By MICHAEL ERB
Staff Writer
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
www.newsandsentinel.com
http://merb101.livejournal.com
PARKERSBURG — With treasure maps in hand and cannons at the ready, rival buccaneers take to the seas for treasure, glory and adventure in Front Porch Classics’ ‘‘Dread Pirate.’’
The four-person game sets players against one another in a search for gold, jewels and the mysterious Dread Island. Each player controls a ship they use to navigate around the treasure-map style gameboard, raiding or trading at the home ports of rival players, battling other pirates and sailing through mystic triangles, areas of the map that cause both fortune and misfortune.
The basic mechanics of the game are simple. Each player holds a treasure bag with a number of coins and jewels. Each home port also holds a number of jewels. Dread Island sits in the middle of the map, and each player must hold at least one treasure from each rival pirate before they can sail to Dread Island and claim the title of Dread Pirate.
Movement is controlled by two six-sided dice. Simply roll and move, with doubles resulting in additional rolls. Combat is similarly simple, with each player rolling a six-sided die and the highest roll winning.
In ‘‘Dread Pirate,’’ treasure is life. If you lose a combat, the winning player takes from you a number of treasure equal to their die roll. For example, if you roll a 4 and the other person rolls a 2, you would take four treasures at random from the losing player. Run out of treasure and your ship sinks, sent to join Davy Jones in the briny depths.
Treasure also can be gained from a rival pirate’s home port through one of two ways: Raiding or trading. A raid is just like ship-to-ship combat. If the raiding player wins, they gain that number of jewels from the port. If they lose, the pirate must raid or trade at another port before being allowed to try again. A trade also involves a roll of the dice, but this time each player is trying to roll as low as possible. The player who initiates the trade rolls to see how many gold they must pay to Dread Island. The port player rolls to see how many of their jewels (from that port) the trade is worth. For example, if I were trading at a rival port, and I rolled a 5 and the other player rolled a 3, I would pay five gold for three jewels.
The game ends when all jewels from home ports have been claimed, so there are times, especially late in the game, where it is better to risk a costly trade than to risk losing a raid and being banned from the one port you need to win. Coins and jewels are counted at the end of the game and the player with the greatest number wins. In a tie, the player with the most coins claims victory, making it equally important to hold both jewels and doubloons.
The first pirate to successfully take treasure from all the other players or their home ports can venture to Dread Island and take a die roll of free treasure, plus gain the Jolly Roger and the title of Dread Pirate. The Dread Pirate gets a +1 to all combat and rolls an extra die while moving.
But holding the title of Dread Pirate also can be a burden. The Jolly Roger and the title can only be lost in combat, which makes that +1 extra handy when fighting off would-be usurpers. Since most fights come down to the luck of a die roll, however, it isn't uncommon for the Dread Pirate title to switch hands several times while playing.
During one game our Dread Pirate was something of a Dread Chicken, running from most fights in order to keep her flag and title. Though she was able to fend off every attacker that managed to corner her ship, the thought of losing and giving up those bonuses kept her playing defensively throughout the game.
The Dread Pirate's ability to roll three dice when moving also comes at a cost, because doubles, or even triples, do not result in extra moves. In several instances my ship, thanks to some lucky rolls, was able to traverse almost the entire game board in a single round, while the Dread Pirate player barely moved.
There are several areas of the map that are marked by triangles, which are mystic or cursed areas that cause twists of fate throughout the game. You also must move through a cursed channel to reach and to leave Dread Island.
Each time you enter or leave such areas during a round, you draw a Dread Pirate Card. Each card has a small twist of fate, which can range from finding a buried treasure (which adds to your gold/jewels), to a mutinous crew (which may cost treasure) to strong winds at your back, which increase your movement.
Many of the cards, such as gaining or losing treasure, take effect immediately, but others, such as bonuses or penalties to combat or movement, take effect when they come into play (i.e. when combat or movement occur). It is possible to have several cards in front of a player waiting to take effect, but only one card can take effect per situation.
The cards each bear a small piece of pirate trivia, and were by far my favorite part of the game. The Event Cards added a random element to the game, but I think also increase its replay value. One player seemed to draw nothing but good fortune, finding buried treasure or favorable winds at every turn. My ship, however, often was beset with ill fortune and a lazy and mutinous crew. Such is the luck of the sea.
There are two versions of this game: Bookshelf Format, which comes in a wooden, book-shaped box, and Old Century Edition, which comes in a wooden treasure chest. Front Porch Classics was kind enough to send me the Old Century Edition, and it is absolutely beautiful. Front Porch Classics is known for producing high-quality game components that are intended as much for display as they are for play, and both versions of ‘‘Dread Pirate’’ fit that theme. Metal ships and coins, velvet treasure bags, wooden dice and a cloth gameboard/treasure map all add to the feel of the game and are beautiful to view.
The game does cost a bit more due to the inclusion of these high-quality bits and pieces, but it is well worth the money. This is a fun game that my friends and family love, and the components are beautiful and sure-fire conversation pieces.
For more information on ‘‘Dread Pirate’’ or other Front Porch Classics games, visit www.frontporchclassics.com.
Contact Michael Erb at merb101@gmail.com or at http://merb101.livejournal.com.
Edit: A review copy of the game was provided for this article.
Last edited on 2009-06-24 09:49:34 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Posted Mon Apr 16, 2007 3:04 pm
