If you dress up for National Talk Like a Pirate Day (and find the words "ar" and "booty" slipping into your vocabulary on any other day of the year), wear an eyepatch for fashion purposes, or refer to entering a coworker's cubicle as "boarding," please stop.
Also, play this game.
Only when playing Merchants & Marauders will the behaviors listed above actually translate to positive attributes and not cause people to talk about interventions and therapy. Well, the last part might not be true.
Each player begins the game as a captain with a modest ship, a small crew, and some unique skill (like navigation or popularity). Captains belong to one of four 17th century European nations—England, France, Holland or Spain. Everyone begins as a merchant, and can choose to become a pirate or privateer, or remain a merchant, by their own choices at sea or in port. The winner is decided by victory points.
This game has some of the coolest peripheral elements ever. In port, captains are allowed to listen for rumors (which, sadly, involves drawing a card and not hanging out in a Port Royale tavern) and venture out to verify or disprove the suggestion; rumors revolve around gold and rich people, usually. Players build better ships, improve their weapons, and can start international wars or attack random ships at will. If your captain dies, you can get a new one.
Novitiates of the board gaming world may find Merchants & Marauders a bit overwhelming, but veterans will love the balancing of resources and strategies necessary to dominate the South Seas. Also, pretending to be a pirate without getting weird looks is pretty cool. If you want the weird looks, you could always play in full costume at your local crowded coffee shop.
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2-4 Players
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60-90 Minutes
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Ages 12+
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Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Samples
Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews
here.
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