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Spotlight on Games > Ludographies > Pirate Games

Pirate-Related Games and Bibliography
December 10, 2010

Armada
Patrice Pillet & Philippe des Pallieres; Eurogames-1986/2002
Two to four players in a simple Risk-like war game conducted in the seas and islands clustered around a large central island with many bays.
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Asterix - The Card Game
aka Asterix - Das Kartenspiel
David Parlett; Spears-1981 [card]
There is not too much of pirates in the game of Asterix and the ancient Gauls against Caesar and the ancient Romans, but there are pirate cards which reduce winnings.
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Drake v. Drake
Bruno Cathala; Eurogames-2002; 2
Abstract with a very light veneer of competing pirate bands played out on a grid. Players earn points for occupying squares, some of which confer extra points, and earn extra points for large connected groups according to a schedule. Before play each player receives half the sequentially numbered cards and allocates from a sub-deck of eight each turn. These are simultaneously revealed and resolved in numerical order. Although the purpose of most cards is simply to place a piece, a few specials grant greater powers, e.g. removing an opponent's piece, flipping some, sliding a row to knock an opponent off the edge or removing a group of opponents surrounding one's own pieces.
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Hanse, Die
Tom Schoeps; Laurin-2000;
Gorgeously-illustrated game about sea trading in northern Europe. Credit Frank Gerwin for wonderful period-feel graphics – his work is more often seen in role-playing games. Pirates are not a big part of the game, but there are pirate cards and a pirate ship that players take turns moving. This is one of the only games to feature the less well-known Vitalienbrüder or Vitalian Brotherhood, feared pirates of the North and Baltic Seas.
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James Clavell's Tai-Pan
Ian Bailey & Albie Fiore; FASA-1987;
From the novel of the same name, 1840's trading in Canton, Hong Kong, India and Europe. Players sail clipper ships from England to India where they buy up opium, from India to China where they sell the opium and pick up silk, tea and spices and then race back to England. Each clipper sailing is a race in which greater profits are realized for coming first, and realized in ways that are very sensible for the theme. Pirates are not a major part of this game, but the less well-known South Seas pirates do make an appearce in the form of cards.
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Lords of the Renaissance
Philip Eklund; Sierra Madre Games-2006; 2-6
Auction and negotiation game set in the Mediterranean of the fifteenth century. Pirate ships are available for players to hire out (or hire away) and wreak havoc.
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See Also < previousnext >
Board Games
Card Games
Expansion Kits
Science Fiction Pirates
Role-playing Games
For Children
Miniatures Games
Party Games
Related and Bibliography
Complete Index


Do you know of any more games that should be added?