stick with four to enhance the effect!
10 minutes rules and setup. 39 mins game time.
Results: Nick (red): 31. Andrew (blue): 23. Paul (yellow): 19. Richard (green): 15.

(Originally posted on www.themineshaftgap.com.)

Thread: Re: House Rule

sandeee — 2007-04-11T21:33:07+00:00

I think that the game works best if players have to pay the amount of dubloons equal to the number of barrels that they bid. However, this means that players have to start with a certain number of dubloons (25,000-30,000) is pretty good, but you'd better start making money fast). I also think it's best if players have to pay 2,000 dubloons per action (stealing, swapping, etc).

All in all, I was really disappointed by this one.

Image

duchamp — 2007-02-05T15:50:49+00:00

not "blurry" - look at the jewelry ...

Image

duchamp — 2007-02-05T11:37:53+00:00

home-made "Fuego" with special mast to "pick-up" treasure

Thread: Re: House Rule

steveoliverc — 2007-01-31T00:32:10+00:00

This seems like a great idea and I will try it out next time I play this.

In a way, using the standard rules, getting to swap/steal treasure from another ship is saving you *two* movement points since you don't have to pay to move into the space where the ship is that you are stealing from. Then to get the treasure for free seems too much.

Thread: Pieces of Eight

brainrob — 2006-11-10T20:42:09+00:00

[Note: this review originally appeared in Counter magazine.]

It seemed you couldn’t turn a corner at Essen (2004) without stumbling across yet another pirate themed game, no doubt fuelled by the popularity of last year’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie and it’s forthcoming sequel. The most noticeable was an unfeasibly large version of Fanpro’s Airfix inspired offering Piraten Der Spanischen Meere which claims to be “a constructible strategy game” – grand sounding woffle which simply means you have to assemble a myriad of plastic pieces into a ship or two!

In its own way, Karibik could also claim to be “a constructible strategy game” as each of the six cardboard ships have to be constructed out of three pieces of cardboard. Not a terribly arduous task, but the 4cm tall ships do make a fine site sailing the sunny Caribbean (pronounced Car–ib-EE-an for our transatlantic New England playing cousins) Sea displayed on the game board. Also displayed are 16 ports each of which, at one stage or another during the game, will hold what every self respecting pirate has at the top of their annual performance goals – doubloons.

Each of the ships has a name alphabetically ordered from Arriba, Bravo etc. through to Fuego. This is important because, each round, the ships move in alphabetical order. The player who gets to move each of the ships is the player who pays the most to bribe the ships’ crews each round.

Each player receives seven bribe tokens with values of 5 down to -1 which are used to bid for control of all six ships in each round. Players place their bids for all ships in a self-assembly cardboard stand which helpfully shows the name of each ship under each token slot. The seventh token is placed face down to be used as a tie breaker.

Bribe tokens for each ship due to move are revealed simultaneously with the winner getting to move the ship the same number of spaces as the winning bid, but reduced by one for each -1 token played by other players. In the event of a tie the tied players each choose whether or not to reveal their tie breaker token which can only be used once during the round. If there is still a tie the ship just doesn’t move.

When a ship moves it will generally sail to grab treasure. The game starts with treasures available in six randomly determined ports. Treasures come in values ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 doubloons, the higher values generally being more hotly contested. At the end of the first five rounds two more treasures are made available. Treasures can be gained in different ways:

• Assaulting a port which consists of sailing next to the port and grabbing the treasure. An additional bounty of 2,000 doubloons is paid to the player who gains treasure in this way ... a good way to make additional doubloons;
• Stealing treasure from another ship, by sailing next to the ship and swiping the treasure ... great for really annoying your opponents;
• Swapping treasure with another ship, by sailing next to the ship and swapping treasures between the ships ... important as each ship can only carry one treasure at a time;
• Handing over treasure to a neighbouring ship ... not as daft as it first may seem – see below.

Treasure scores when a player moves the laden ship to safety into a colour-coded “secret base” space on the map. Handing over treasure can be useful if a ship is already standing on a player’s secret base – this means one fewer movement point is required to bring the treasure to safety. But sea dogs need to beware as treasure scores for the player whose secret base has been sailed into, not necessarily for the player moving the ship. This can lead to all sorts of interesting tactical decision making.

The game continues until, at the end of a round, at least one player has reached the treasure target for that number of players (31,000 in a four player game up to 62,000 with two players). The player with the highest total is the winner.

With two players Karibik is an engrossing tactical battle as you attempt to outwit your opponent and build a series of hopefully clever moves to rake in the doubloons. With four, things are understandably a bit more chaotic and experience shows that taking a less obvious approach can pay off. So, if the good (and likely to be hotly contested) ship Caribic is laden with 8,000 doubloons and near other players' safe havens, can you bribe Arriba sneak in, steal the treasure, pass it to Bravo and leave you with treasure safely stowed and cackling like Cap'n Flint?

As we have come to expect from Winning Moves the quality of the components is pretty good, but there are some questions over how long the stands in particular will last before wearing out. Simply not using the stands and placing the tokens face down in order will soon overcome this issue.

As you will no doubt have gathered, Karibik is not a deep, thought provoking, strategy game. With more players, that which losers call “luck” and winners call “judgement” does play a part. But for all that the game is pretty enjoyable stuff. At thirty minutes the game reaches it’s natural end before it gets tedious and, with our group at least, it gets the thumbs up as a good way to start an evening’s gaming.
And the little ships do look damn fine.

Thread: Re: House Rule

Thomas_de_Monet — 2006-07-09T06:58:30+00:00

Oops!

My mistake in trying to say what I wanted to there.

I MEANT to say that the OTHER ships are usualy no where near the later ships (as they have been moved earlier in the turn) and any treasures on the later ships is usually gone due to stealing by the first ships.

Yes, if you are very lucky, you might be able to use one of the later ships to steal a treasure back but making it home again is very rare. Since people bid so heavy on the use of the first ships to steal the treasure and make it home (or to block others from doing so) this is somewhat difficult to do as one usualy does not have enough bidding power left to make it home with the later ships after going out of the way to steal a treasure back.

As I said, this is just how my group of gamer friends and I find things happening with the game. It is completely possible that others play a different way and don't have the same "troubles" as we do.

Thanks for the comment!

Thread: Re: House Rule

caesarbgg — 2006-06-26T08:41:36+00:00

Thomas_de_Monet wrote:

After much frustration the four of us who were playing decided that there is really no point in bidding on the later ships - by the time the bid gets there they are usually no where near where they started AND the treasure that was on them, if any, will be gone.

How can the later ships "be nowhere near where they started"? In my understanding of the rules, the ships do not move at all, until their phase comes up.

Furthermore, later ships can steal very well from earlier ships that didn't make it home.

Thread: House Rule

Thomas_de_Monet — 2006-05-19T14:44:03+00:00

I took this out and dusted it off and we played it at my gaming group last night.

After much frustration the four of us who were playing decided that there is really no point in bidding on the later ships - by the time the bid gets there they are usually no where near where they started AND the treasure that was on them, if any, will be gone.

We checked the rules over at least 5 times and were somewhat astonished that it didn't cost any movement points to load / unload / steal / transfer treasure. In the theme of the game, if you have to bribe the lazy pirates to simply steer where you want them to go, why do they do all that heavy work for free? We couldn't figure this out until I realized it was most likely to keep the game to the time limit.

So we came up with the following house rule: ALL types of movement by a ship (moving / load / unload / steal / transfer) costs one point.

Unfortunately we didn't have the time to try it out.

I'll bring the game out next session and try it that way. We are fully expecting the game to be MUCH longer of course - but hey, is that a bad thing? I guess we'll find out.

I'll post here what happens.

Thread: Re: Fast review

zwinx — 2006-01-19T09:19:14+00:00

You are quite right. The only point that I got is that you have to glue the pieces if you want to play with your kids! I will try to write something more 'complete' the next time.

The reason I tried to keep it short and simple was that I personally think that many reviews are a bit too complex (eg. what's the meaning to describe all the rules in the review?).

Thread: Re: Fast review

rootbeer — 2006-01-19T05:05:10+00:00

Er... that was a little lean on actual content. You said that it's easy to explain, easy to play, and a "must have" -- but nothing else! Perhaps you should read this thread: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekforum.php3?action=viewthrea...

Thread: Fast review

zwinx — 2006-01-17T20:21:33+00:00

In the box
(Rio Grande)
The pieces and board are all hq. But if you don't glue the pieces together they might fall apart (both the ships and the 'card holders'). So I suggest you open the box and do that before the first session. Be careful, because some of the pieces might be trashed when you snap them out! It will take you apx. 15 minutes to fix everything. But it is well invested time. After finishing, all pieces looks nice and feel somewhat 'robust' even though they are all paper.
The last trick is to get everything in the box after gluing the ships together, but it's possible (I have posted a picture as evidence)!
Rules
It only takes a minute to explain the rules. And if you invite someone new to boardgames, you should consider Caribbean to be your first choice; the least experienced often ends up winning their first session.
Playing
Everyone I have invited for a session likes this easy-to-play game. It might not be the most strategic game ever, but if you don't think about what the others are thinking, you will be in trouble. I have also played some sessions with my wife. It works ok for two players, but I personally like the more caothic feeling during a three or four player session.
Conclusion
Even though it is ranked some seven hundred or something here on BGG, I whould say that this one is a game you-should-have. It's very easy to put on the table when you have non-gamer guests. It's also easy to play it with kids: my 7 yo daughter loves it and my 3 yo son loves the ships! He doesn't obviously get the strategics, but my 7 yo have no problem at all with the rules.
So; It's nice to play with beginners, with kids as well as a in-between game for more experienced players. It looks and feels nice and it's quite cheap (in Sweden apx. $28 from Azimogames). The only catch is the box that is far too small!

Ohoy!

Thread: Re: Caribbean- Rio Grande games

sborton — 2005-10-09T18:58:23+00:00

I've cooled considerably on this one, because it seems that whenever we play this, a conductive group-think cloud descends over the group. No matter what left-field psych-out you can think of, everyone always seems to think of it at the same time as you. And then when you decide to do something normal for a change, then that's when everyone else decides to be normal too. To be sure, this is not the fault of the game design, but probably something like "problem between game board and chair."

Thread: Re: Caribbean- Rio Grande games

faidutti — 2005-10-09T16:47:54+00:00

Agreed. Great double guessing game, fun and fast paced. There's much more here than meets the eye.

Thread: Re: Caribbean- Rio Grande games

Noaceyet — 2005-10-09T15:39:15+00:00

second that

Thread: Caribbean- Rio Grande games

Alister — 2005-10-09T15:27:55+00:00

A Great strategey/biding game trying to double guess the opponents. There is more in this game than first appears after one game. On first playing I couldn't see the vision of the designer so to speak. Contrary to what many others have said this is not really a light weight no-brainer, but a game where you need to think about what the opponents will do first, then plan your move. This can get really interesting after a few beers. Of course this gets more complicated when more than 2 players are involved. The graphics, production, and simplicity of the rules are excelent, which also gives this this game a lightweight appeal. A good choice, if you like a pirate theme.

Thread: Caribbean

Kyleroconnor — 2005-09-03T20:57:12+00:00

Played Caribbean for Tuesday night family game night. Participants included myself, my wife Paula, my 7 yo daughter Brianna and my 5 yo son Will. Will needed some help choosing cards and obviously didn't have the strategy down, but he liked the pirate ships. Brianna our 7 yo daughter ended up winning the game. I think Paula and I might have cancelled each other out a little. The family gave the game 27.5 points out of 40 for fun. [68%]

Thread: Session Report

SusanRoz — 2005-07-12T05:08:00+00:00

This game got some positive buzz and was pretty cheap, so we included it in a game order when it came out. Ed got to play it and absolutely detested the game. He refused to play it again and immediately suggested we unload it on a prize table as soon as we got the opportunity. Now, he is not fond of the simultaneous action selection mechanism and I am. Plus, it got some positive comments from a few of the other players in his game, so I didn’t listen to him. Well, for a change, I wish I had. Yuck.

The game has six pirate ships that are sailing on the board, a map of the Caribbean islands. Players are trying to sail the ships to various ports, pick up treasure and sail it to one of their own ports. Each player has seven bidding tiles numbered from -1 to five. Each round, they secretly assign one to each ship and save the seventh for a tiebreaker. One by one, all the players’ tiles for each ship are revealed. The player who bid the highest for that ship gets to move it that number of spaces minus a space for each -1 tile played. After the ship is moved, the tiles for the next ship are revealed, and the same thing happens. Ships can steal tiles or trade tiles from other ships as they move by. I guess this allows for some clever moves, but it also makes it harder to plan as well. There were always several ships that were possible choices of more than one player, so it seemed just a guessing game as to which one people would choose. And if you guessed poorly, you might find yourself watching the entire round and doing nothing. This happened to me at least once and was very frustrating. The game was just too chaotic and not much fun. I doubt we will be keeping this one much longer.

Results: Mark 41, Francesca 28, Susan 18, Peter 14

Thread: Critical Mass, May 6 2005 - 4 players

Friendless — 2005-05-06T23:26:41+00:00

We were trying to match numbers of players in assorted games to the number of players we actually had, and it turned out we had 5 players so we chose Caribbean which is a 4 player game. Not quite sure how that happened. 8yo decided to sit it out, which turned out to be lucky for him as he ended up in a game of Pirate's Cove which he really liked. The players for Caribbean turned out to be Dan, John, Jukka and Other Dan. I explained the rules in a sort of confused and haphazard fashion, which took maybe 5 minutes, and we were underway.

It is kind of hard to describe what goes on in this game, as the only thing that really belongs to anybody is the money, and nobody really watches that anyway as it is the ships and the treasure which are important. Jukka noted that the -1 bid was a good invention, as it allows you to exercise a bit of aggression in a game which didn't otherwise have it. The other tactic which was quickly discovered was bidding 5 for a ship with 4 as a tie-breaker - hereafter known as the Old 5-4.

In a 4-player game, there are often only about 4 ships which are near treasure and have any chance of delivering anybody any points. That means that the other 2 ships get ignored. You could easily win them if you wanted, but what would be the point? If anyone has any suggestions on how to use them to win, send me a private message so my opponents don't see it . But it also means that there are 4 players contesting 4 ships, and it turns out to be quite a matter of luck who gets what. In fact, I would claim that this game has more luck than Nobody But Us Chickens, which I respect highly.

Coming into the final round, by skill or luck I do not know, Jukka, Dan and I had about 24000 doubloons each, with Arriba, Bravo and Diablo(?) capable of delivering winning treasures. Jukka won Arriba, taking him to 32000. I groaned, Dan groaned. I won Bravo, stealing a treasure from Diablo and delivering it for 7000. Dan wailed and tore his hair and gnashed his teeth. Dan won Diablo, but all the treasures had been taken! Congratulations to Jukka, who had noticed that Arriba and Bravo could both deliver treasures and so switched his 5 bid to win Arriba instead. If I had noticed the same thing, I expect Dan would have won with Diablo as Jukka and I argued over Arriba. As it was Jukka narrowly won ahead of me.

We noted a slight confusion in the rules. The last sentence about winning says "The player at the end of the round is the winner!" We guessed it should say "The player with the most doubloons at the end of the round is the winner!". I had been under the impression that once one player achieved the winning total it was impossible for other players to do so. That is true in a 2 player game, but obviously not in 4 player (now that I think about it).

A good game, quite fun, but I am a little disillusioned by the amount of luck in this game. I just can't believe there is much strategy involved in it. The movement of the ships is very cool, but again it is not so hard to find an optimal path. The trick to the game seems to be in finding sources of revenue nobody else can see, but when you play with 3 other conscious people, that is pretty difficult. It is still a fun game, but it is subject to analysis paralysis as you futilely try to make sense of a quite chaotic situation.

Thread: Re:Rules question concerning movement

everlong205 — 2005-04-12T13:35:54+00:00

everlong205 (#471083),

You're right. That wording does suggest multiple actions. The "or" then should probably say "and/or". But I'm sure that is one of the reasons we found the game so unenjoyable. We'll have to try it once more to see if it plays better doing movement the right way.

Thread: Re:Rules question concerning movement

Tycho — 2005-04-12T11:38:20+00:00

everlong205 (#471319),

After listing the possible actions the English rules translation here on the eek says:
These actions can be carried out in any order
which would be a pretty pointless statement if you could carry out only one per turn.

Thread: Re:Rules question concerning movement

everlong205 — 2005-04-11T13:25:21+00:00

everlong205 (#471083),

Ok, I think we did movement wrong. After rereading the rules there is a rule where you can essentially drop off a treasure at your safe zone and then continue with movement. Plus the rules suggest that you may take these actions in any order you choose, whenever you choose during ships movement, including before and after you move the ship.

So that would suggest, in fact that you can steal, transfer, swap or pass on and then continue moving. Teh rules suggest when you get control of a ship you can capture or steal or swap or pass on a treasure chest. Does this limit you then to one of those actions?
For example, if you have 5 movement on Arriba can you move one, swap a treasure with a ship, then move 4 and drop off treasure, or swap from another ship? Or are you limited to only one of the actions? The word "or" suggests that you can only do one, at any time during movement.

Thread: Rules question concerning movement

everlong205 — 2005-04-11T02:10:54+00:00

Played Carribean and wasn't that impressed, but Im not sure if we did movement correctly.
How does movement actually work. If a ship is used to steal a treasure from another ship does it have to immediately stop or can it continue to move. For example. Suppose the Bravo has a doubloon and is two spaces away from ship Arriba. If the person controlling Arriba wins with a 5 can he move 2, steal the treasure and then move an additonal 3 to take to his safe haven and drop off the treasure there? Or does he have to end his movement once he steals the goal from another ship.

Or suppose there is a treasure on a port and Arriba currently has a treasure on his bow. And supposing Bravo is two spaces away. Can Arriba move 2, transfer the gold to Bravo, then move teh remaining 3 to the port to pick up the treasure.

We played where each ship had to either begin or end their movement with an action. i.e. Arriba could either, being adjacent to another ship steal its gold and then move or move and then end on an adjacent space and steal the gold. The problem with this is that every time you end your action stealing gold you are adjacent to the next ship and whoever controls it can simply steal it right back. This may be the correct way to play but it makes it very awkward to steal a gold. ie, unless a ship somehow is adjacent to you, you would have to move to him and then take the gold ending your turn. Once the gold is stolen, if you don't control the following ship as well, the next sequential ship can simply take the gold from your ship and move.

Is this the correct way to play movement?

Thread: Re:Treasure chest question?

Tycho — 2005-04-02T14:28:28+00:00

On checking the board, I see what you mean: Maracaibo can be blocked without occupying the port.

Thread: Re:Question about bidding

Tycho — 2005-04-02T14:26:06+00:00

The same question arose in one of my recent games, but with the 0 card. If your opponent has already used their 7th card, is the fact of being able to play your card an automatic bid-winner, even if it is the 0 (or the -1)?

The 'Caribbean Through Dangerous Waters' rules translation here on the Geek say players reveal their 7th card either face-up or face-down and
only the face-up cards count. The player with the highest new bid wins
which implies a 0 or -1 beats a no-bid, as if only one card is face-up then it must be highest. They also say about the subsequent ship movement
the newly bid rum-barrels don’t count, but a newly bid theft-card does reduce the steps by one.
which means that winning a tie with a -1 isn't an ideal outcome.

Thread: Re:Question about bidding

kearmy — 2005-03-27T17:17:57+00:00

vosos102 (#460671),

But player B will not win the tiebreaker without using his last card??

Thread: Re:Question about bidding

vosos102 — 2005-03-24T14:50:54+00:00

kearmy (#460654),

Sounds as if they wouldn't, however playing the tiebreaker isn't mandatory, so if B knows that A already played his/her tiebreaker, B wouldn't play anything.

Thread: Question about bidding

kearmy — 2005-03-24T14:25:44+00:00

I have a question about the bidding.

When two players have a tied, highest bid, they have to bid again. If player A already have used his 7th card, and player B has his theftcard (-1) left as his 7th card: Will player B win and sail off with the ship?

Thread: Re:User Review

taraba — 2005-03-17T22:42:28+00:00

rdsmith (#445896),

From what I've read of Tonga Bonga, no, they don't play the same.

Thread: Re:User Review

taraba — 2005-03-11T17:31:32+00:00

Probably the most annoying aspect, however, is that the ships really don't assemble snugly, so they tend to fall apart during play. I guess you could use a drop of glue to hold them together, but then the challenge would be to put everything back into the box (which is a tight squeeze).

Everything does fit in the box if you organize it right so the glue isn't a bad solution. For a non-glue approach to making this fit better, you can rip and fold up a small piece of paper. Stick the paper along one of the edges around the slot and this should make a snug hold. If it's still loose, then fold up the paper some more.

Thread: Re:rules question

taraba — 2005-03-11T17:14:31+00:00

Alan Kwan (#81690),

Well, I don't think you have to pick up the treasure.

I'm pretty sure there's 123,000 points in the game between the money on the chests and the bonus points to pick them up. The final scores are such that the person who wins has the majority of the points available. If this last treasure is the only thing ending the game, I guess you could choose to grind the game to a stalemate with that tactic.

Thread: Re:Treasure chest question?

Tycho — 2005-03-09T14:00:53+00:00

Alternatively, play with a rule that if a ship starts in a port with treasure, the treasure is automatically taken on board and is therefore available to be stolen.

Thread: Re:User Review

rdsmith — 2005-03-05T13:05:16+00:00

upfront2000 (#82349),

The play of this seems very reminiscent of Tonga Bonga, the fine, old Ravensburger game. Yes, no?

Thanks.
Ray