Aye, <PERSON>! It’s Monopoly on the High Seas! Okay, it isn’t really Monopoly, but there are certainly some similarities to our favorite punching bag. Yesterday, I raided a 75%-off table at Barnes & Noble, scoring a copy of Pirate King. I rushed home, cracked the seal, and scattered bits and pieces and cards and flags and more bits and pieces all over the game table. My teenage son and I played a two-player game to work through the game mechanics. Then, seeing that there was limited content in the Pirate King Forum, I thought I’d contribute this review. I hope that everyone finds this review useful. It is not my intention to be gooey positive, nor to be unfairly negative. I hope to give the game a fair and honest review, based on one play with my son. This is my first review. So, I hope I that the geek gods look favorably upon my endeavour and maybe toss a little loose geekgold my way… :-)
Game Specifications
Pirate King was designed by <PERSON> and is published by Temple Games (www.templegames.com). The game ships in a bookshelf-style 12”x12”x3” box. The artwork on the box is nice, not jaw-dropping, but nice. The components are nice as well. I like theme…and Pirate King has theme to spare!
Popping the Top
My heart skipped a beat when I popped the top, as my eyes crossed looking at the scads of components. Now, don’t get me wrong, I liked bits and pieces; it makes me feel that I’m getting my money’s worth! But, I can still be surprised from time to time. And surprised I was. Some of the components and packing is gimmicky, such as plastic treasure chests and crate-looking paper boxes for the cards. However, the box was filled, and the contents were packed nicely. All of the components were even packed in their own baggies, which was a very pleasant surprise! I’ve since discarded the paper boxes, to make it easier to the repack the game box. 470
I’ll probably also repackage some of the components into player kits, but that’s just a choice of my own.
Upon opening the box, the contents are nicely packed within 8 partioned compartments. Included in the box were the following:
1 Game Board (24” x 24”)
4 Ships w/ Stands
16 Ship Cannon
10 d6 dice
1 d12 die
2 Sail Markers
5 Great Treasure Cards
40 Crewmen Cards (~ dozen options, including male and female)
1 Sea Chart
48 Cargo/Smuggling Cards
50 Captain’s Log Cards
30 Pirate Booty Cards
72 Fortification Tiles
5 Treasure Chests
65 Glass Gems (5 Diamonds, 10 Rubies, 25 Emeralds, and 25 Gold)
30 Plastic ‘bronze’ Coins
52 Flags
Scoreboard / Prestige Points Track
Fold-out Instruction Booklet
12”x12”x3” Game Box
Theme
Pirate King is dripping with Theme. Have I mentioned that I liked a good theme? I like theme. Theme is good! :-) As some other reviewers/bloggers have pointed out, Pirate King has some similarities to Monopoly. There is a race track, but the track is kind of a double figure-8 track, and there are mechanics for changing your track and direction. There are also ports along sailing track. These ports must be settled and fortified in order to gain the victory points (or prestige points, in the PK vernacular) that are necessary to win the game. Landing on someone else’s port can cost you big bucks. What makes this game fun, though, is that there are several things going on at once. Each player draws cargo cards, which will pay that player for smuggling a good to that port. The good to be smuggled is irrelevant however; only the destination port and the price are important. Early in the game, smuggling goods is the primary source of money. However, the ultimate goal is to settle and fortify ports, in order to gain the prestige points necessary to win the game. Along the way, ships are upgraded with crew and cannon. And best of all, there can be battles on the high seas and in the ports. Hurray! There is also a pirate-hating Commodore patrolling the seas near some high-value ports, and along the paths there are chances to collect cards and to alter the ship’s course. All of this adds up to a great pirate theme. I give <PERSON> a 9 for theme. Me likes me some theme!!! 336