Plunder

Let me start by giving you the short review after my first 2 player game. THIS ROCKS!! Seriously it is fantastic. I’m a 38 year old gaming veteran. I was brought up playing simple classics like Hero Quest to more sophisticated games like Warhammer 40k. My preference is somewhere in the middle. This game leans more towards the casual side, but with a casual gaming group and a few beers it’s super fun. Firstly, the graphic design and component quality is off the charts. Everyone says it and it’s true. Thematically it couldn’t get any better, just look at those ships and the beautifully illustrated board pieces! The plastic tray inside the box fits everything perfectly. That in itself is beautiful design. What about the game? Well it’s simple to teach and learn. Yes, you roll dice to attack and move (which I like as to me it represents the wind) but this luck can be mitigated by buying cannons and masts. At the start of the game, my friend lost all his ships and had only 1 port left. He managed to come back and win the game! He got a few canons and bullied me around into trading resources then managed to capture a few difficult islands that I could not take. Yes, with some luck he also scored some great treasure cards. The fact that my friend could even come back from such a bad start was a real highlight and shows great game design. Then there’s the compass spinners. Again, beautiful and thematic. Such a simple way to randomly place the buried treasure which you’ll be racing around the board to collect. However, the spinners are also used to place the storm! I deliberately sailed my prized vessel directly into the storm to collect treasure and escape the double cannons of an enemy ship. The enemy did not have enough resources to enter. I was safe, it worked!! Another great highlight. For the casual gaming audience that want to chat, laugh and sink a few rums this game is a real treat. It’s also VERY reasonably priced in my opinion based on the quality. I can’t wait to play on a bigger map next game with 6 players (3 teams). Oh the chaos!! The fact that the map is randomised each game is also brilliant. My choice for an expansion would be an NPC Pirate Man O' War or a gold Spanish Galleon. In saying that, the game is perfect as it is. It wouldn’t surprise me if some big board gaming company like Hasbro picked this game up (or just hired the designer). It’s a true classic.

This game was a lot of fun. My wife and I have played a couple of involved board games with a few friends of ours about 4-5 times total in our lifetime. My wife and our family with two children 12 and 16 have played Castle Panic and Forbidden Island a couple of times. I liked to play Risk when I was a kid. As a family we have now done 2 escape rooms. Took us 45 easy minutes of set up and rule reading to get going. There were four of us, we spent three hours playing, but my wife moves through her turns like a turtle. The game was easy, a good blend of luck and strategy. Attacks, territories, alliances, bartering, etc... We didn't waste any time going back to reread rules just to figure out game mechanics, it was all pretty apparent. We are a close family and try to have a family night at least once a month. While trying to figure out what our family night should be this month I had the idea of a game night vs going out, which could hav cost hundreds of dollars. Yes we go hiking in State Parks, but we also go hiking in Amusement Parks, we don't do the same thing over and over. We've decided that we will play one game for about 2-3 game nights in a row, so we have a chance to really get to know and develop strategy. Maybe we'll move faster and get two games in the time of one once we are confident. Given our patterns, we might have 2-3 game nights in the next 6-8 months. So this little game will get our famiy through the next 1/2 year or so. If my wife and I have our semi annual game night with some of our friends this year, I'll bring this as an option. Board, spinners, box, dice, game pieces, by all accounts, are excellent. I wouldn't cry about the quality of this. And it is a pirate game that works and is cool. I mean come on.

Un gioco di pirati avvincente e ricco di colpi di scena! Plunder offre un mix perfetto di strategia, fortuna e (soprattutto) tradimento! Saccheggia tesori, ingaggia duelli navali e complotta contro gli altri giocatori per diventare il pirata più ricco. Pro: Regole semplici e facili da imparare. Partite veloci e coinvolgenti. Componenti di alta qualità e grafica accattivante. Divertente sia con amici che in famiglia. Contro: Troppo semplice per chi è abituato ad altri titoli Può esserci un po' di "aleatorietà" (dipendenza dalla fortuna) in alcuni momenti. Consigliato a: chi cerca un gioco da tavolo divertente, con interazione tra i giocatori e a tema pirati!

Received and played this game last night with my severely dyslexic 10 year old and wow!!!!!……. He absolutely loved it! A proper game that doesn’t involve reading and that was quick to learn. We have a lot of games but I have never known him enjoy playing so much he couldn’t sit still he was so excited for his turn!!

Really like this one. It has flavors of Catan while offering a really well designed pirate theme. Can be played 2-6 players and also as a team game 2v2v2, 3v3 or asymmetrical if desired. The ships are very cool and the upgrades work well (2 cannons really make a difference!). Very happy I came across this one! I would like to see an expansion in the future that can improve balance slightly because much like Catan, you can be at the whims of a dice role (if you role a lot of 1s you'll not be enjoying pirate life). I've seen suggestions of a ghost ship or giant kraken that chases the top player could be implemented easily. Asymmetrical ship powers would also be very cool to see. -1 point purely because the box was a bit damaged.

ARRR! Es war noch nie so spaßig in See zu stechen und ein Pratenleben zu erleben, wie bei diesem Brettspiel Die Regeln sind einfach erklärt! Der Spielspaß ist garantiert... natürlich nur wenn man sich auf dieses Szenario einlässt! Schiffe versenken, Inseln erobern, Schätze bergen (für mich das absolute Highlight!)... und nicht zu vergessen der Ewig-Sturm wird auch dich irgendwann mal kriegen! Handelsbeziehungen mit den Mitspielern starten (oder mit deren eroberten Inseln Geschäfte machen). Mit klugem Ressourcen-Management haushalten... und die Plunderpoints (Siegpunkte) rücken immer näher. Die Spielanleitung ist zwar auf englisch, aber sie ist sehr verständlich!! Also Ihr Süßwassermatrosen und Landratten, kramt eure letzten Dukaten zusammen und kauft euch das Spiel... sonst soll euch der Klabautermann holen!

If you like Catan you will LOVE Plunder! This is the best new boardgame I've played all year. It's well balanced skill and luck play a role and tides can turn quickly. It's simple and fast to pick up but with enough complexity that it remains interesting after infinite replays (the board changes and the storm element adds something unpredictable). Also you can adjust the length of play using the plunder point system, so you can finish in 30 minutes or battle out in a grueling match that lasts all night! Also, the quality of game pieces, the board and accessories are all top notch. I like that the little pieces are all a slightly softer plastic so there's no risk of braking bits. The icing on the cake are very well thought out instructions. You can go online nowadays to watch instructional videos for games, but the written instructions for Plunder are so good that you don't have to. They even include a page at the back showing how to put the pieces back into the storage slots of the box properly, AND, they have a game overview on the back page that's a quick cheat-sheet for the rules when you first start playing. I really can't say enough good stuff about this game, it's fantastic, get a copy!!!