Pirate board game reviews

[LadyBarbossa]

Now ya know why I am VERY eager to be getting the 3-in-1 game set! Yes, I saw that they were metal pieces.

I'd like to get my grimmy paws upon the PotC Life and the PotC Monopoly.

~Lady B

[LongTom]

The main problem is there's nothing for those who have or want to fold. The simple idea is to lie about what you really have and try to get others to believe you. If challenged, and you don't have it, you lose a dice. Well when you get down to three or less dice and others have more than you, there's no way you can beat them, unless you can cheat somehow.

Well, o'course ye cheat! Ye lie like a turkey carpet! That's why it's called Liars Dice!

Seriously, I'm not clear why anybody would want to fold. After all, everybody at the table has everybody else's dice at their disposal, and the goal is to work that fact cleverly. The idea is to force one of the other players into either 1) making an unreasonable bid, which you or somebody else will call "liar" on, or 2) get them to call you on a bid that they think is unreasonable, which you really can make -- bearing in mind, again, that you make your bid using everybody's dice, not just your own.

When you have few dice (or a lousy roll) you will want to concentrate on strategy "1" One thing you can do is bid on dice that you have none of. Then when the next player ups that bid, thinking he can add what's in your hand to his own, you call liar. Obviously, this is a bad idea if you have any wild dice, and you can't do it consistently, or it loses its effectiveness. But hey, that's Liar's Dice for you. They aren't supposed to be able to tell when you're lying and when you aren't.

You can also combine fake bids with real ones. Start with a reasonable bid on something that you have none of, to drive the bid up. Then when the bid comes around again, bid high on your strong number. You run a good chance of actually making that bid if called out, or at least skating so the next player is in the hot seat.

Please, tell me the rules that come with the set don't limit you to your own dice, do they? If so, I see why you would find it frustrating.

[LongTom]

Since this is the Reviews thread, my review of Pirate's Cove, now that I've played a couple of times.

The Good Stuff:

1) The board and much of the other printed material is gorgeous, and sturdy (on chipboard, but thick). The physical experience of manipulating the game pieces is pleasant. The ship markers could stand to be a little bigger, but that's a nit.

2) The rules are fairly clear, if a bit involved.

The Not So Good Stuff

1) The "sailing" aspect is practically non-existent. You choose what island you want to "sail" to, and then just pick up your marker and put it there. Maybe I'm just imprinted on Pirates of the Spanish Main, but having the ships do something that actually resembles sailing is important to me.

2) The sequence of events is a little hard to master, particularly for younger players.

3) Overall, the game feels more like an exercise in economics. That might be because my youngsters are averse to engaging in battles, but even so...you have a battle, the result is you knock some of your attribute markers down a peg, then you go back to the task of building them back up again.

I will continue to go back to it, to see if a better understanding of the whole thing improves our enjoyment. But it didn't wow me the way Pirates of the Spanish Main did. (Despite the reservations that I have with that one too. I'm a picky son of a gun.)

[sirhenrymorgan]

Didn't anyone mention Shut the Box?

It was actually used aboard ship as a gambling game at one point (not GAOP) but is also great for teaching kids math concepts?

http://www.frontporchclassics.com/_classic/index.php

Our family loves the game and it's a great way to win free drinks in a bar.

-- Sir Henry

[Cap'n Pete Straw]

I made an authentic Shut-The-Box game (based on a museum specimen) for Civil War reenacting, and have been playing (+ gambling) with it for several years. I have taught countless families and kids how to play at reenactments, and have sent parents running off to purchase versions of this great mathematics-skill-building game.

And, yes, this was a popular gambling game with sailors... I have a printed reference to this fact somewhere...

[flying-dutch-man]

Cool.

I'll have to swing into Toys R Us and see if they actually have it. The local one here is rather poor on having a large variety of toys... more of a variety of clothes, movies, video games and books than toys. Sad, I know.

oh... nearly forgot to mention the new PotC Trading Card Game by Quickstrike/Upper Deck.

Found this at Wal Mart for a little over $10. I'm completely at a loss how to play it, though my nephew can understand it as it's like - as he explained - playing YuGiOh or something along those lines. The art is rather cool.

~Lady B

check this www.ude.com/potc then click enter and wait till it loads and click the demo advertisement it took me awhile to learn this game but i luv it!!!! and i did not have the demo either!

- F-D-M

[Cap'n Pete Straw]

Maybe this belongs in the "RAIDS" section...

Our neighborhood block party was last night. My son was paid $50 to make balloon animals (theoretically, this was his first "real" job). But we also ran a Liar's Dice tale for the whole afternoon/evening (until the sun went down).

The Liar's Dice table was the hit of the kids' games! We taped a Pirate flag banner around the edge of a folding table (tip o' the hat to Bilgemunkey for that grand decorating idea), and had a 6' tall inflatable palm tree tied to one side of the table for effect. A crowd of kids gathered around the table to pit their chances against me (dressed in my pirate hat, shirt & coat -- in 95 degree weather!), and winners were allowed a dip into a treasure chest filled with candy.

We had four folding chairs, allowing four players at a time. One round was played for a single winner (no dice sacrificed for multiple rounds -- it would have taken far too long), and I finally had to give up my chair to allow a non-stop free-for-all of kids playing against kids.

Again -- a great success. And, no -- I didn't take any pictures, but the local paper did. I'll see if it appears in print.

[flying-dutch-man]

cool. do you think you can aswer a question for me about liar's dice.....i just boght it last night? the rule page says " when some1 challenges all the player's reveal their cups to show their dice,then it says if the final number is equal to or greater than the challeged bid number,the player who made the challenge loses 1 die. then it says "if the final number is less than the challenged bid number the player who made the bid loses 1 die" here is my question: "if the final number is equal to or greater than the challenged bid number" now does this include evry players dice? and here is another question:how do you know that it is less than? like if i said "2 5's and the player to the left of me challenged it and we all reveal our dice i have 1 5's,player to the left has 2 5's,and other players have the number's 3,6,4,2,skull how would it be less or greater? pleaze help!!!!!

~F-D-M

[Cap'n Pete Straw]

If you have 4 players, each with 5 dice, then there are twenty dice on the table. The final number counts ALL the dice. YOUR five (which you know) and the other 15 which were previously unrevealed to you.

if i said "2 5's and the player to the left of me challenged it and we all reveal our dice i have 1 5's,player to the left has 2 5's,and other players have the number's 3,6,4,2,skull how would it be less or greater?

In your example, the player to the left should not have challenged you, if you said "2 fives" and he had two fives, then he is the ONLY person who knew that you were not lying.

But, according to your example (and IGNORING wild card "skulls"), you said "2 fives." All the dice were revealed. There are THREE fives total. The (stupid) person to your left called you a liar -- but with a total of three fives on the table you were NOT lying, so HE is the loser, and YOU are the winner.

If we are counting the wild card skulls, then the single skull you counted from the "other players " counted as an additional five. Therefore, the final legitimate total would have been FOUR fives. If, however, someone had bid FIVE fives (or SIX fives), and called on it, they would have been the loser (liar).

Does this help?

[Capn_Enigma]

I was surprised that nobody has mentioned "Thaxx" yet.

It literally is a board game, as it comes with a real wooden piece of oak plank. It is played by two players, easy to learn and good fun.

Read more about it here.

[flying-dutch-man]

these are about pirate board games ......unless that is a prate board game!!!!

~F-D-M

[Patrick Hand]

OK.... then what about 9 (or 12) man morris...... period game.... and you can make it yourself....... (thats what the funny squaire painted on the end on my ground cloth is)

There is an on-line version of the game..... (I lost the link when my pewter crashed.... so you gotta search for it yourself..... Hey... I can't do everthing..... )

It's still a fun game.... we played it last year in the tavern at PiP.......

[Capn_Enigma]

these are about pirate board games ......unless that is a prate board game!!!!

Well, it was played by pirates!

And BTW: Your exclamation mark key is stuck.

[Cap'n Pete Straw]

I was surprised that nobody has mentioned "Thaxx" yet.

I have seen this game but have not played it. Anyone?

[William Blydes]

Whoa....

This is a must for any period games where coins are involved...

And a nice amount of them. Not just a couple of each like I've seen at other sources.

Doubloons and Pieces of Eight

Nice box too.

Our history group plays Glückhaus. Another good gambling game we discribe as 'the mass transfer of wealth'. Always good at the pub.

We ran a day at a camp ground the last couple of years where we had a couple of boards going. The kids were right into it.

[William Blydes]

Oops...

I may have written to soon.

After looking at other games on this site with the chest of PoE, I see that the black box/chest may be the retail stand for smaller packages for the coins. Doesn't really look like it in the pic, but it could be.

[LongTom]

here is my question: "if the final number is equal to or greater than the challenged bid number" now does this include evry players dice?

Short answer: yes, you make your bid out of all dice still in play-- from all players, including their wildcards.

Think of it this way: if you only got to include your own dice when making your bid, there would be no point in all the other players revealing their throws too, when someone calls Liar on you.

Second, having access to everyone's dice keeps the bidding going a lot longer in each round. Otherwise, the theoretical highest possible bid is "5 sixes", even when there are 50 dice in play! (Yes, I've played a game that big. It's a blast.) The one way, the bid goes to "five (anything)" and that's pretty much all she wrote. (Most of the time it won't even go that far. How often do you get a Yahtzee, anyway?) The other way (the good way!), you end up bidding twenty or twenty-five of something, and there is a decent chance of there being enough wildcards out there to successfully make even outrageous bids.

Having said all that...That rules sheet seems to be written rather poorly. Several people have stumbled over the same thing. (FWIW, I never actually read the rules. I got taught the game a long time back.)

[Cap'n Pete Straw]

here is my question: "if the final number is equal to or greater than the challenged bid number" now does this include evry players dice?

Short answer: yes, you make your bid out of all dice still in play-- from all players, including their wildcards.

Think of it this way: if you only got to include your own dice when making your bid, there would be no point in all the other players revealing their throws too, when someone calls Liar on you.

Second, having access to everyone's dice keeps the bidding going a lot longer in each round. Otherwise, the theoretical highest possible bid is "5 sixes", even when there are 50 dice in play! (Yes, I've played a game that big. It's a blast.) The one way, the bid goes to "five (anything)" and that's pretty much all she wrote. (Most of the time it won't even go that far. How often do you get a Yahtzee, anyway?) The other way (the good way!), you end up bidding twenty or twenty-five of something, and there is a decent chance of there being enough wildcards out there to successfully make even outrageous bids.

Having said all that...That rules sheet seems to be written rather poorly. Several people have stumbled over the same thing. (FWIW, I never actually read the rules. I got taught the game a long time back.)

Long Tom:

I did not read the rules (to Liar's Dice), either. I taught my kids how to play the game while driving home with it (unopened) in the car, at least how I understood how the game was to be played.

When we got home, we opened the box and played it my way, and it worked great.

Then, much later, I read the rules, and got all confused. I agree: they are poorly written. (Do I recall correctly? I think the rules written by those P.C. folks at Disney don't actually call for you to accuse someone of being a "Liar," rather you are supposed to say "Never Trust A Pirate.")

For last weekend's neighborhood block party (where my son and I ran a Liar's Dice table), I purchased 24 expendable cheap wooden dice, for fear that the local kids would spill & lose some of the 20 Pirate Dice that came with the game. Those kids were so in love with the game, that not a single die was lost.

[Hester]

Hi, all:

Over the summer at my cottage, my husband and I have been enjoying playing Pirates of the Spanish Main. It's great for stormy nights when the satellite TV is subject to rain fade.

We started out with only a few packs of PotSM, and a blue plastic table cloth from the dollar store. I quickly realized that the game could be customized with make-it-yourself terrain, crew & rules. I've added mermaids, sunken treasure and vampires to my mix.

We've also been playing 7th Sea CCG -- which is a bit complicated to get the hang of in the boarding attacks, but I think we've got it figured out now.

I've got the PotC2 CCG and Monopoly yet to open.

Cheers, Hester

[LongTom]

Here's a minor variant on Dread Pirate that makes it a little more kid-friendly for the youngest set. At least in our family, the privilege of decorating one's ship with the Dread Pirate flag is prized quite out of proportion with the value within the game (though indeed, being first to claim Dread Pirate status renders that player so much more powerful as to practically clinch the game at that point). We changed the rules so that every player that gets to Dread Island can become a Dread Pirate, instead of only one at a time. To that end we made up additional pirate flags so that there are plenty to choose from -- in the process celebrating some of the more notorious pirates in our acquaintance, as you can see:

I'm still trying to figure out whether achieving Dread Pirate status is too big an advantage when only one at a time is allowed. When playing with a four-year-old, letting everyone be Dread Pirate has saved many a game from a meltdown.

[flying-dutch-man]

arr!i am a massive pirate player of wizkids pirates of the spanish main.it is fun,enjoyable,collectible,and informitable.

if this be countin' than POTC liars dice is very fun but no as fun as wizkids piarte game.

arr.i know most of ye dont be carin' but i have been away for a month computer problems and all....but i have returned!

[Iron Bess]

(chuckle) Yes, yes... 'tis nice to see you back Pirate.

[flying-dutch-man]

was that a good remark??!or arr....a sarcastic mark?!