The nefarious Pirate King has stolen Her Majesty's Ship, the Sea Hammer, pride of the Royal Navy. Furious, the Queen has offered a great reward to the person who can retrieve it. As one of the advisors to the Queen, you have chosen an officer of the Royal Navy to pursue the Pirate King. Of course, it might take a thief to catch a thief, so you've also conscripted a vicioius pirate from the Queen's dungeons.
Now they are preparing to enter the dreaded Lair of the Pirate King. Will one of them be the first to recover the Sea Hammer? Or will one of your rivals receive the Queen's reward instead?
33 Fortune cardsThe Board
The Sword & Skull game board consists of two tracks.
The outer track has 32 spaces representing the Castle, caves, docks, treasure chests, the Church, the Trading Post, a tavern, a royal tax collector, the Bridge of Tears, quicksand, and the settlements of Clearwater, Rum Reef, the Mercenary Camp, Smuggler's Cove, and Fort Rock.
The inner track leads to the secret Lair of the Pirate King, hidden beyond the Lake of Fire inside a volcano. Its 12 spaces include the Idol, lava tubes, smoky cave, geyser, Thieves' Den, treasure trove, and buried treasure -- plus the Lake of Fire and, ultimately, the Lair of the Pirate King. The volcano path has only one entrance and one exit, so deciding when to enter and when to pass it by is a crucial decision that you get to make only once per trip around the board.
The Cards
The game's 110 cards come in five varieties.
Player Cards remind everyone who's playing which color and are a handy place to keep your gold.
Crew Cards increase your strength. Each card boosts either your Pirate or your Navy Officer. The crew card deck is customized according to how many players are in the game -- there's fewer crewmen to recruit in games with three or four players.
Item Cards can increase your strength, but they also give combat or movement bonuses, economic advantages, or some other benefit.
Enemy Cards are random foes that you must fight as you travel around the board. As your characters grow stronger, so do the enemies -- but not as fast.
Fortune Cards do all of the things listed above and more. They represent the mild to wild swings of fortune that characterize freebooting life in the Caribbean. A few examples are "Dirty Fighting," "Mercenary Recruits," "Quick Thinking," "Lucky Blow," and "X Marks the Spot."
Gold Coins come into play in many, sometimes surprising, ways.
Pirates and Navy Officers are the playing pieces that move around the board. Each player controls one Pirate and one Navy Officer. The differences between them are subtle. Either one can challenge the Pirate King for possession of the Sea Hammer and win the game.
No. of Players 2 - 5
Duration: 60 to 90 minutes
Min. Age: 10
GL Price:
£28.99
(£28.41 after automatic discount!, RRP is £32.99)
Quantity:
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