Plunder Board Game

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.

Dane

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.

Simon

This really is a terrific game that goes above and beyond on all fronts. It's terrific for a party game because there can be 6 players, the rules are relatively simple, and setup is quick. There's really so many different aspects of this product that are positive it's difficult to figure out where to start. First, like I mentioned the setup and gameplay is a breeze. It eliminates some of the upfront frustration of some of the more complicated games; especially when playing with younger players. All of the pieces are high quality and durable. I was really impressed with the weight of the ships and the durability of the smaller parts like the sails and cannons. The randomization of the play field is fun. It makes for some subtle differences from game to game. The gameplay is simple but encourages interactions and has enough "gotcha" moments it creates some good "ohs" and "awes" from the players. The randomization of the treasure has created numerous situations where a player who was down and out has been able to get back in the game and win. Finally, the subtle detail that plenty of board games miss the mark on: storage. They have a spot for every last piece. It makes put away and setup so much easier. I can't say enough about how well the storage is designed for this game.

Shawn