Pirate's Cove
# 6 on my "Top Ten Thematic
Games" list.
Sometimes our wishes come true. Thus
was the case of Pirate’s Cove (Days of Wonder, 2003 – Paul Randels and
Daniel Stahl). I’ve always wanted to play Piratenbucht, but never bought
it – hoping that some day an English version would come out. And finally,
one did – and I was able to get a hold of a copy, looking forward to a
game themed about pirates.
Pirate’s Cove was a winner for me on several levels. The components were tremendous, the theme was very well integrated into game play, and the game was a blast to play. Very few times do I play a game as brimming with theme as this one, so I was extremely happy to play a component-heavy, theme-heavy, rules-light game.
There is a bit of setup in this game, although it doesn’t really take that long. A board is set up in the middle of the table, depicting the seven islands that are used in the game. A stack of treasure cards is shuffled, and a stack of twelve of these cards is placed on five of the islands (numbered 1-5). Another stack of Tavern cards is shuffled, with one card being dealt to each player, and the rest placed in a face down pile on Tavern Island (#1). Each player chooses a ship of their color, placing it in front of them, a matching colored “fame” marker, placed a the beginning of a scoring track, and a pirate ship mat. The pirate ship mat has four tracks on it – sails, cannon, crew, and hull. The player takes four wooden rings of their color and places them on the second position of each of their tracks. Each player also receives doubloons worth nine gold, and a Captain’s wheel. All the remaining gold, and all the treasure chests are placed on Treasure Island (#6). The black ship piece is placed at Tavern Island, and one of the Legendary Pirate cards is flipped over to see who the pirate is.
The game is ready to begin, and will last twelve turns. Each turn is made up of six phases, during which players are seeking the most “fame”, or victory points.
Treasure Phase: The top card of each of the twelve stacks is turned over. On each card are four numbers, showing what a player will get if they plunder that island (amount of fame points, amount of doubloons, amount of treasure chests, and number of cards).
Navigation Phase: Each player secretly selects one of the six islands they want to go to, moving the arrow on their Captain’s wheel to the matching number. The seventh island (Pirate’s Cove) can only be gone to by stinkin’ cowards and players who have been defeated in battle. Simultaneously, all players show their wheels, and move their ships to these locations.
Combat Phase: There can only be one ship at each location, so if there are more than one, the ships must fight. If the black ship is there, the players must fight the pirate on the card (except for one card, which is a treasure ship!). (Combat does not occur at Pirate’s Cove or Treasure Island – unless a pirate is at Treasure Island.) Each player uses the numbers on their ship mat to fight. The player who has the higher sail number fires first (ties are broken by a die roll), and fires their cannons. They may roll the amount of dice for however many crew and cannon they have (1 die for each matched pair, so if you have 5 crew and only 2 cannons, you can only roll two die). The player declares which section of which participating ship they are firing at, and roll the die. For each hit (5 or 6), the targeted ship must move the ring on that track down one number. If the ring goes off the track, the ship is crippled, and must immediately move to Pirate’s Cove. A player can also willingly move to Pirate’s Cove (the coward!) but must roll a die to see if a mutiny occurs (a “1”, and then the captain must lose all their doubloons, treasure, and two points). Whenever a ship goes to Pirate’s Cove, all remaining ships gain one point. If a pirate ship is killed, the fame points on the pirate’s card are split between all players attacking that ship. Before and sometimes during battles, players may also play Tavern Cards that give them advantages.
Plunder Phase: Each player then plunders the island they are on, taking their loot (coins, chests, cards, and points.)
Upgrade Phase: Each player on islands 1-5 can upgrade their ship at those islands. At Tavern Island, the captain can buy up to three cards for two doubloons each. At each other island, the player can upgrade the associated part of their ship for the amounts required, and as far as they like. (For example, if a captain is at Island #2, Hull Island, they can upgrade their hull. They look at where their ring is on the track, and see how much money it costs to move it up one notch. If they can afford it, they can move it up as many notches as they like.) Some cards can also be played at this time to upgrade ships. Players at Pirate’s Cove get two gold and a Tavern card, or two Tavern Cards. They then must upgrade their crippled sections if they have any for two gold apiece. Players at Treasure Island may “bury” (lose) treasures for one fame point each, and doubloons, for one fame point per three coins lost. They may also upgrade their ships – any part, but for double the cost.
Before the game begins, players can upgrade any levels of their ship, using the nine gold they start with. This is entirely optional for the players, however.
Last Phase: The black ship moves one island (from 5 to 6, 6 to 1, etc.). Also, each player must check the amount of treasure chests that they have on their ships. If the number is greater than their hull number, they must discard the extras. All face-up treasure cards on the islands are now discarded, and another round begins.
After the twelfth round, when all the treasure cards are discarded, the game ends, and all players reveal their Tavern Cards. If they have Tavern cards worth Fame points, their score is adjusted accordingly. The player who has the most fame is declared the winner! (Ties are fought in an epic ship battle.)
Comments on the Game:
1.) Components: Days of Wonder is consistently putting out games that have marvelous components, and this one is no exception. Wonderful pirate artwork runs all over the rulebook, the box, the cards, the board, and the maps. The board could have been seven blobs and some numbers, but it looks really fantastic, like a treasure map. (Although the lines are confusing, and may lead new players to think that the squares created by these lines are spaces for their ships to move in.) The captain’s wheels are nice, and the spinners on them move loosely, but too much so. The cards are small, but functional, and very easy to read. The dice, rings, and ships are all of excellent quality. I’m especially fond of the brown treasure chests, just because I applaud Days of Wonder for actually making little rectangular parallelepipeds instead of cubes. I think it adds a lot to the theme. Everything comes provided in little plastic bags (are you listening, other companies!) and everything fits terrifically in the plastic insert in the nice sized square box. Days of Wonder gets an A+ here, I can barely think how they could have improved.
2.) Rules: This is one of the best rulebooks I have seen in a long time. Twelve pages of full-colored piratey goodness abounded, with examples, illustrations, a detailed picture of setup, and easy to read formatting. If they handed out Oscars for games, this one would win the best rulebook award. And for all the details abounding in the game, I still found that the game was fairly easy to teach. People catch onto the nuances of the game quickly, and the only thing that people get hung up on are the cards.
3.) The cards: The cards add quite a bit of variety to the game. The powerful parrot cards can be added to ships to give them huge advantages. Yet these same parrots can be killed in battles, costing their owners victory points. There were no cards that I felt to be too powerful, and getting a lot of cards seems to be a viable strategy. Some cards even allow the Royal Navy to be sent after other pirates – a fairly dangerous enemy!
4.) The battles: The battles are rather random, and I have often seen an inferior ship beat a much better ship (or a powerful pirate). But the battles, even though they are random, are a whole lot of fun! The excitement that hits the table as the dice are rolled, and cards played is electrifying, and everyone has a great time (while yelling out pirate phrases and screaming about walking the plank).
5.) The pirates: The Legendary pirates are interesting. Blackbeard is a monster who can only be taken down if the players work together (and do they really want to do that?) Captain Hook and Ann Bonny are easier, but still deadly enemies, and the Flying Dutchman is almost impossible to kill. I really like the variety of the pirates, even though only one or two will most likely make it into a game. I also liked how the mechanics of the game had the pirate land on Treasure Island during the last turn of the game.
6.) Theme and Fun Factor: The mechanics of the game are fun, and I think I would like the game without the theme. But I LOVE it with the theme, because it’s just so much fun. And the fun doubles when all the players get into the spirit of the game. Screams, threats, and hoarse songs can fill the air, and everyone will laugh as they play a game that’s just over-the-top fun. Even playing with a more serious group (and I have) the game still is fun – but give me a group of gamers any day. Many times games seem to have the theme pasted on, but in this game the theme runs through it like a delicious frosting, and really makes the game an all time great.
7.) Players and Time: I wish that the game supported six players, but it’s fun with five, and enjoyable. For everything that’s happening in the game, it still runs quickly, usually only a little over an hour. Once players figure out how the Navigation phase works, the whole thing runs smoothly. (And the nice box and bags make it very easy to clean up and put away.)
Pirate’s Cove is quickly becoming one of my favorite games I’ve played in 2003, and that’s saying a lot (I’ve played quite a few this year). Even though there may be games out there with more strategy, or better tactics, very few come close to rivaling this game in the pure fun that comes with it. And yet, at the same time, it DOES have strategy, bluffing, and tactics. Wrap all that up in a nice, bits-crazy package, and you have a winner. Days of Wonder is constantly producing great game after great game, and this is the best one they’ve done yet. If you haven’t played it yet, I urge you to do so. (Unless you don’t play games for fun, then ignore this review.)
Pirate’s Cove was a winner for me on several levels. The components were tremendous, the theme was very well integrated into game play, and the game was a blast to play. Very few times do I play a game as brimming with theme as this one, so I was extremely happy to play a component-heavy, theme-heavy, rules-light game.
There is a bit of setup in this game, although it doesn’t really take that long. A board is set up in the middle of the table, depicting the seven islands that are used in the game. A stack of treasure cards is shuffled, and a stack of twelve of these cards is placed on five of the islands (numbered 1-5). Another stack of Tavern cards is shuffled, with one card being dealt to each player, and the rest placed in a face down pile on Tavern Island (#1). Each player chooses a ship of their color, placing it in front of them, a matching colored “fame” marker, placed a the beginning of a scoring track, and a pirate ship mat. The pirate ship mat has four tracks on it – sails, cannon, crew, and hull. The player takes four wooden rings of their color and places them on the second position of each of their tracks. Each player also receives doubloons worth nine gold, and a Captain’s wheel. All the remaining gold, and all the treasure chests are placed on Treasure Island (#6). The black ship piece is placed at Tavern Island, and one of the Legendary Pirate cards is flipped over to see who the pirate is.
The game is ready to begin, and will last twelve turns. Each turn is made up of six phases, during which players are seeking the most “fame”, or victory points.
Treasure Phase: The top card of each of the twelve stacks is turned over. On each card are four numbers, showing what a player will get if they plunder that island (amount of fame points, amount of doubloons, amount of treasure chests, and number of cards).
Navigation Phase: Each player secretly selects one of the six islands they want to go to, moving the arrow on their Captain’s wheel to the matching number. The seventh island (Pirate’s Cove) can only be gone to by stinkin’ cowards and players who have been defeated in battle. Simultaneously, all players show their wheels, and move their ships to these locations.
Combat Phase: There can only be one ship at each location, so if there are more than one, the ships must fight. If the black ship is there, the players must fight the pirate on the card (except for one card, which is a treasure ship!). (Combat does not occur at Pirate’s Cove or Treasure Island – unless a pirate is at Treasure Island.) Each player uses the numbers on their ship mat to fight. The player who has the higher sail number fires first (ties are broken by a die roll), and fires their cannons. They may roll the amount of dice for however many crew and cannon they have (1 die for each matched pair, so if you have 5 crew and only 2 cannons, you can only roll two die). The player declares which section of which participating ship they are firing at, and roll the die. For each hit (5 or 6), the targeted ship must move the ring on that track down one number. If the ring goes off the track, the ship is crippled, and must immediately move to Pirate’s Cove. A player can also willingly move to Pirate’s Cove (the coward!) but must roll a die to see if a mutiny occurs (a “1”, and then the captain must lose all their doubloons, treasure, and two points). Whenever a ship goes to Pirate’s Cove, all remaining ships gain one point. If a pirate ship is killed, the fame points on the pirate’s card are split between all players attacking that ship. Before and sometimes during battles, players may also play Tavern Cards that give them advantages.
Plunder Phase: Each player then plunders the island they are on, taking their loot (coins, chests, cards, and points.)
Upgrade Phase: Each player on islands 1-5 can upgrade their ship at those islands. At Tavern Island, the captain can buy up to three cards for two doubloons each. At each other island, the player can upgrade the associated part of their ship for the amounts required, and as far as they like. (For example, if a captain is at Island #2, Hull Island, they can upgrade their hull. They look at where their ring is on the track, and see how much money it costs to move it up one notch. If they can afford it, they can move it up as many notches as they like.) Some cards can also be played at this time to upgrade ships. Players at Pirate’s Cove get two gold and a Tavern card, or two Tavern Cards. They then must upgrade their crippled sections if they have any for two gold apiece. Players at Treasure Island may “bury” (lose) treasures for one fame point each, and doubloons, for one fame point per three coins lost. They may also upgrade their ships – any part, but for double the cost.
Before the game begins, players can upgrade any levels of their ship, using the nine gold they start with. This is entirely optional for the players, however.
Last Phase: The black ship moves one island (from 5 to 6, 6 to 1, etc.). Also, each player must check the amount of treasure chests that they have on their ships. If the number is greater than their hull number, they must discard the extras. All face-up treasure cards on the islands are now discarded, and another round begins.
After the twelfth round, when all the treasure cards are discarded, the game ends, and all players reveal their Tavern Cards. If they have Tavern cards worth Fame points, their score is adjusted accordingly. The player who has the most fame is declared the winner! (Ties are fought in an epic ship battle.)
Comments on the Game:
1.) Components: Days of Wonder is consistently putting out games that have marvelous components, and this one is no exception. Wonderful pirate artwork runs all over the rulebook, the box, the cards, the board, and the maps. The board could have been seven blobs and some numbers, but it looks really fantastic, like a treasure map. (Although the lines are confusing, and may lead new players to think that the squares created by these lines are spaces for their ships to move in.) The captain’s wheels are nice, and the spinners on them move loosely, but too much so. The cards are small, but functional, and very easy to read. The dice, rings, and ships are all of excellent quality. I’m especially fond of the brown treasure chests, just because I applaud Days of Wonder for actually making little rectangular parallelepipeds instead of cubes. I think it adds a lot to the theme. Everything comes provided in little plastic bags (are you listening, other companies!) and everything fits terrifically in the plastic insert in the nice sized square box. Days of Wonder gets an A+ here, I can barely think how they could have improved.
2.) Rules: This is one of the best rulebooks I have seen in a long time. Twelve pages of full-colored piratey goodness abounded, with examples, illustrations, a detailed picture of setup, and easy to read formatting. If they handed out Oscars for games, this one would win the best rulebook award. And for all the details abounding in the game, I still found that the game was fairly easy to teach. People catch onto the nuances of the game quickly, and the only thing that people get hung up on are the cards.
3.) The cards: The cards add quite a bit of variety to the game. The powerful parrot cards can be added to ships to give them huge advantages. Yet these same parrots can be killed in battles, costing their owners victory points. There were no cards that I felt to be too powerful, and getting a lot of cards seems to be a viable strategy. Some cards even allow the Royal Navy to be sent after other pirates – a fairly dangerous enemy!
4.) The battles: The battles are rather random, and I have often seen an inferior ship beat a much better ship (or a powerful pirate). But the battles, even though they are random, are a whole lot of fun! The excitement that hits the table as the dice are rolled, and cards played is electrifying, and everyone has a great time (while yelling out pirate phrases and screaming about walking the plank).
5.) The pirates: The Legendary pirates are interesting. Blackbeard is a monster who can only be taken down if the players work together (and do they really want to do that?) Captain Hook and Ann Bonny are easier, but still deadly enemies, and the Flying Dutchman is almost impossible to kill. I really like the variety of the pirates, even though only one or two will most likely make it into a game. I also liked how the mechanics of the game had the pirate land on Treasure Island during the last turn of the game.
6.) Theme and Fun Factor: The mechanics of the game are fun, and I think I would like the game without the theme. But I LOVE it with the theme, because it’s just so much fun. And the fun doubles when all the players get into the spirit of the game. Screams, threats, and hoarse songs can fill the air, and everyone will laugh as they play a game that’s just over-the-top fun. Even playing with a more serious group (and I have) the game still is fun – but give me a group of gamers any day. Many times games seem to have the theme pasted on, but in this game the theme runs through it like a delicious frosting, and really makes the game an all time great.
7.) Players and Time: I wish that the game supported six players, but it’s fun with five, and enjoyable. For everything that’s happening in the game, it still runs quickly, usually only a little over an hour. Once players figure out how the Navigation phase works, the whole thing runs smoothly. (And the nice box and bags make it very easy to clean up and put away.)
Pirate’s Cove is quickly becoming one of my favorite games I’ve played in 2003, and that’s saying a lot (I’ve played quite a few this year). Even though there may be games out there with more strategy, or better tactics, very few come close to rivaling this game in the pure fun that comes with it. And yet, at the same time, it DOES have strategy, bluffing, and tactics. Wrap all that up in a nice, bits-crazy package, and you have a winner. Days of Wonder is constantly producing great game after great game, and this is the best one they’ve done yet. If you haven’t played it yet, I urge you to do so. (Unless you don’t play games for fun, then ignore this review.)
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
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