Designer: Paolo Mori

Libertalia is really a big surprise to me, it’s a game from a designer who’s games have not really hit with me in the past. I found Paolo Mori’s previous games to always come up short in the fun department even though games like Rise of Augustus and Vasco Da Gama featured interesting topics and mechanics, they were a bit of a drag. Libertalia is clearly Paolo Mori’s best game to date and has gained a fair amount of popularity and praise from some respected reviewers. I got an opportunity to finally try this little card game and while I went into it with limited expectations and a “sure let’s try it” attitude, after a single turn of the game it immediately got my attention.

In Libertalia you are a pirate captain who along with other captains (other players) has just captured and plundered a ship. Now it’s time to split up the loot and the game-play is a sort of card driven negotiation of that activity where you try to get the most amount of treasure from the plunder for yourself by playing pirate theme character cards with a wide variety of special powers.

The game-play is broken down into three days, presumably three separate ships that you capture as a group. During each day players will negotiate for treasure on that ship, broken down further into 6 turns, effectively 6 plays of cards. Each player will receive 9 identical cards from a deck of 30 cards numbered from 1 to 30. For each turn random bounty tokens are drawn for that turn of play, these bounty tokens are treasure from the plunder each with its own value, but also includes cursed treasure, treasure maps and a few specialty tokens. This is what your negotiating for. The goal of the game is to claim as many doubloons (victory points) at the end of the day as possible, the player with the most victory points at the end of 3 rounds (3 days of play) wins the game.

Claiming bounty tokens is very simple. Each player selects a card represented by a pirate themed character from his hand of 9 cards and plays it face down. When everyone has chosen a card, the cards are revealed and put in ascending order. Than starting from the player with the highest number, you take 1 treasure of your choice. Simple right!

The catch is that each of these cards are actually characters, each with unique special powers. These powers vary is strength, but in those powers lays the bulk of the strategy. The trick to the game is that powers are executed in reverse order (from lowest numbered card to highest), so while playing the highest numbered card will yield you first pick at the treasure, the lowest card numbers have their abilities triggered first. These abilities can impact characters, victory point earnings and have all manner of special effects so by the time all the powers are executed some of the characters may have been removed, players may have already scored points or taken a variety of special actions that shift things in their favor.

The game is really about trying to guess what cards other players will play and playing your cards in a manner that will benefit you and screw everyone else the most. It’s also knowing which cards to save for later, a lot of this game is about timing. You know what the nine cards everyone has (at least in the first round) so it’s really about just trying to guestimate how your opponents will approach each of the turns in a 1 day round. You can only play any card one time and that card will either be added to your Den (your play area) which coincidently can result in added effects as some cards have effects that take place from the Den or they will be removed. In either case you will only play them once (in most cases) so you must choose wisely.

Now you will only play 6 of the 9 cards in your hand and in the next round (the next day) players will get a new set of 6 identical cards. Hence by the second round of the 9 cards only 6 of those cards in the players hands are identical. This happens again in the 3rd round so things become a bit more chaotic as players not only consider what cards to play in any given turn, but what cards to save for future rounds.

There are many effects that transpire during the course of a round, characters will be eliminated, resurrected, create lasting effects, help players score points, put curses on other players (minus victory points). All of these effects are based on the cards so certainly anyone familiar with the game has a clear advantage but it doesn’t take more than one or two plays of the game to get a grip around what is possible so the game goes from “learning how to play” and “playing with strategy” for any given player after a game or two.

Libertalia is a game that is very simple to learn to play but nearly impossible to master. The complexity of the moving parts and trying to make predictions is very rewarding when you succeed and heartbreaking when you fail, but it’s not a game of guessing, it really is a mind game of prediction and reaction to what has already been played and what can be played in the future. There are a lot of surprises and “oh shit” moments in the game, it has that spark a lot of great strategy games I love have like Dirk Henn’s shogun where there is a period of quiet contemplation with a sudden burst of energy and chaos after a revelation. The more players the more chaotic and difficult it is to make predictions, but to me this really makes the game more fun. The game plays 2 to 6 players, but I think the sweet spot is 4 to 6 players.

It’s a fast, relatively short game, the box says 45 minutes and that is quite accurate and once everyone knows how to play I think it can be even faster than that. (the first game might take a little longer).

Libertalia is a game that scratches that hard core gamer in me, it’s got the depth of a very solid and thinky strategy game, but is so simple and social enough with a familiar theme (pirates) to be welcomed as a after dinner party game you can pull out with none gamers. It has energy and excitement built into that moment of revelation of the cards and I think this does wonders for the atmosphere it creates. It really has those longevity legs as well, it’s a game that gets better with repeated plays and is just short enough that in can almost be used as a filler. I was really surprised on how quickly I became enamored with it, in particular given that this designer’s games have landed so flat with me in the past. Now some might say this game is a kind of watered down Caylus, which I suppose one could make that argument but I personally never cared for Caylus so the fact that I really like this one says to me that the games are distinctively different enough.

I’m not sure one could say the game is thematic, it has a solid theme which really comes through in the art work which is nothing short of amazing, but you’re not really doing much piracy stuff. It really is just a kind of estimation, logic card game which could easily be layered with any sort of theme you like. I think choosing a pirate theme for this game was a smart idea though because pirates are kind of that universal theme that gamer or not you can get behind. Fantasy themes and science fiction themes typically don’t land well with none gamers, but pirate themes in my personal experience don’t have that “we are nerds playing a board game” social stigma.

I highly recommend Libertalia in particular for any gamers out there trying to get non-gamers into the fold. It’s a really clever yet simple game that can function really well as a gateway game, but it has the muscle and depth of a solid game for hardcore gamers. I honestly believe this to be one of the best games to be released in 2012, a solid contender for my top 10 entry level games, I’m certain if I did the list today it would find placement there. It might even breach my top 10 best games in the future, I really like it that much.

Designer: Michael Rieneck, Stefan Stadler

Pillars of the Earth is one of those games that is touted as a classic or a gateway game into the world of designer board games by many. Released in 2006 it comes from that golden age of Euro games period where a tremendous amount of modern game design comes from and while I agree the game is simple enough to be a gateway game, I find it highly unlikely I would introduce this game to brand new would be gamers, there are just far better games than this one to do that with and the theme is a bit of a hard sell. I actually didn’t play the game until it was reprinted not too long ago, In fact, you could say I largely skipped the golden age of Euro games and I’m now kind of going back and playing some of these older games like Pillars of the Earth. This gives me a unique perspective because I have played games that use mechanics that where based on some of these originals. Interestingly enough though, I find that in in some rare cases the so called classics actually play a lot more like modern (recent) releases and Pillars of the Earth is definitely one of those.

Pillars of the Earth is a uniquely designed game and one of those rare Euro games with a theme that fits the mechanics even though being architects of a cathedral in the 12th century is not exactly what I would call an exciting theme, at least it doesn’t sound like it when I describe it. I don’t want to come off sounding negative however as Pillars of the Earth is a very interesting, very well paced and very challenging game and for a Euro game, very thematic.

In Pillars of the Earth you are grand master builders (Architects) in the 12th century contributing to the building a massive construction project (a cathedral). It’s a game based on a book by Ken Follet that you have probably never read as well as a TV show that comes highly recommended and acclaimed that no one has seen. I’m not entirely sure the theme of the book or the show come through, but you certainly feel like the manager of a construction project in the game and in the end that is far more important to the theme than the actual literature it’s based on.

In this worker placement game you compete via management of a variety of resources including workers, gold and various other building resources (wood, stone etc..) on a tight game board with limited spots all in the typical Euro style battle for victory points. This is not the part of the game that makes it unique, though I would point out that from an artistic point of view the game board is nothing short of beautiful and it’s a joy to play on. What does make the game unique is that the game is pleasantly balanced, has a number of random elements (that don’t make the game random) and puts players to tough choices that go beyond simply “where to place the workers”.

In fact, even worker placement itself is two prong as you first choose where to place your “worker units” to collect resources but later you also place your master builders on spots with various beneficial effects. The master builders are put into play using a really clever mechanic of pulling random master builders out of a bag and placing them on a roundel where the player who’s master builder is pulled must decide whether he will pay in gold the fee to put the builder into play, or pass so he can place the builder later in the round for free. This combined with other tough decisions like which resource cards or builder cards you pick all combine to create really an almost overwhelming amount of choices. Each choice has to serve a purpose and be planned, but the random elements to the game like when your master builder will be pulled out of the bag for example and how much he will cost to put into play create tension and management problems you have to solve as you go. It’s quite easy to mismanage yourself or manage yourself into a corner, so while newbie friendly rules wise, the game can be quite unforgiving at times and you can see your victory slipping away from you because of a couple of bad decisions early in the game.

I suppose the issue I have with most worker placement games is that they tend to become kind of predictable, it might explain why I like Lords of Waterdeep and Kingsburg. In Lords of Waterdeep you have quest cards and secret missions on your lords cards that force you to adapt your strategies for each game while in Kingsburg your rolling dice to determine where you CAN go. The randomness in Pillars of the Earth don’t force results upon you but rather put you to tough decisions, unlike Kingsburg for example where the dice limit what you can do as a mechanic. This is the sort of randomness I really like where it can be mitigated a great deal with smart decisions.

In either case the mechanic works very well, it creates tensions, opens paths to strategies and varies each game sufficiently so that you really can’t repeat the same strategies with each play. More than that though Pillars of the Earth has a lot of sections of decisions, the choices aren’t simple and they have long term effects. Which builder and resource cards you claim in one part of the round, which resources you claim with your workers in another part of the round, when to put out your master builders and subsequently where to put them in the last part of the round all form the events of a single round that has lasting effects for this and future rounds. Than you have to deal with the event cards, worry about your limited resources like gold for example all the while trying to squeeze as many points out as you can. There are a lot of moving parts yet the games sequence is fast paced and keeps everyone involved at all times so there is virtually no downtime in the game. You’re constantly making decisions and the game rewards you for those decisions and punishes you for mistakes. The pacing feels just right, the tension is just right and while I prefer the game with 4 players, it plays fine with 3 (skip it as a two player game).

I think as far as worker placement games go the tough sell here is the rather bland theme and again, I say bland more because it sounds bland, in practice the game is actually very engaging and interesting, with a theme that really fits the mechanics and kind of settles naturally into the games flow. The hurdle is trying to explain to your friends that a game about 12th century architects building a cathedral can be exciting, strategic and fun. When I describe Lords of Waterdeep for example, I tell them that they will be noble lords of a fantasy city vying for power and control, suffice to say, it’s a much easier sell.

Pillars of the Earth is a very good game, in fact, dare I say it may actually be a better game than Lords of Waterdeep which I consider the premiere worker placement game because it’s a got considerably more depth (in particular if you compare Pillars of the Earth to Lords of Waterdeep without the corruption expansion). It’s more gamey, even if it boasts relatively simple rules depth and I find that the many strategies and approaches to the game, coupled with some of its randomness give this game a very high replay ability value. It may in the future appear on my top 10 list, I like it that much.

I would put this one into the worker placement game for people who want to take a couple steps above the pure worker placement games. Lords of Waterdeep and Kingsburg are good example of very simple and straightforward worker placement games. You put your worker down, collect resources, score points. Rinse and repeat. These games are fun for various reasons and I will happily play them both, but for me, Pillars of the Earth really brings it up a notch above the standard worker placement affair. There is more umpf to it and I really think if you like worker placement games this is one you definitely should not miss.

I highly recommend it.

Designers: Robert Dougherty, Darwin Kastle

In the last few years we have seen an ever increasing amount of deck building and deck drafting games, they are what you might call “All the rage” as far as designer board and card game mechanics go. The popularity of games like Dominion and Thunderstone is undeniable and that’s just the most notable ones, there are certainly plenty of under the radar games out there that are worth mentioning in this category. With its very low price, thumbs up from respected reviewers, high praise from board game geek and science-fiction theme it really was almost an automatic buy for me. The fact that there was a dirt cheap online app version of the game to test drive the game electronically was just icing on the cake. Let’s face it, some publishers know how to promote a game and some don’t, White Wizards Games clearly knows its audience.

Star Realms is actually a very simple game, it makes use of the deck building mechanic that most of us are already familiar with because of games like Dominion but instead of making the game about collecting points in a sort of race, it pits two players against each other in an outright “magic the gathering” like duel. No surprise, given that the two designers of this game are Magic The Gathering designer veterans.

Star Realms is effectively a combat game in which players use and purchase ships to generate gold to purchase new ships and bases and attack power to attack the health known as authority in Star Realms of their opponent. Each round you draw 5 cards from your deck, play the cards, buy cards from the pool of 5 randomly lined up in the center of the table and use whatever attack power you have to deal damage directly to your opponent. Take turns, rinse and repeat until someone runs out of health.

Now like all good card games the cards have all manner of special powers from forcing your opponent to discard cards, drawing more cards, earning you additional health and all manner of other interesting effects. The more powerful the card the more it costs. In addition each card you purchase be it a ship or a base is associated with a faction (one of four) and most of the cards have a primary effect and a secondary effect that triggers when a card of the same faction is played in the same round. For example an Imperial faction fighter has an attack power of 2 and forces your opponent to discard a card, but if another Imperial card is played that fighter deals an additional 2 points of damage.

This triggers lots of strategic options but since only 5 cards are available at a time from a deck of about one hundred, unlike Dominion, there isn’t a fixed strategy you can pre-plan and play, its very dynamic and your always making tough choices round to round. The pace of the game is very fast, you can start and finish a game in 15 to 20 minutes and it doesn’t take up a lot of space so it’s a game you can definitely travel with. This one should definitely go into the camping backpack or in the glove box on a road trip.

There are many twists and turns in this game in particular given its very basic core rules mechanic, in fact, for such a light and easy to teach game its depth is surprising. I was in particularly impressed with the games fluidity and approach-ability, it’s one of those card games you really can teach to anyone and it was very easy to get non-gamers to try it out.

Do I like it? Truth be told, I love it. I’m not sure if its the art work or the mechanics, but the game has an addictive appeal and I suppose for me personally its the same reason I like games like Dominion and Thunderstone. That deck building mechanic is fantastic and its always fun to see it applied to different types of themes. I think being largely a two player game Star Realm is of limited use for me in my collection since I so rarely only have one other player available. In fact these days even 2 to 4 player games come up short, I tend to have 5+ at my table. That said, Star Realms immediately became a permanent addition of what I like to call my “Race For The Galaxy box of space card games” which includes of course Race for the Galaxy but also other space games like the Eve Online CCG. I like card games themed in space and Star Realm certainly earns its stripes as an ideal addition. It fits that “We got 20 minutes, its just the two of us and one of us doesn’t know how to play the game” niche, which is actually contrary to what it sounds like, far more common. Its a game you can teach on the fly, its fun, its got depth, its pretty and its science-fiction. Its what I like to call a “yes” game, as its one of those games when I look to my collection for a game to pull of the shelf it answers yes to a lot of filters that are commonly used.

I’m not sure the game really needs expansions, I have talked about this before but there are a lot of games that are just great the way they are and while I’m sure the expansions are interesting and worthy additions, I don’t see the point, the game is perfect the way it is. To me personally games like Star Realm are great BECAUSE they are simple and expansions always unquestionably complicate games. A good example is Dominion, the base game is a simple to teach, fast and very uncomplicated. Throw in a couple of expansions and it becomes a very complex, very intricate game that takes waaaaay to long.

This game definitely gets the seal of approval from me, don’t hesitate if you’re a scinece-fiction nut looking to find a 2 player game that’s easy to teach but offers plethora of depth for repeated plays.