Rum and Pirates Review

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life for me!

It was time to yell Yo Ho and serve up the Yoo Hoo as we tried out Alea's Rum and Pirate's last night. The game is rather light fare compared with Alea's other strategy games and I was a little uneasy with the theme that included heavy drinking at Pubs and meeting women for a secret rendezvous but despite that I donned my eyepatch and dove headfirst into this Alea offering. There seemed to be quite a bit of randomness for the Alea line and I approached the game with much trepidation but feeling rather gallant in my eyepatch I decided to swing this night and even adopt a little AT rebel attitude.

Rum and Pirate's has you cavorting around a small coastal town and on your turn you move the captain from intersection to intersection picking up various treasures which include , maps, pirate gear, gold coins and also you may be drinking at the pubs and fighting city guards.

I found the decisions delicious as I pondered where to move the Captain next. When you move the Captain you must place your pirates on the alley streets between the intersections and you start with 10 pirates so you have a limited supply and you have to decide at what point you want to go back to the ship and fight for the best place to sleep on board, the Captain's quarters, a hammock or a pile of rope.

Drinking at the Pub's turned out to be quite fun and a rather easy dice fest as you compete for honor point tiles. As we rolled the dice we took a swig of Yoo Hoo and yelled out a "Gosh Darn" here and there!

Speaking of Honor points, that is how you win the game, you get points for pirate gear , pirate maps if you have both halves and meeting up with women at the correct locations.

I found the treasure spots rather fun. The player that moves the Captain to a treasure space takes the treasure chest for honor points but one player will get stung by a scorpion based on which player equals or exceeds the target number on the scorpion tile. I got stung once at that is a -2 penalty off my honor points at the end of the game.

The game lets you spend 5 nights in this wild coastal town and whoever has the most honor points wins. The game is rich with Pirate theme and gives "Pirate's Cove" a run for its money as the best Pirate game out there.

My fellow reviewer the Payola Pollyanna gave this game a "5" saying it was too light for him but a comment like that from him only means he probably had to pay for the game! HA!

Everyone enjoyed the game it was certainly fun and generated laughter which is a prime factor for me. I must say that the counter tray included with the game is the ultimate in organization second only to my sock drawer!

I give the game a 7

For the love of God man, change your avatar back! I keep thinking we've been invaded by Greg Schlosser and it's seriously fucking with my head.

For the love of God man, change your avatar back! I keep thinking we've been invaded by Greg Schlosser and it's seriously fucking with my head.

HA! I hear you saying that with your English accent and it cracks me up! HA!

Great review! This is definitely going on my radar!

However, I am a tad concerned about the sexist image you have posted. I think it is very inapproprirate and children who see it might get the impression that all women are busty piratesses. That is not what Family Gaming is all about.

Great review! This is definitely going on my radar!

However, I am a tad concerned about the sexist image you have posted. I think it is very inapproprirate and children who see it might get the impression that all women are busty piratesses. That is not what Family Gaming is all about.

Thanks for the positive vibes brother! It seems we are reaching a mutual respect as professional boardgame reviewers.

I agree with you rcommenst on Family gaming and I apologize for the image , but playing "Rum and Pirates" last night with the boys it was my night to howl and the sugar high from my Yoo Hoo always seems to turn me into a Boardgame Cassanova

MattDP wrote:

For the love of God man, change your avatar back! I keep thinking we've been invaded by Greg Schlosser and it's seriously fucking with my head.

I agree. Its fucking annoying.

When I look at a game this good, I really wonder why the AT'ers complain that Euros have no theme.

This game oozes theme. It practically forms a giant Akira-like giant zit of flesh and fluids, and spews them all over Tokyo with theme. And it even comes with detailed plastic pirates, which are far superior to anything I've ever seen from Helen of Toy.

I bet it would be an even better game if they took the same plastic pirates, and allowed Reiner Knizia to design a pirate game.

That's right Frank, if the pieces have a particular shape, the game must oozes a Kaneda-screaming blob of theme that leaks out of the box- if it the top fits the bottom correctly, there should be a 1/32" gap through which the theme can seep.

Wait a minute...am I Mad Dog or Michael Barnes? The mind reels, I'm so confusedd!

I ran Rum & Pirates at the local con (GameStorm) last Friday night. Like Piratenbucht from years ago, it was a bit flat, I think because the players were unfamiliar with each other and weren't sure whether they were playing a strategy game or a wacky game. But I have always enjoyed the game within my group where we start with the silliness from the get-go.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Wait a minute...am I Mad Dog or Michael Barnes? The mind reels, I'm so confusedd!

I changed it to someone who doesn't post here so its less confusing.

Steve,

I'm calling this out as a violation of your Declaration Of Silence in choice of avatar and the term "Payola Pollyanna".

Free game, please. I'm thinking of Merchant of Venus, but I haven't decided. Perhaps you have the old Blackbeard? Or Thunderbolt/Apache Leader? Or Silent War, maybe. You know, it would be easier if you just sent me a list.

Ooh, this is a sticky legal situation...here's language direct from his statement-

This includes any nicknames that also refer to these gentlemen which include but are not limited to

That clause right there might indict him.

BOOM goes the dynamite

Ooh, this is a sticky legal situation...here's language direct from his statement-

This includes any nicknames that also refer to these gentlemen which include but are not limited to

That clause right there might indict him.

I hate Lawyers! The game will go to Bullwinkle. I will prepare a list

moofrank wrote:

When I look at a game this good, I really wonder why the AT'ers complain that Euros have no theme.

This game oozes theme. It practically forms a giant Akira-like giant zit of flesh and fluids, and spews them all over Tokyo with theme. And it even comes with detailed plastic pirates, which are far superior to anything I've ever seen from Helen of Toy.

I was going to go with more of a Hokuto No Ken "Hyaku Retsu Ken" (Theme hits you so hard and fast that it makes your head explode), but the Akira nod is simply elegant!