I'm so glad to have found your channel. Informative review, clear explanation of rules and interesting evaluation of the game at the end, helping me to decide whether to buy it or not.
I think you could make a rule adjustment that if, on your own turn, you do not take a card at all, then other players pay you +2 coins instead of +1 to take a card from the Harbor. This would make opponents think twice before taking a card they need, as coins are often at a premium.
I just ordered it from Amazon. Must be coming from overseas, about 2 weeks to a month to get to the U.S. Only $10 plus $4 shipping. Looks like a great game for my game night. Thanks.
A good explanation-- and sorely needed because the rules don't make it clear what turns are like, a friend I gifted the game to couldn't figure it out... But I don't agree with your Neutral #1 because expeditions are powerful even if not required because they are a quick way to increase of victory points. A lot of people seem to think that this or that strategy is way powerful, but nothing is guaranteed-- a friend got 3 Admirals in one game, but never had the opportunity to take advantage of them because he kept busting before getting to 5 cards. There are many strategies that work, while some claim that a particular one will "almost always win," I've found that not really to be the case, and a fixed strategy can't always be executed anyhow because the cards don't always come up as you need them. Also, we've interpreted the Jester to mean that even on your own term you get its benefit on a bust, that was discussed on BGG and there seems to be consensus on that (the game designer may also have chimed in on that, because he responds there from time to time).
2 player game is great too. Goes so quick it's exciting. I disagree about the 4 different cards to draw and extra card being too hard to get. First, it needs to be rare, that makes it special and awesome. We have played this game at lunch for 2 months and we see it often enough. Then again we like to push our luck like crazy. This game is an instant classic.
Hey nice review. I'm thinking about buying the game now ;). I do have an idea for how to fix the busting problem, but can't test it yet since I don't have the game. You can create a bidding system. So other people can bid coins to prevent the person from busting, might be worth a try ;).
The problem I had with this game is that it's over too soon. If you can get 2 expeditions and a few high point cards, the game is over. Meanwhile, I'm building my engine and collecting low points.
This game has a big flaw, sadly. If you play with pirates, and you know how to play them, you will always win. I won the last 7 or 8 games in a row. Also it's not so fun for the others since when you get around 6 pirates it's normal to draw the whole deck just to find 5 different ships.
Huh, I've never seen anyone grab more then 3 or 4 pirates. I suppose this could be an issue depends on how quickly they can get up that many pirates out. I may try it out at some point, but yeah it doesn't actually sound like fun to play.
