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This is a game that has very simple rules, and can be learned in just a few minutes. At the same time, there’s a lot of complexity and strategy in the card interaction, so players experienced with the game have a distinct advantage over new players. I’ve played Libertalia with casual, social, and avid gamers, and all have enjoyed it and wanted to play again. As long as the theme is acceptable, family gamers should enjoy the game, while it may leave power and strategy gamers looking for a bit more. The publisher suggests ages 14+, but I think this game can be played by sharper 12 year olds with good result. Oho! New to Stardew? Keep me posted on what you think. It can take time to earn things, but other avenues open up (mining, fishing, interacting with townsfolk) to keep you engaged as the in-game days...
The richest player at the end of the game is the winner. With their help, The author would like to thank, Libertalia will come to life! There will be one booty tile per player, which you’ll see in advance. Many are good (positive points), while some are cursed (negative points), and others allow you to discard crew, either yours or your neighbors’. There are also maps that are worthless alone, but worth a lot (12 points) if you get three. This treasure collection adds to the strategy of card play. Do you use your high card to try and grab treasure now, or wait until later when it may be more lucrative?OK, I'll stop. Diarrhea jokes at a game blog? Gross. Just juvenile. Instead, I'll remind you to come to GenCon so I can sign your boobs.) Between campaigns, players have up to three cards left that have not been played and the first player draws 6 news cards, announces them, and players add these cards to their remaining cards in hand. A new campaign begins as the plundering continues.
Every player starts with the same set of cards, and you'll have to choose carefully which moment to play each card, and to try to read your opponents' strategies. With the recent reprint of Libertalia, Stonemaier Games has also provided a new Automa for solo play, which is what this review will cover. I’m quite new to the concept of solo board games but I’m really enjoying it. It's great for when I’m desperate to play a game but can’t gather enough people. Before Setting Sail I do not own and have only played the original Libertalia a few times. Libertalia Winds of Galecrest refreshes things and adds the reputation mechanic. It also adds 10 new characters and new artwork. It is different from the original but not drastically.It’s my opinion that you could play this game indefinitely without it feeling repetitive. With 30 characters, the number of possible combinations coming in sets of 9/6/6 are plentiful, and there are so many options that I don’t see it getting stale. Pirate games need treasure, and Libertalia gives treasure collection its own phase. Your crew’s abilities will be played from lowest value to highest (typically higher numbers have stronger effects), but you collect booty from highest to lowest (assuming your crew survived the day). If a player chooses a Spanish officer or a saber tile, the player must immediately resolve their effect (see inset). Otherwise, the player places the chosen booty token face-down in their den. The player's character is then placed in the player's den, face-up.
That strange idiosyncrasy aside, the game is one of the best designed on the market. Gameplay is elegant. And once more it bears mentioning that the art design is second to none. Artists Ben Carre and Stéphane Gantiez have created a feast for the eyes, each character perfectly rendered to a degree that they could come to life right off the cards. The art alone inspires and supports the theme, and makes the game that much more enjoyable.My experience is that with 6 players, game duration fall in the 45-60 minute range. You might find some turns take a while, depending on the mix of cards in the hand. The three female characters (Governors Daughter, Waitress and Granny Wata (a mermaid presumably) have effects that trigger while in a player’s den. For some reason, whether by design or coincidence, a situation is created where these female characters’ abilities are the exact cards that players must “kill” (using a Saber Booty Tile) to make sure their effects don’t take place. It just didn’t sit right as a father and someone who enjoys strong female role models. “I guess I have to kill the Governor’s Daughter…” Ok, maybe the pirating era was more barbaric, but its just seems like an unnecessary coincidence. It won’t spoil the enjoyment for most, but it is something to be aware of when choosing this game for specific audiences. No, this is a completely new edition, with every aspect of the game enhanced, expanded, and (hopefully) improved. All components and art are brand-new as well. Everything has changed in some way, including every character (and more characters for a total of 40). Note: All crew must resolve as much of their actions as possible, even if disadvantageous to themselves or their controller! Admittedly the instruction manual for the Automa is a bit confusing (maybe just me). An instant solution would be to have more images in the booklet but once you figure out how it’s supposed to work, it’s very intuitive, just like the regular game. If all characters survive the day phase (and no other shenanigans happen) then the loot is collected from right to left. In the below example, I’d get the chest, the Pilferer would throw the amulet away and the Automa would get the relic.
There is one aspect of the game that may not sit well with some (especially family gamers), and has to do with some game effects targeting female characters. It can also be random as you play crew members with the best of plans that get derailed by other players’ actions. If you are someone that does not like disruption in your board games take note. There are 30 characters in all; players start with 9, and will use 6 (or 7) during each Campaign, and replenish with a new six between campaigns. The game mechanics are such that the nine starting cards, and each set of replenishments, are the same for all players. However, the play mechanics and some of the powers, combine to create an increasing variety of crew members in each campaign as the game progresses. Steamforged’s Sea of Thieves board game, Sea of Thieves: Voyage of Legends, tasks you with becoming the most famous pirate on the seven seas, but how you achieve that goal is up to you. Will you scrap with skeleton kings, complete missions, trade in treasures, or just get in the way of your friends, and shoot their ships full of holes?I very much enjoyed the gameplay and mechanics of this game. The cards had cool mechanics and interactions, and I will totally play this with my gamer friends! That said, this game has a few strange flaws outside of gameplay: At the start of the first campaign, all the Player's Den players will have in hand the same 9 characters. There’s a lot of hidden complexity in this game; the interactions between the characters and their abilities carry a lot of nuance that could prove frustrating for new players, particularly younger ones. I think that with some thought, one could come up with an ideal set of cards for a first game as a teaching game, progressively adding complexity in succeeding campaigns so that new players won’t be overwhelmed.
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