Game: Capt'n Clever

Image

Toynan — 2008-01-27T21:11:15+00:00

Back of the cards

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-07T22:39:36+00:00

Box Back (Higher Res With Readable Text)

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T20:21:44+00:00

Do You Take Red Boat Or The Blue Boat?

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T20:19:25+00:00

Typical Starting Positions - Each Captain On A Separate Island

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T20:17:22+00:00

Red Needs To Move His Boat To Get Off The Island

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T20:14:37+00:00

Playing Late In The Day

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T18:24:09+00:00

Hop Onboard For Passage To The Next Island

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T18:22:18+00:00

The Four Player Decks - Each Player Gets Their Neighbour's Deck

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T18:20:53+00:00

The Four Clever Captains

Image

gamephotos — 2007-11-05T18:18:21+00:00

Green Finds A Map

Thread: Re: 6yo lost the rules, can someone send me a copy please?

Friendless — 2006-11-06T04:24:28+00:00

Thank you!

Thread: Re: 6yo lost the rules, can someone send me a copy please?

RPardoe — 2006-11-06T02:38:55+00:00

Try here:

http://www.zoch-verlag.com/de/spiele/captnclever/regel/e_con...

Thread: 6yo lost the rules, can someone send me a copy please?

Friendless — 2006-11-06T00:22:35+00:00

Or know where they are on the web? I think I remember how to play, but how do you start the game. Thanks!

Thread: TVB - 3P - Caribbean Stand-off

RPardoe — 2006-06-18T17:57:39+00:00

Sabrina suggested the last game of the evening also - Cap'n Clever. Players navigate around a map showing 9 islands each with a unique treasure. The goal is to claim each of the treasures before any other player. But the order that a player will claim the treasures is set by the player to the left. Each player has a deck of 9 cards depicting each of the treasures. This deck is handed to the player to the left who select one card and pass it back as the first goal. As each goal/treasure is achieved, the next card is handed over. As a result, players are trying to make a more difficult path for the right hand player, but not so difficult that it interferes with one's own progress to a goal.

Movement on the board is rather simple. Each player has a pawn (their Captain) and a boat. The captain moves from Island to Island jumping over bridges formed by boats. Any captain can use any available boat. So on a turn (and in any order), a player may move his boat and must move his captain (if able). As only one captain can occupy an island, a captain might be blocked from moving by having the only possible move already occupied by another captain.

After we set up, Dave and Rich seemed to enjoy blocking and running into each other. This let Sabrina rush out and gather a couple of treasures rather rapidly. But eventually, we would all start tripping over each other as Dave and Sabrina found themselves rushing towards the parrot while Rich was headed for the adjacent map treasure. As the captains bottlenecked, Rich found himself on the island unable to jump forward as that island was occupied. Worse yet, bt virture of Sabrina's boat also connected to his Island, Rich was forced to move his captain away from the goal opening up the path for Dave and Sabrina to quickly claim their treasures.

But Rich wasn't always hurt by other ships. Moves sometimes had unintended consequences. Dave set up his boat and jumped in to claim the map at the mid-game, but his left Rich with a nice chain of 3 ships to utilize to quickly get to the candelabra. So the game is filled with an aspect of trying to help one's self without helping one's opponents. This also translates into which cards to give to another player. While it would be nice to send them far away from your goal, having them pursue a goal perhaps a bit closer might draw in their ship for a nice combined move.

Despite jumping to the early lead, Dave and Rich were able to catch up by the end game, such that all players had 8 treasures and were moving to their final destination. Only trouble - we were all headed to the same corner of the board and a game of blockage started. No player wanted to move of their island as it would enable another player to move in and claim the win. Rich saw a nice opportunity to jump two islands up the side of the board but then realize that would give Sabrina a straight jump at her final target. But this stale mate condition lasted a few turns until Dave attempted to move indirectly towards his goal, but that opened up his island for a move by Sabrina to win the final game of the evening.

Sabrina 9 treasures
Dave/Rich 8 treasures

So a lighter, fluffier evening for the group, but one that was very enjoyable as Sabrina could participate in 5 of the games tonight. As a budding gamester, nice to see that she could enjoy a nice variety of games and participate with the group (even if it was only 2 of the regulars tonight).

Thread: the little guy gets it

goldenboat — 2006-01-02T04:01:59+00:00

I bought this game a couple years ago, hearing it was good for kids, but we haven't given it a try before now as it requires a minimum of three players. As luck would have it the whole family turned out to play.

This design really engaged my boys, eight-year-old Miles and especially Jack, who is six, and who after a move or two really started to see the board and understand how the potential connections worked. Miles won a close game, possibly because his little brother wasn't too concerned about what treasure he fed him next. It's a sign of a good family game when the kids can compete with their parents, and speaks in favor of this game in that it offers a pretty level playing field without an undue amount of luck. The constant moving of ships creates a pretty chaotic playfield (which randomizes things enough that the kids can compete, I guess).

I suppose the game would work on a deeper level if you really wanted to analyze the positions, and try to screw your neighbor by placing boats defensively ... but as a game for kids, it works well enough when you're just trying to optimise your own position.

I've had good luck with these route planning games for the kids -- Transamerica also went down well with them.

Thread: Tao of Gaming Review

Bankler — 2005-12-24T16:10:01+00:00

I don't log games played with the young'uns. We're playing a higher class of games than most families (that's true for anyone here, I imagine). Even then I'd never dream of pulling the kids games out for other adults.

Capt'n Clever might make the cut. Tom Vasel's review gives the full mechanics, so I won't bother. It's a travelling salesman problem where your opponent picks the order of your destinations. I played two player with my daughter, it would probably be better as three or four, just to make it more interesting. The two player game also has complete information (which helps adults more more than children).

Anyway, the first game was interesting and I planned my plays, because Daughter was 1-3 moves ahead most of the game. I suspect I chose the destinations rather kindly for her. However, in my second game I stopped planning and just played the obvious move and always chose one card out of two random ones for her next destination, and walked away. She may have been tired. I suspect it's too much planning for a bright six year old, but it had a surprise or two, which is more than most games for families.

I'd never actually offer to play this game with an adult crowd, but I'd play if someone asked. And it was certainly better than the atrocious game she first suggested. (Chicken Run -- great movie, though).

Thread: Session Report

quozl — 2005-07-14T19:10:43+00:00

My little girl, who will be turning four years old in 3 days, wanted to play a game with me yesterday and she got this one out. We played 2 colors each and she really impressed me how, after a little prompting, she started using her boats as a team in order to make jumps to multiple islands in one turn. After seeing me make a move using all 4 ships, she positioned her ship to do the same. It's pretty cool seeing all this come together for her and she's really been improving her gameplay in the last month, beating me at this game, at Cathedral, and at Ghosts! I'm going to have to start playing tougher!

Final score:
She had one color with all 9 treasures and one color with 8.
Both of my colors had 8 treasures.

Thread: Re: User Review

Blackberry — 2005-05-19T01:50:54+00:00

Once per game or once per turn?

Thread: avoiding the lock-up

Alan Kwan — 2005-05-16T12:52:38+00:00

Many perceive the game as flawed because it is easy to block a player from winning indefinitely. What about this variant?

Tarot's 3-card variant
----------------------

Each player always has 3 cards in his hand. At game start, each player is given 3 cards by his opponent. A player can get a treasure from any of his 3 cards, but he can get only 1 treasure per turn. When he gets a treasure, his opponent gives him another card. A player wins when he gets his 7th treasure (i.e. when he gets a treasure and his opponent doesn't have another card to give to him).

Thread: Re: User Review

edensong — 2005-05-04T14:13:42+00:00

I had to contact Rio Grande games when I had some peices missing in the box, so I asked them the question about when you move your captain. Their very fast response was that you can move your captain either before or after you move your ship, but can only move him once per game.

Thread: Session Report

seppo21 — 2005-02-20T14:50:40+00:00

Interim Game: Cap'n Clever

I had borrowed this game from Glen and Amy when they had come to visit last week. It seemed like and interesting enough kid’s game. I was not disappointed. At any rate, I had brought it back with me to return it to Yanna, who was missing it dearly. Yanna and Jessica were getting a game of this together while I was watching Jared set up a massacre in St. Petersburg. Since I had nothing else really to do, I was happy to join them when they asked.

Cap'n Clever is essentially a simple connection game. The board consists of nine islands that each contain a single treasure. Each player has a deck of nine cards representing these treasures. The object of the game is to travel from island to island to collect these treasures. The catch is that the person to your left gets to give you the card for the treasure you are currently seeking. Each player has a captain and a boat. On your turn, you can move your boat to various designated places between islands. This allows any captain to cross from one island to the other. You have to move your captain if able. You may use other boats and pass through occupied islands, but only one captain can be on an island at a time. Since each island can only be connected to certain other islands (and some connections can even be blocked) there is some strategy to this otherwise simple game. I like to think of it as Hansa Lite.

After having a bad experience when playing this game with Grace, I avoided starting on the middle island. I'm not sure what Jessica gave me, but she was simply dealing my cards to me off the deck. This was really sub-optimal on her part as it is always possible to give a treasure that is three hops away (the maximum necessary distance). Granted, circumstances of the game could force fewer or more hops. Since I was giving cards to Yanna, this was the strategy I employed. At any rate, Jessica got to her treasure first. However, her lead was short-lived. Her random card dealing allowed me to surpass her when several consecutive treasures were only a single island apart. Unfortunately for Yanna, all of her treasures were three islands apart. I was able to make short work of both of my opponents.

Final Result:

Stephen -- 9
Jessica -- 6
Yanna -- 3

For a children's game, I find this to be quite good and mentally engaging. I actually had fun playing it, but then, I really like connection type games. While there is some strategy involved, there is not so much to make the game unplayable for the young. I think most adults could enjoy this game. However, I can see how it might degenerate if played by serious gamers -- but then, they are not the target audience. Our game lasted about 20 minutes.

Thread: Re:User Review

seppo21 — 2005-02-19T14:57:20+00:00

step 1. You MAY move your captain, if you want.
step 2. You MAY move your ship, if you want.
step 3. You MUST move your captain, if he can move and you haven't moved him yet (in step 1).
This is not entirely clear from the rules I've seen. They only say you may move your ship and must move your captain. The only indication of any order is in the examples, all of which have the ship moving before the captain. The simple statement that movement can occur in any order would have made this implicit.

Thread: Session Report

Lightstorm — 2005-01-04T16:05:45+00:00

Lauren, Lindsay and I (dad) put on our pirate hats as we sat down for a game of Capt'n Clever. Lindsay, the youngest (6) set off to a fast start, quickly collecting the outer perimeter items that I gave her (it's easier to collect items on the outer perimeter, so I gave Lindsay the easier items). Lindsay, in turn was also giving Lauren (8) outer perimeter treasures until she decided to "make it hard" by giving Lauren the treasure chest, which is on the center island and can be toughest to get if other players block. Lauren was able to take advantage of a couple of not-so-clever ship moves by Lindsay and I to take her treasure chest from the center island. Meanwhile, Lauren gave me the treasure chest early on and proceeded to run a blocking strategy by using Lindsay's and my boats to reach her own treasures (on the outer perimeter). Lauren's sneak worked, as she completed the game with all nine treasures while Lindsay and I tied at five a piece.

Lauren - 9 points
Lindsay - 5 points
Dad - 5 points

Lot's of fun had by all!

Thread: Session Report

PBrennan — 2004-02-18T22:28:17+00:00

It was ok, but just not very exciting. It’s not hard to work out what your ‘best’ play is each turn, and not hard to give a ‘hard’ destination to the next player. Then, let player interaction take it’s course and hope it helps you get where you want to be. I give this about a 5.

Thread: Re:User Review

hclerx — 2003-12-16T07:37:42+00:00

Correct. The movement rules are:

step 1. You MAY move your captain, if you want.
step 2. You MAY move your ship, if you want.
step 3. You MUST move your captain, if he can move and you haven't moved him yet (in step 1).

In other words, you may move your captain before you move your ship and the other way around. But the movement of the captain is mandatory if he can move at the end of your turn and you haven't moved him yet. This doesn't mean you can move your captain twice though.

Thread: Re:User Review

hclerx — 2003-12-15T14:24:17+00:00

TomVasel wrote:
On a turn, a player first can move their ship – moving it to any open spot on the board, as long as the spot between those two islands is free. After doing this (it’s optional), a player MUST move their captain, if they can.
This is not entirely correct. The rules are:

step 1. You MAY move your captain, if you want.
step 2. You MAY move your ship, if you want.
step 3. You MUST move your captain, if he can move and you haven't moved him yet (in step 1).

In other words, you may move your captain before you move your ship. But the movement of the captain is mandatory if he can move at the end of your turn and you haven't moved him yet. This doesn't mean you can move your captain twice though.

Thread: User Review

TomVasel — 2003-12-11T15:56:27+00:00

When I first opened the box for Capt’n Clever (Rio Grande Games, Gigamic, 2003 – Liesbeth Bas), I wondered where the game was, since each player had only two pieces and nine cards. The game looked very much like a kids game – which wasn’t entirely a bad thing, as I thought it might be just the thing for my school’s board game club. After a good success there, I then tried it with some gaming friends.

And the verdict was unusual. At first glance, Capt’n’ Clever is a kids game, fun and simple. At second glance, Capt’ Clever is full of deeper strategy than one might suspect, and wholly appropriate for strategy gamers. At third glance, however (as the game goes on), it appears that the game is really not meant to be played other than lightly. This may not make a lot of sense, so let me explain…

A picturesque board is placed in the middle of the table, with nine islands on it. Each island has a picture of a treasure identifying that island (map, parrot, coins, etc.), and bridges that lead to other islands (two or three). Each player takes their captain pawn and wooden ship of their color and then takes the nine cards that are the color of their left hand neighbor! Starting with the youngest player, and proceeding clockwise, all players place their captains on an island (only one captain per island), and their ship between two islands, making a connection (again, only one per spot). Each player now picks one of the cards in their hand (each card matches one of the islands, as they have a picture of each treasure on the board) and gives it secretly to the person whose color it is. Each player now has an island that they must get to – the one which matches the treasure on their card. One player starts the game, and then turns proceed clockwise.

On a turn, a player first can move their ship – moving it to any open spot on the board, as long as the spot between those two islands is free. After doing this (it’s optional), a player MUST move their captain, if they can. Using the ships that connect it’s island (ships of any color), the captain can move as far as he possibly can, stopping on any island on the way, as long as 1). No other captain is on that island, and 2). There must be ships connecting his island to the next, then the next, etc. If there is no legal place for the captain to move, then he doesn’t. Once a captain reaches his destination island, he reveals the treasure card of that island, and the player holding his cards gives him a new destination. Once a player has found all nine treasures, they’ve won the game!

Some comments on this (certainly simple) game:

1.) Components: For the few components in the game, I must say that they are certainly top-notch! The pawns for the captains look ridiculous, but are nice, sturdy plastic pieces. The ships, on the other hand, are really sharp looking wooden tokens, and are rather large. The card, board, and box artwork is mostly that of a strange looking Capt’n Clever (think Capt’n Weirdo), but it is nicely done, and the board certainly invokes the feeling of treasure islands. The small board and few pieces fit well in a small, square, sturdy box.

2.) Rules: The rules for the game are printed in both French and English, on a four page color booklet, with English running down one side, and French down the other. This allows them to use the same illustrations. The layout is really poor, though. They tried to cram so much text on a page that it’s a little hard to read. This isn’t a big deal, since the rules are simple, but it was a slight pain to read them. The game is a breeze to teach, however, and folks (especially kids) pick it up quickly.

3.) Strategy: At first, the game seems rather simple. Move your ship to best allow you to move your captain quickly to his destination. But subtleties soon show themselves. If you know that someone is moving to a specific island, you can station your own captain there, and move your own ship away so that you cannot move. It’s usually fairly easy to deduce where people are going (especially near the end of the game), and so if the players are more aggressive, they can prevent a person from going to an island, or force them to move to an island they don’t want to go to. If someone is sitting on an island that you want to move to, and won’t budge, you can place your own ship there, making them get off. In two spots on the board, some bridge ways between islands cross, so if a ship connects two islands, the other two cannot be connected. All this adds up to make the game much more strategic than meets the eye.

4.) Fun Factor: And therein lies the failing. Since players can stop one each other fairly easily, and they can quickly deduce where the opponent is going to go, the end of the game quickly deteriorates into a “stop the leader” game, and can drag out a bit longer than the game should take. (30 minutes or less). But if players don’t take the game too seriously, it can be a lot of fun. Taken too seriously, the Fun Factor isn’t there.

So, my recommendation is mixed. If you have a family, or plan to play the game often with youth, then this is a good game. It’s simple for children to understand, and allows enough strategy for adults to enjoy themselves. But if you are planning to get it for your gaming group who plays Puerto Rico every week, and have all the strategies memorized, then I really think you should pass this one up. It’s nice, cute, and fun, but also not to be taken too seriously. A clever game, to be sure, perhaps a little too clever for its own good.

Tom Vasel

Thread: Re:User Review

DougOrleans — 2003-04-13T21:48:21+00:00

I think you are allowed to move your boat either before or after moving your captain. Several other reviews I've read imply that, plus there's a clause in the rules about being allowed to move the boat after reaching a goal island and seeing your next card. It doesn't change the game much, it just gives you slightly more options (and slightly more to think about...).

Thread: Session Report

garrylloyd — 2003-03-27T13:23:50+00:00

Players: Nige, Mark G, Garry

I am perhaps unusual (no comments thank you Mark or Nige) but I am equally happy playing quite involved games like Euphrat & Tigris and simpler affairs like Hick Hack Im Gackelwack. However, I sometimes feel the inward groans from some of the others in the group when I bring out something with an age guide of 6 and up and try to persuade them to give it a try. Capt’n Clever lies very definitely in this group of games, but I had heard some good things about it and was determined to bring it to the table. The board shows nine islands each hiding a particular type of buried treasure. Players have to travel from island to island attempting to uncover these. However, you have to discover them in the order determined by your right-hand neighbour and he’s not going to make it easy for you. Each of the islands is linked to a number of its neighbours and you can use these links if there is a boat in position to travel the link. On your turn, you can move your boat (each player controls one boat) if you want to but you must move your Captain if you can. You can move across multiple islands if the boats are in place to do it, but you can’t stop at an island where there is already another Captain. The game revolves around manoeuvring your boats to help your cause while also attempting not to help others and blocking their way with your captain, if you can. You also can help yourself by picking treasures for your opponent where they are likely to move boats to aid your travels.

Our game was pretty tight to start off with and as it developed, Nige was in pretty deep thought at times for a game aimed at 6 year olds. I managed to grab a useful lead which meant that the others then tried to hamper my progress. Nige and I got to 8 treasures each and I passed him his last treasure at the location where my Captain was sat, protecting it until I chose or was forced to move off the island. I then managed to force him off the island where I needed to get to and on my next turn moved in to claim the final treasure and the win. I enjoyed Capt’n Clever and can see it being good with a variety of groups. It is simple enough for non-gamers to pick up easily and enjoy, but has a nice light screw-your-neighbour element that will appeal to gamers.

Result: Garry 9, Nige 8, Mark G 6

Ratings: Garry 7, Nige 5, Mark G 6

Thread: User Review

Steerpike — 2003-03-10T14:28:13+00:00

According to Zoch's website, this is designer Liesbeth Bos' first published boardgame. It's an outstanding debut. Capt'n Clever is a fantastic children's game (and a very good adult one). It is not large or complex - it is simple and wonderfully elegant like a small flawless gem of game design.

The Capt'n Clever board consists of nine islands, each with a different treasure symbol on it. Each island has a number of potential connections (appearing on the board as jetties in various colours which look strangely like T-shirts floating in the sea) to other two or three other islands. Each player has a cute wooden boat, a wonderfully stylised plastic captain and a deck of nine cards (each of which bears one of the treasure symbols) in their colour.

At the start of the game you place your captain on one of the islands and place your boat so that it connects two islands. You then give your deck of treasure cards to your right-hand neighbour (i.e. the player before you in the play order). She then selects one of your treasure cards (usually the one most difficult to get to from your present location) and gives it back to you face down - you may look at this card but the other players don't get to see it. This card shows the location of the first treasure you will need to collect.

Play now begins: on a player's turn she may move her boat to any legitimate location on the board to connect two islands. The player must then move her captain if she is able to (but it is perfectly legal to move your boat so as to leave your captain 'stranded' on an island). When you move, you may hop from island to island as long as they are connected by a boat. You may use any player's boat for movement - not just your own. It is quite possible on occasion to get from one end of the board to the other in one turn. You are allowed to move over occupied islands, but you must not end your turn on an island with another captain. If you end your turn on the island bearing the symbol on your treasure card, you turn that card over to show you've collected it and your right-hand neighbour chooses your next destination by passing you another treasure card. The first player to collect all nine treasures wins the game.

As you can see, it's a simple game - a reasonably intelligent five-year-old can play the game (and the rules contain a simpler version where each player draws their next treasure card at random - useful when teaching the game to younger children). But there is lots of room for tactical play within this simple framework: giving your neighbour a card which is likely to make her leave her boat in a position that will be useful to you; forcing other players off an island by leaving your boat connected to it; blocking another player's route with your boat (there are two places on the board where connections cross - a boat placed there connecting two islands stops anyone connecting the other two). There are elements of bluff, memory and forward planning, and the more you play the game, the more you realise its subtleties.

I'll be amazed if this game doesn't win the Kinderspiel des Jahres - wouldn't it be nice if it got at least a nomination for the Spiel des Jahres as well?

The bottom line... if you've got children, buy Capt'n Clever. If you haven't got children, buy Capt'n Clever anyway.