Game: Shipwrecked

Thread: Crónica en español, 25/06/2008

Schroinger — 2008-06-29T00:14:00+00:00

Es el turno hoy comentar sobre el justamente desconocido "Shipwrecked". En nuestro descargo diremos que todo el mundo ha besado a una fea alguna vez, y esta vez nos tocó a nosotros.

Portada.

Bueno, siendo justos, el juego presenta algunas cosas interesantes. Los jugadores toman el papel de naúfragos en una isla desierta. Como no tienen nada mejor que hacer, pasan pujando con cocos por todo lo que allí se menea.

Las cartas de premio tienen varios colores y gana quien obtiene cien puntos de uno de ellos o ciento cincuenta en total. Aparte de los puntos, las cartas señalan ingresos y un valor de venta de las mismas, en caso de hacerse necesario para obtener recursos para seguir jugando.

Cartas de premio moradas.

El sistema de subasta es de tipo secreto con un alto factor psicológico. Los jugadores reciben tres tipos de cartas distintas: pass, stop y strike. La puja comienza en cinco cocos. Si todos los jugadores pasan, el precio deciende de uno en uno hasta llegar a cero. En el momento que alguien juega su carta stop se revelan las cartas jugadas en esa ronda y se determina quién gana la subasta: si no hay otro que haya jugado una carta igual, gana el que la puso; si alguien ha jugado un strike le gana al del stop, a menos que otro también haya jugado una carta igual, en cuyo caso gana el que detuvo la subasta, y si dos o más jugaron stop gana el que tenga entre ellos más pases en rondas previas. Si hay empate en este último supuesto, los jugadores afectados deben pagar el precio, pero ninguno de ellos obtiene la carta.

Tablero y cartas de puja.

El juego comenzó con Luis Carlos muy agresivo ganando varias pujas. Al parecer tenía claro de lo que podían pensar sus rivales, e hizo varias jugadas que le dieron buenos dividendos. Jeffrey pronto se dio cuenta de la táctica a seguir y se hizo a su vez con algunas cartas. Por su parte, Luis Paulino estaba totalmente detrás del palo.

Sin embargo, el punto de inflexión se dio en una jugada en que Luis Carlos decidió vender por cinco cocos una carta de cincuenta puntos para ganar una de diez del color que tenía más. Esto a fin de cuentas resultó clave, pues le mermó posibilidades de victoria, lo que fue aprovechado por Jeffrey para ganar al final de forma relativamente cómoda.

Las posiciones quedaron así:

Primer lugar: Jeffrey, cumpliendo el objetivo de tener ciento cincuenta puntos de cualquier color.

Segundo lugar: Luis Carlos, haciendo gala de su estrategia herediana.

Tercer lugar: Luis Paulino, más perdido que el chiquito de la Llorona o que Adán en el Día de la Madre.

Thread: Love Lost...is there any rescue?

Driver 8 — 2008-02-03T03:21:23+00:00

Blissful Beginnings

Shipwrecked was one of the very first games that started my collection years ago. A veteran gamer gave me a copy of the first edition, the one without the board, that he got at a game convention. It was my introduction to auction games, at least I consider it an auction game. The thing I like the most about it is that you sometimes have to try hard not to win an auction in case you don't have the money to pay for it. I've played Shipwrecked many times since I first got it and the cards show the wear on them to prove it. This week I decided to try it out at my new grop's game night.

Disaster Strikes

The four of us decided to end game night with a quick filler since I didn't have much time. I pulled out Shipwrecked and explained the rules quickly. I started off as start player and the bidding followed normally with one of the players winning it at a cost of 3 tokens. The next item for bid ended in a bidlock at 3 tokens and was auctioned again. This time someone won it for 4 tokens. The next auction ended in a bidlock and was auctioned again. Another bidlock, this time a three-way. After that, another bidlock. "This isn't suppose to happen", I said. At this point we were all getting low in tokens. We were desperately trying to keep this from happening again. Then, another three-way bidlock. "I'm sorry, I can't play this anymore" I said, and put the game away. I doubt I'll ever get the group to play it again.

What went wrong?

I'm still trying to figure out what happened. For one thing, I think we all were making the mistake of thinking that if we didn't want an item, or didn't have the tokens to pay for it, that we should play Passes. Since we all did this, most of our auctions ended in a tie. At one point we tried the strategy of playing out Stops and Strikes first, which ended badly when someone would choose to stop the bid early on. The thing is, we weren't even trying to win the bids at this point. I might not be doing a good job of explaining myself here, but before anyone comments on it, I know we were following the (first edition) rules correctly. I've read them about 20 times and doublechecked them during the game. We were trying to avoid bidlocks, but it still worked out bad for us. Maybe it's because we had 4 players which increased the likelihood of ties. It just seemed to boil down to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with each of us guessing and second guessing each other.

"He's probably going to do this, so I clearly can't choose to do that. But he probably knows I'm going to do that, so I clearly can't choose to do this. But he knows that I know that he knows..." And we're all thinking this way.

Or maybe we we're playing smart at all. I'm really not sure if it came down to poor play or just bad luck. But it left everyone with a bad taste in their mouth. Which is very different from the great game experiences I've had with Shipwrecked in the past. I've never had such problems with bidlocks like that before.

It made me consider a new variant: instead of ties ending in a bidlock, break ties in clockwise order from the starting player (or perhaps counterclockwise. Not sure if there's an advantage either way.) Everyone pays the cost in tokens, but the item goes to the winner of the broken tie. Then play proceeds to the next player. I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to play it again to try this out though. I don't want to give up on Shipwrecked because I think there is a still good game in it.

Thread: Re: Too Much Money?

MonkeyMagic — 2008-01-04T03:24:03+00:00

You are right!

I am not sure how I overlooked this. After reading your post I looked at the rules and at the FAQ at -
http://www.otb-games.com/shipwrecked/

It states
-Do I collect income from my Resource Cards on every turn?
-No, you may only collect income from Resource Cards at the beginning of your turn.

Thread: Re: Too Much Money?

Racinrod — 2007-12-21T03:34:43+00:00

I think many people may be making the mistake of having every player in the game taking income at the beginning of every round.

The way I read it only the starting player for the round collects his income based on the cards in front of him, not every single player in the game. Thus the reason for passing the deck so you know who is collecting this round.

Thread: OTB's Highest Aspiration

macls29 — 2007-10-31T03:31:52+00:00

So I'm not really qualified to make the statement you've read in the subject line. I've played a significant amount of OTB's games, including Apples to Apples, Blink, Gold Digger, Qwitch, Cloud 9, 10 Days..., Cineplexity, Pit, Snorta!, and Tutankhamanen. Shipwrecked is such a step above these in scope and strategy, that I feel comfortable in making this wild claim.

I intended to have a three player game of Thebes tonight. John Steinbeck, before his plunge into esoteria, wrote a wonderful story about how plans can go awry. A fourth visitor, a bottle of wine, several beers, and a baby dancing to "Knees of Mother Brown" on the game table made me reconsider my game selection. I went instead with Shipwrecked. I'd read thru the rules recently, and felt the game could be handled even in the face of unfriendly gaming circumstances.

Never before has there been more than 60 seconds spent in a rules explainantion for OTB games. Never before did someone ask for clarification about a certain situation's rules for resolution. Never before did someone (GASP!) ask me for an idea of the strategy behind certain card plays. "Wow!" I said to myself "This is really a step up in complexity for OTB!"

Please note that I didn't actually say this to myself at the time. I did feel, however, that it fit quite nicely into my modest session report submission.

I suggested we get started, and the game would explain itself. AND IT DID! In fact, we only had one "Take Back" situation. What do I mean by this? I usually tell people that if a certain type of situation arises, I'll explain the rule for it, and then allow that action to be redone once the players understand the consequences of their play. This "Take Back" was reserved for when there was a tie between two "Stop" cards, and both players would have needed to pay the current price and keep bidding. Everyone was pleased with my method for teaching this, and the game proceded smoothly.

One of the players (my sister) was very aggressive in bidding starting with the third or fourth bid. She got herself into dangerous financial straits quickly, but had amassed 120 points of cards. Jokes were made around the table about Island Equity Lines of Credit... all in good fun, mind you . However, she proved to be an unstoppable juggernaut. In fact, she bambozzled me into playing and declaring a "Stop!" in a round she'd played a "Strike!" winning the big with EXACTLY how much currency she had remaining, and making the 150 Point victory requirement on the nose.

Afterward, everyone agreed that the game was fun, and three of us even wanted to play it again. All and all, a fine gaming experience. Perhaps it could even be an introduction of sorts to other games that rely on blind bidding.

Thread: Re: ...but you know I know you know the color-coded flowchar

EvilTimmy — 2007-08-29T17:15:56+00:00

GameCrossing wrote:
it just seems like more of a problem to teach than it's worth.
Pretty much sums up why this game went on my trade list. And even if was easy to explain it's just not a very compelling game.

Thread: ...but you know I know you know the color-coded flowchart...

GameCrossing — 2007-08-28T19:22:45+00:00

This game is really two games in one, almost like a left-brain/right-brain thing. There is the game that makes you stare blankly, and the game that makes you pull your hair out and throw stuff. (Not the hair... doesn't exactly do much damage to throw hair... I mean, what's the point?)

Overview

Everybody starts off with some colored beads which represent currency of some ambiguous nature. I suppose on a desert island (where the game is set), glass beads very well may be the currency. Anyhow, on this island, different stuff comes up for auction, ranging from stuff to eat, like bugs or fish, to companions like parrots and monkeys, (although I'm sure the monkey would appreciate it if you kept the two groups seperate and distinct). The game works on a modified Dutch auction, where the price starts high and goes cheaper and cheaper until someone stops the auction, though the person stopping the auction is not guaranteed of winning the bid.

What I like about the items up for bid (cue Janice with the hand motions) are that the items with the lower point values produce more income where the items worth the top point level produces no income, so you can follow multiple strategies to winning, save your cash to win the big auctions vs win the smaller items to keep replenishing your money.

The left brain... or is it the right brain... I can never remember...

Okay, so one side is the analytical part of it, which is understanding the mechanics of the auction. For me, it seems straight-forward. I remember my wife picking up on it right away when I taught her. But the thing that keeps this game on the shelf more than any other is the fact that I get so many blank stares and "This game is too hard" shrugs when I try and teach the auction. AND IT ISN'T THAT HARD!!!

3 pass cards, 2 stop cards, one strike card. Everyone has the same set of six cards. Everyone plays a card facedown at the same time, then people get a chance to stop the auction. Nobody stops it... everybody plays another card facedown... pause for a moment... repeat until someone who played a stop card turns it up. Then everybody turns up their most recent bid and crams the combination into the flowchart.

If one and only one person played a strike, they outguessed the group and wins the auction.
If noone won because of a strike card, and only one player played a stop card, that person wins the auction
If there are more than one stop cards played, then those players turn up their entire sequence of bids. Whoever played the most pass cards wins the auction. It's kind of like playing chicken.
If there is still a tie, then those players still tied pay as if they won the auction, then hold their own private auction just like before starting with all 6 cards

If-then... if-then... if-then. That's it. And if you win the auction, then you pay a number of stones equal to the number of cards left in your hand. Play a stop on the first round of the auction and win it then, you have five cards left in your hand. Pay five stones. Manage to catch everyone else playing strikes and not stopping the auction until the fifth round and you get your strike in... one card in hand, one stone back to the bank.

WHY CAN NOBODY LEARN THIS?!?!?!

Whatever part of the brain the first part was... this is the other part

So the auction is sort of blind bidding... but it sort of isn't, since it is more of a bluff than a bid.

See... I know you want what is up for bid, especially since you get your income next turn. So you may try to buy it early, except you won't because you never do try to win early, but you may because someone else may try to buy it early and take it from you, so maybe you will, but you won't. But next round, you will play your strike to win when someone else tries to steal it from you, except nobody will play a stop since they think you'll play your strike, so maybe you'll not play your strike and save it for next round, so maybe I'll play my strike next round except I won't because someone else must be figuring the same thing and they will, so noone will stop the auction then... so maybe you'll try and buy it now, but I don't think so, but I'll play a stop just in case, but I won't stop the auction.

/play a card
/wait to see if anyone else stops the auction

Okay, so you didn't stop the auction, but you may have played your strike expecting....

And that's the other half of the game, the never-ending sequence of second-third-and-fourth guessing, which really does fit in nicely in a light filler game.

Voted off the deserted island?

I like this game, quite a bit actually. Problem is, there isn't much going for it as a two-player game, so it doesn't make it off the shelf with just my wife and me. But when there are more people, there always seems to be something else I'd rather introduce to the group. I think a lot of the reas is that I don't want to deal with the frustration of teaching the game. I know that they won't get it. And I'm not teaching it poorly, I don't think. My wife tells me I'm doing a decent job of it. But it just seems like more of a problem to teach than it's worth. Were I to get it taught, though, I'd rate it about an 8, a good game for what it is. But since I have to deal with teaching...

6 out of 10.

Thread: Too Much Money?

MonkeyMagic — 2007-07-19T01:30:10+00:00

Just played a 4 player game of this and there seemed to be too much money going around.

I won the first card which gave me an income of 2 per turn. This means I could afford to pay the second highest bid (of 4) every 2 turns.

I soon won a second resource giving me a total income of 4. This meant that I could afford to pay the highest price (5) every second round and still turn a profit. Even if I tried to win it this often I could not since almost all the other players had enough money to try and stop the auction at the 5 gem step too. Very soon we had used so much money that there were no gems left in the bank and we had to make substitute tokens (worth 10 each).

There just seems to be too much income. With 4 players if they all own one 2 income card then the net payment out of the bank is 6 per round and the maximum payment back in is 5. As the game progresses this just gets worse.

Am I missing something?

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laiernie — 2007-04-27T20:35:10+00:00

box front - first edition

Thread: I love pulling this game off the shelf!

davidgpeterson — 2007-01-13T23:10:21+00:00

I love pulling this game off the shelf. It had been a while since we had played this - in fact one in our group had never played it. In our last gaming session the main game of the evening was Cleopatra from DOW. Brett had to bug out (kids!) which left Mark, Curtis and myself.

We were all in the mood to play something quick and light so I went into my "small box" game cabinet (I also have an entire cabinet for "large box" games) and pulled out Shipwrecked.

It takes about 3 minutes to explain the game to someone who's never played. I love how simple this game is - it's all abou bluffing and second guessing your opponents. But more and more I find the game is about collecting cards that give you income over going for the gusto and collecting the big 50 pointers. If you don't get any gems each turn you'll find that you're out of the game pretty quickly. I also find that you can't be afraid to use the value of cards you've collected when you're low on gems to help get you back in the game.

Great game, simple to learn, lots of fun, makes you think. Very effective.

Results from this session:

Me - 160 points
Curtis - 140 points
Mark - 30 points.

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quentin1 — 2007-01-05T20:54:58+00:00

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quentin1 — 2007-01-05T01:56:18+00:00

Bidding Begins

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quentin1 — 2007-01-05T01:50:31+00:00

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quentin1 — 2007-01-05T01:43:11+00:00

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quentin1 — 2007-01-05T01:25:33+00:00

The Board

Thread: Shipwrecked - A Light Review

Neil Thomson — 2007-01-03T08:40:34+00:00

All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.

Shipwrecked is another solid game from Out of the Box, and a great way for the family to have fun together. The theme of the game is that all players are shipwrecked on a desert island and to survive until rescued they require some key resources - water, food, shelter and friends. Each of these resources is worth various points and the first player to acquire 150 points is the winner.

The game consists of a colourful square board and each player takes an identical set of bidding cards before play begins. Put simply, Shipwrecked is a bidding game. Each round starts by the top resource card being turned over. The resource card is worth a particular value to help players reach the 150 points required. Each card also has an income value and this is how much gold a player can collect when it is their turn to draw the next resource card. This is the card that player’s are bidding to win.

The cards in each player’s hand include strike, pass and stop. In turn each player must select 1 card and play it facedown to the bidding board. This is phase one of bidding. All cards are then revealed and there is a series of rules which help to determine the outcome based on the card combinations that were played. If a player manages to win the bid, they must pay the asking price (based on the bidding phase that was reached), take control of the resource card and all bidding cards are returned to the players. Another resource card is drawn and bidding takes place again.

The first player that can acquire 150 points worth of resources is the winner. But wait there is more regarding bidding. If the combination of bidding cards played results in no one winning the bid, the next phase of bidding takes place and they must use their remaining bidding cards.

Each new phase of bidding that is reached will result in the final price going up, therefore costing the eventual winner more. This element allows for a variety of strategies to be employed by the players, bluffing is crucial and sometimes a victory can be a heavy burden to bear.

If players run out of gold (their income is too low), they must sell some of their resources. Each resource card has a sale value printed on the bottom. Generally speaking the high sale value cards are worth less victory points when determining a player’s total score and vice versa. In this way the game is nicely balanced.

One final twist to the game is that the resource cards come in a set of different colours (based on their type). If a player can manage to acquire a majority of a coloured set of cards then they will earn bonus points to help reach the 150 point total. This can result in some frantic bidding as players seek to acquire or block access to resources that would result in a majority being obtained.

The Final Word

Shipwrecked is another winner for families after some fun. The combination of quality components and game play that is quick to play and easy to learn is just what most families are looking for. Children find it especially fun as winning a bid requires an equal mix of luck, bluff and strategy – so adults do not always have the edge. Children also love the fact that a lost bid is no big deal as there are plenty more chances to win!

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iam_emperor — 2006-10-23T06:18:20+00:00

Shelter

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iam_emperor — 2006-10-23T06:18:12+00:00

Drink

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iam_emperor — 2006-10-23T06:18:01+00:00

Food

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iam_emperor — 2006-10-23T06:15:05+00:00

Companionship

Thread: Re: Rebid question

steveoliverc — 2006-09-28T01:51:11+00:00

First, the bidlocked players pay the fee. Then they take all of their bid cards back into their hands.

Now, the bidlocked players start a new round of bidding for the resource card. (The other players sit this round out.)

So, the answer to your question is, you take back all of your bid cards before starting the rebid.

Thread: Re: How's it play with 3?

scotto — 2006-09-03T00:34:37+00:00

Yeah not too badly, althought it is over quickly. We also found that we were bidding exactly the same way for most rounds. I quite enjoyed it still though.

Thread: How's it play with 3?

richardolen2 — 2006-08-29T19:13:33+00:00

Juuuuuuust wondering.

Thread: Re: Have you missed this really good game due to its low rat

delirimouse — 2006-06-17T10:41:13+00:00

When I first came to BGG one of the first things I did was check the rating on Shipwrecked, and I was saddened, nay heartbroken to discover it was so low. It was very popular in my gaming circle for quite a while, and was a bargain at whatever tiny price I paid for it out of the bargain bin (which is more than I can say for such non-gems as Democrazy and Dragon's Gold which seem to have similar ratings).

Thread: [Review] Shipwrecked

TomVasel — 2005-12-20T14:44:20+00:00

I love a game that has a bluffing factor to it. I really stink at such games, but they are so much fun to play that I disregard my shear horrible play. Shipwrecked (Out of the Box Publishing, 2002 - Matthew Kirby), promised "Bidding, Bluffing, and Survival", and I was intrigued. Of course, the simplicity of OOTB games often leads to some great enjoyment, so I had high hopes for the game. Featuring great artwork by John Kovalic, and some other nice components, it promised to be slightly more advanced than most OOTB games.

And it did not disappoint - Shipwrecked plays quickly, has a great bluffing aspect, and is simply a lot of fun to play. It's best with four players (immensely so) and involves a lot of second-guessing that might turn some people off, but all those I played the game with enjoyed it. It's an interesting game, and it takes a few moments for some folk to wrap their head around the paper-rock-scissors mechanics of the bidding; but once the game gets going, it's smooth flowing fun.

Each player takes a set of "bid cards" of their color. These cards include three "Pass" cards, two "Stop" cards, and one "Strike" card. Players also get a certain amount of gemstones, according to the number of players, with the remainder of the stones placed in the "bank". A pile of twenty-four resource cards is shuffled and placed face down, next to the game board. The game board is divided into a grid, with six numbered rows and four columns. Each row (starting with # 1 at the bottom), has a number of gems next to it - with five next to # 1, four next to # 2, etc. One player is chosen to go first, and the game is ready to begin!

On a player's turn, they first collect income for every resource card they currently own (none at the beginning of the game.) Each resource card has an income of zero to two on them. The player then puts a resource card up for bid, either any of the resource cards in the bank, or the top card from the resource stack. This card is put face up in the middle of the table, and all players will compete in an auction for the card. If the card happens to say "hidden resource" (there are four of these cards in the deck), then the player turns the next resource card over, and it is auctioned off without the players knowing what it is.

Each auction takes place the same way. Players choose one of their six bid cards and place it face down in the # 1 row on the board. If anyone places a "stop" card, they may (they don't have to) announce that the bid is stopped. If no one does this, then players play another card in the # 2 row. This continues until one player decides to stop the bid in any row (if they played a "stop" card.) The bid is automatically stopped after the sixth row.

Players, once the bid is stopped, turn over the last row of cards to see who won the bid. The way to determine who won works thusly…
- If one, and only one person, plays a Strike card, they win the bid.
- If two or more people play Strike cards, they cancel each other out.
- If one, and only one person, plays a Stop card, AND no one plays a Strike card, they win the bid.
- If two or more people play Stop cards, AND no one plays a Strike card, then they check for a tie breaker. Each player involved turns over all other cards that they've played. The player who has played the most Pass cards wins the tie. If this still results in a tie, all players must pay the cost of the card, and bidding starts completely over for the card.

The winner takes the resource card, paying the bank the amount of gems shown next to the row of the final bid. If a player can't pay the cost, they must sell Resource cards that they've already won back to the bank for the "value" listed on the card. (Resource cards have a value of one to five). If a player still can't win the bid, then all of their resource cards are given to the bank, and they are out of the game.

Play then passes to the next person. Each Resource card is one of four types (Food, shelter, water, and friends) and is worth ten to fifty points. When one player has 100 points from one type or 150 points from any type, they win the game!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: The cards are all thick, laminated, with the artwork of John Kovalic (of Dork Tower fame) and certainly convey a humorous bent to the idea of landing on an island. The pictures are cartoonish, but I find that the theme fits the game well. The Resource cards are quite large, much larger than normal sized playing cards, while the bid cards are smaller squares. The gems are small glass beads, and the board is a fairly large square board (which I was surprised fit into the box) which holds all the bids easily. The box is the small, flat, square one which OOTB puts much of their games into, and the durable box fits easily onto most shelves.

2.) Rules: The rulebook is the longest OOTB rulebook I've ever seen - clocking in at six large pages. However, that's simply because two and one half of the pages are dedicated to an entire full color pictorial depiction on how bids work. Once players understand how the bidding works, this may seem over the top, but there is absolutely no question once you read over these rules. When teaching the game, I found that a demonstration of the bidding process speeds up the game. Instead of taking one minute to explain like most OOTB games, Shipwrecked takes five. Teenagers and adults both understood quickly…

3.) Winning the bid: Unlike many auction games, it's not always good to win the bid in Shipwrecked. At first, it's probably always in a player's benefit to win every auction that they are involved in, if possible. But money gets tight really quick, and a player can be forced to sell off some resources to win others (which can get annoying). If a player plays a "strike" card at the wrong time, they might accidentally win. This provides a lot of tension to bidding rounds, especially those that are later on in games.

4.) Elimination: There is an elimination aspect to the game, although I haven't yet had it happen in any of the games in which I've played. Some players have come close, but really, there's no need to worry about this. If a player is eliminated, it's because they've bid extremely aggressively and were caught with their pants down. If a player is running low on money, they just have to pull back with their bidding and try to win cheaper resource cards.

5.) Bidding: The whole bidding system is one whole "outguess your opponent" game. In a sense, the game is blind bidding, but players have a little bit of information, watching what resources a player has already won. I like the way a player has to gauge when to play their "strike" card, and when to play the "stop" card. Then, when playing the "stop" card, when does the player declare that the round has stopped? As the price for each resource card drops, players basically play a game of "chicken", waiting to see when they will try to win the card. Often, this happens at the same time for several players - sometimes giving an odd player out the card, or causing the tied players to pay the bank money. Either way, it's an exciting, tense time.

6.) Fun Factor: As I just said in the last point, the bidding is what makes the game fun. Watching as each card comes up, seeing who might possibly win if they gain the card, keeps each bidding round interesting. Players who despise blind-bidding and bluffing may not enjoy the game, but most people will enjoy the game - it's a lot of tense fun in a short amount of time.

I really enjoyed Shipwrecked, as it was a short, fast blind-bidding game that held my attention the entire game. Games can swing back and forth quickly, and most last less than thirty minutes. I think it's a lot of fun, and offers meaningful decisions. Yes, the game probably qualifies as "light", but it's more than just a lark in the park. There are blind bidding games that I think are heavier and better, such as Aladdin's Dragons and Fist of Dragonstones; but when I only have a short time and want to play a game that's quick yet offers good choices, then Shipwrecked is my choice.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.tomvasel.com

Thread: Have you missed this really good game due to its low rating?

thoia — 2005-09-29T15:04:59+00:00

Here's an unexpected little game that so far all of the people I've introduced to have thoroughly enjoyed. I've also noticed that this is getting requested with a enthusiasm at our club's meetings. Being as it's a maximum of 4 players the game fills instantly with willing gamers, but I digress.

Ahhhh Shipwrecked, a simple card/bidding game by Out of the Box Games. The theme in this game is very easily ignored, in fact one of my players who is most keen on this game didn't know what game I was talking about when I said Shipwrecked as he never even associated the theme at all. It's easy to forget the theme in the fast paced nature of the game. You find yourself simply driving for the point total and focusing on what card another person might play. The fact that the cards are pretty basic and there are no special abilities or combos facilitates this kind of play.

Set, each player takes 15 gold and deck of cards matching the color he/she would like to be. You get 6 cards; 3 pass, 2 stop and 1 strike. Put the board on the table, shuffle the resource deck and start playing. Player 1 flips over the top resource card and this is the item up for bid. The factor to consider are; color, point value and income. Each turn players collect the amount of gold they have in income as indicated by their cards. The goal of the game is have 100 points of the same color cards or 150 points in any combination of cards.

Round 1 of the bidding starts. Each player looks at his hand and plays a card face down in the first row on the board. If a player has played a STOP card he may choose to stop the auction or keep quiet and let the auction roll on to the next round. So here's how to win the auction. If a player is the only player to have played a strike and another played announced a stop, the strike wins. If a player announces a stop and no other stops or no other strikes were played, the single stop wins. Multiple stops and no strikes is a tie and whoever played the most passes in previous rounds win, if this still is a tie or it's the first round those players are bidlocked and must each pay the cost of the bid as a fee, and only those players get to auction again for the same card. Multiple strikes cancel each other out and then it goes to the single stop or the tie between multiple stops. In round 1 the card costs 5 gold, round 2 it costs 4 gold and continues until round 6 when the card is free. Players take their cards, and the next round begins. The only other little thing is the "Hidden Resource" card. When one of these go up for auction the card you win will be the next card in the deck so you are bidding on a card that you do not know the information on.

So there's the game. Easy enough right? Almost dull sounding right? WRONG! Once everyone has a grasp of the game it's best to just sit and quietly play your cards, pause between rounds just long enough to let anyone STOP if they played one and decide to do so, and if not quickly start the next round of bidding. Someone will eventually say "stop" and anxiously wait to see who played what in that same row. Tension is pretty high in this simple little game as you try and guess and double guess what your fellow gamers played. Keep in mind late game if you don't have much money on hand you may not be able to pay for the card so if you play a strike round 1 thinking surely no one will stop it and win the round due to someone stopping it then you will have to sell off one of your cards to make up the difference. The game is tremendous fun and I highly suggest it for a light filler/warm-up/wrap-up game. As of this writing there are 29 copies for trade which is a shame but good news for you...jump on it.

Thread: User review

sorewinner — 2005-07-26T17:55:51+00:00

Shipwrecked

2-4 players
Ages 12+
20-40 minutes

Although I haven't played many typical 'auction games', I have played a few games with an auction component (Aladdin's Dragons, For Sale, O Zoo le Mio). Shipwrecked is all about bidding, but it has a unique feel and twist that makes it different from the others. The bidding process is tricky and requires a deal of psychology and poker face. It's just as difficult to 'not win' an item as it is to win one at the price you want.

The premise of the game is that you are shipwrecked on a deserted island and must compete for the basic necessities: Food, Water, Shelter, and Friends (represented by colored card suits). These over-sized cards have cute illustrations and add to the lighthearted theme of the game. Each card has a rank that ranges from 10 to 50 points. The object is to get 150 total points or 100 points in one suit.

Each round, the lead off player flips over a card from the deck which will then be auctioned off. There are also Hidden Resource cards in the deck. When one comes up, players bid for the next card in the deck without knowing what it is!

The bidding is where things get tricky. Each players has 6 bid markers: 3 Pass, 2 Stop, and 1 Strike. Each round of each auction, a player must place one of these markers face down. The first round, the markers are placed in the '5 position'. This means is the auction is stopped at this position, the winner pays 5 for the item. If no one stops the auction, players place a marker in the '4 position'. Once again, if the auction is stopped, the winner pays 4 for the item. These rounds continue until the auction is stopped, or until the auction moved to the last '0 position'.

Stopping the auction and determining the winner is also a little tricky (but like many Out-Of-The-Box games, it's written on the side of the box). The only way to stop a bid is by placing a Stop marker and declaring that you want the auction to stop after all the players have placed their markers. A Stop marker will win if no one else has played a Stop marker for that position and no one has played a Strike marker. A Strike marker is like a trump. It will beat a Stop, but cannot stop an auction. Multiple Strikes in a given position cancel each other out. A Pass is what you would expect, a passed bid. But, a Pass has some power as well. If multiple Stops are placed in the same positions, Pass markers from previous positions are counted up. The bid with the most prior Passes wins. If it's still a tie, the auction is bidlocked. Tying bidders pay the cost, but none get the item, and the auction is restarted. When the winner is determined, he then pays the bank for the item. If he cannot, he must turn in one of his other item cards for the resale value (like mortgage in Monopoly).

Once the auction for that item is complete, the deck passes to the next player. Each time the deck comes to a player, he collects income as listed on each item card he owns. He may then choose to place an item sold back to the bank up for auction, or draw one from the deck to be auctioned.

Confused yet? Shipwrecked takes a little getting used to, but once you've got it, it becomes very entertaining, especially with 4 players.

One thing that makes Shipwrecked stand out from other auction games is that you can't 'not bid'. You must participate in the auction, even if you really don't want the item. This means it can even be tricky to try and 'not win' something. For instance, you place your 3 Pass markers in the 5, 4, and 3 positions because you don't want the item (and you don't have any money left!). Now you're left with 2 Stops and a Strike. It's then possible for you to accidentally win the item, or even worse, it could result in a bidlock. There are certainly many dimensions to this game.

All in all, I'd say that if you're looking for an auction game to round out your collection, this is the way to go. It's quick, easy, and cheap...all in a small little box.

Thread: Re: Rebid question

Hallow — 2005-06-07T21:01:08+00:00

Continue to rebid and pay the fee I assume?

Thread: Re:Rebid question

saburn — 2004-05-30T16:40:03+00:00

Just tried the game and as expected the rebid situation caused problems. In our first rebid attempt in the second round, the rebid itself was a tie as was the number of pass cards. With no way to break the tie, now what...? Also, Is there more than one rebid penelty during a round? Thanks,

Bruce

Thread: Rebid question

saburn — 2004-05-28T15:21:33+00:00

In reading the rules in preparation for a first time play I am unsure where bid cards come from for a rebid. Do the involved players take the tieing bid cards back into their hand and redo the bid in the newly vacated bid space or do they rebid with what they currently have in their hand (placed on top of their tieing bid)? Maybe it becomes obvious when playing but it's not obvious to me now!

Thanks in advance.
Bruce

Thread: Session Report

jeffmunoz — 2004-04-30T22:29:32+00:00

We had a 6:30 game night at a friend's house, but I met early with Ben to show him Carcassonne: The Castle. Since we finished up before 6 o'clock, I pulled out Shipwrecked. I had only played the game twice with my girlfriend. She didn't like it too much because I kept outguessing her. I was still undecided about the game and wanted to try it with another gamer.

Once I explained the rules, we started a two player game. It went fairly quickly. We had two or three bidlocks, but I won some bids at 2 and 3 gemstones on two cards that earned me income and one that was a 50 point card. Ben won one for 3 stones and one for 2, but I was earning more than him. Since neither of us had stopped a bid at 5 yet, when the next card came up I stopped right away and won the game.

We still had plenty of time, so we invited his 11-year old daughter, Cassandra, to play with us, since it looked like a three player game would be much better than a two player game.

I took the first two cards which were a blue 50 and a blue 40. The third card was also a blue, which would have given me the game. I didn't want to end the game at three turns with new players, so I let the card go with bad bidding. Ben ended up getting it. After that, I never saw another blue card.

After a few rounds, I had 4 cards with 130 points and 4 income, Ben had four cards with 110 points and 5 income, and Cassandra only had one card worth 10 points and 2 income. Ben and Cassandra bidlocked at 3, and then rebid. They bidlocked another 3 or 4 times at 1 and 0 - Ben was trying to let her have the card, he was using his strike and stop cards early without stopping the bid, but Cassandra kept letting it get to 0 without saving a stop or strike. Finally Ben took the card for 0.

Eventually, I won the game by bidding 5 when I only had 2 gemstones. I traded in one of my cards, but the card that I got was enough to give me 150.

Overall, Ben thought the game was pretty good, but Cassandra didn't care for it. Her distaste is directly related to her frustration during the consecutive bidlocks with her father. I'm still reserving my final judgement on this game until I can play it with both three and four experienced gamers. For now, I think it's a fun game that can be used as a time filler while waiting for other gamers.

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2004-02-10T12:37:14+00:00

Blind bidding. I should have known better.

Well, let me be fair. Many, many folks … perhaps most folks … enjoy games that involve blind bidding and bluffing as their central mechanism. I’m one of those rare folks who find them to be, well, all wet.

True to this Out of the Box release’s title, players are marooned on an island and are struggling to acquire “food, shelter, water, and friends”. However, there aren’t enough to go around, so players must compete for these scarce resources. The commodity of exchange is gemstones, which apparently are either found in relative abundance on the island or were ferreted away from the doomed ship before sinking.

The resources are depicted on oversized cards, color-coded to indicate the four types. Each resource possesses a point value (10 – 50), income level (0 – 2) and value (1 – 5). These will be mixed and auctioned one-at-a-time, with the ultimate objective being to acquire various resources totaling a certain amount. A player can achieve victory by earning 100 points in one resource type, or 150 points in any combination of resources.

On a player’s turn, he receives income as listed on the resource cards he possesses. Then, he reveals one resource card, either from the deck or from previously surrendered cards. Bidding for the resource card is conducted in a rather strange manner over a varying number of rounds. Each player possesses six bidding cards: 3 pass, 2 stop and one strike. Each player places one card face-down onto the very large board as his bid. These are NOT revealed unless one player declares that he has played a ‘stop’ card. If no one makes this declaration, each player lays another card face-down onto the second row on the board. This process is continued until one player declares that he has played a “stop” card.

When this declaration is made, all cards in the current row are revealed. If a solitary “strike” card is revealed, that player wins the bid and acquires the resource card. The amount paid decreases with each round, beginning at five and ultimately reducing to “no charge” if the bidding culminates in the sixth and final round. The cost is paid in gemstones, but previously acquired resources can be surrendered for their value to help pay the cost.

But what happens if more than one player has played a “strike” card? Then, the player playing the sole “stop” card wins the bid. This, of course, begs the question: what happens if more than one player plays a “stop” card, too? Then, ALL of the cards played by these players are revealed, with the player having played the most “pass” cards capturing the resource card. If these players have played an identical number of “pass” cards, a “bidlock” results, and each of the players involved must pay the cost for the resource card, but no one receives the card. They then re-bid for the card until one of them ultimately wins the bid.

This bidding process is initially confusing, but does become clear after a round or two. The process requires a bit of psychology, a smidgen of strategy and a boatload of guesswork. Some find this type of guesswork to be stimulating and exciting. Fine. I, however, find it to be just that – guesswork. I guess I seek a bit more strategy in most of the games I play. There are certainly exceptions to this, as I do enjoy games such as Raj and Sky Runner. However, in each of these games, the elements of strategy seem to be higher. You can at least track the cards your opponents have played and plan your future turns accordingly. This amount of planning seems mostly absent in Shipwrecked.

A big concern we all had was the brevity of the game. It was simply over too quickly. There wasn’t enough time to formulate any long-term strategy … if that is even possible here. Still, it was too quick for our tastes.

Lest I hammer the game too much, let me state that it is not without its moments of frustration and excitement when the cards are revealed. This is amusing, but it usually takes more than amusement for a game to make an impact ... at least on me. However, I can certainly see how the game might well be popular in a family environment or with folks who normally don’t play games with any degree of regularity. As for me … well, Shipwrecked simply doesn’t float my boat.

Michael, Jason, John and I were stranded on the island, competing for resources. I grabbed several resources early, but found myself too short on gemstones to compete during the critical later stages of the game. Michael acquired two valuable resources to put him over the top.

Finals: Michael 150, Greg 100, Jason 60, John 30

Ratings: Michael 6, Jason 5.5, Greg 4, John 2

Thread: First Playing

gschloesser — 2004-02-10T05:55:24+00:00

Thread: Re:User Review

davidgpeterson — 2004-01-30T16:47:34+00:00

A good point about running out of money - it's so easy to put all your energy into the auction and forget about the finances of the game. Very important to manage your money in this one and often a resource card that's high in income but low in points is the best one to get for that reason. Money means options in Shipwrecked!!

Glad you enjoyed. It's one of my favorites.

D

Redneon (#26533),

Thread: Re:User Review

Redneon — 2004-01-27T03:57:38+00:00

davidgpeterson (#22818), I agree, this is a great 4 person game. We played it Sunday with 4 newbies and had a ball. The psychological aspects make it tricky and the penalties for guessing wrong just add to the fun. Perhaps we over-analyzed each move, but we all ended up running out of stones to pay for the cards. Eventually, one person got a lot of income cards and won the game.

Thread: User Review

davidgpeterson — 2003-11-28T20:56:39+00:00

I love this game. Why? Because it's an example of how games dont have to be big, with elaborate boards and bits, and 20 page rule books to be really entertaining. Shipwrecked is simple, it's fun, and it's a fantastic exercise in the psycology of your opponents.

First off, the bits the game comes with are simple, but great. The large, well constructed game cards are well illustrated. The game also comes with a series of bidding cards for each of the players (2 to 4).

The game plays best with four players, but it's still enjoyable with the minimum of two. Shipwrecked is all about trying to read the minds of your opponents based on their body language, their poker face and their situation in the game.

The game works like this:

Each player is supposed to be stranded on an island together. Each player must compete for resources - food/drink, shelter and friends - to survive. There are several cards of each resource. Within each resource different cards are worth different points depending on how good the resource is - for example a tree-house is a more valuable shelter than a lean-to. The goal is to secure a certain number of points based on specific types of resources each player is trying to acquire. The first player to achieve the set number of points given a set combination of resources wins.

The way you secure the resources is the fun part. Resources are bid on by each player using a unique auction system. Players play cards face down until the auction is stopped by a player. The cards are then revealed and compared. Depending on who played what cards in what order will determine who gets the resource. That's where the psycology comes in because you dont know what the other players are bidding until after the auction is done. Players have to rely on their ability to read their opponents. It's not uncommon to see players totally stumped, trying to figure out what auction card to play next. It can get mind numbing.

Bottom line - little box, big game! Highly recommended.

Enjoy,
Dave

Thread: Gameplay Question

jfrands — 2002-08-15T12:55:38+00:00

This game looks like it would be fun, but...
When we tried playing this game it seemed like the game went too fast. The money you start with seems sufficient to buy all the cards you need to win in a few passes unless you bidlock. Even if you did bidlock people bought up cards and the income it generated catapulted them into winning fast. We have yet to have to trade in mortgage cards at all. Am I missing something?

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

by Out of the Box games
Quick bidding card game with some new ideas. You have two stops, three pass and a wild card....(i forgot the name) a resource is turned up and you bid for it in secret by laying out cards....kind of a bluffing rock paper sissors. The bidding continues for 6 rounds if no one secretly plays a stop and says stop. If you get the bid on the first round you pay $5 on the next $4, etc. So it also has the how long do you hold out pressure. And, even if you play and say stop you can still loose the bid because of the different bids on the cards....too much to go into right now. Again, cute 15 minute bid and bluff game.

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

The Out of the Box exhibitor at Gen Con introduced this game to Paul and me while I was shopping for blank Apples to Apples cards.
We learned the game quickly although the demonstrator forgot to mention that the prize cards can be drawn from either the deck or the mortgage pile. The exhibitor played conservatively by taking high income cards first. Paul took high point cards right off the bat after a few expensive bidlocks with the salesman. In the final bid, I lost the winning card to Paul after a bidlock. Paul was out of cash but his extra prize card was worth just enough to pay for the card he need to claim victory.
The salesman claimed ultimate victory by convincing me to buy the game. I'm hoping it will be a slightly more strategic alternative to Raj. The number of players in Shipwrecked affects the bidding strategy quite a bit. With four people, the strike cards become a lot less powerful since they can be cancelled out by one of the other three players.