Ruthless Review

Ruthless, from Alley Cat Games is very much like a firework.  Not the type of firework that goes off randomly at 11:36pm on a Thursday night in March, waking the dog up, and thus you.  No, Ruthless is like a firework in that despite the fact you’ve played many other deck builders, this one will make you go “Ooohhh”, like you do when watching fireworks, despite having seen many fireworks go off before.

I mean yes, it is very, very, very pretty to look at and let’s face it, the incredible box art is one of the reasons you picked it from the shelf, it’s the reason you had a look for a review to help validate your choice in-game purchase.  Rest assured the Ooohhing only starts with the artwork.

Simply put, you’ll win if you have the most notoriety after a number of rounds.  You’ll claim these Notoriety Points after each round if you have the strongest crew, the strongest crew being the best poker-style hand of cards.

You’ll play doubloons from your hand to trade them in for coins, use the coins to hire pirates from the Tavern to add to your play area and then your deck (or if you want to be thematic to your Deck and your deck).   You can use your Powder Monkeys (part of your starting hand) to bury those cards you don’t want anymore or use them to explore for Treasure, or even just send them to have a punch-up in the Tavern and get rid of the card you know your opponent wants.  So far, so deck builder.

Once all players have used their hand of cards, the pirates are mustered.  The new ones that have now been fully initiated into your crew, and those that you played throughout your turn, are now all arranged to be the meanest bunch of salty sea dogs to ever take to the waves…and by this, I mean arranged neatly into pairs, or straights or flushes, because pirates always look scarier when they are colour coordinated with the one another #TrueStory

From the outset, it all seems so simple, so straightforward, but each pirate card is not only going to be part of a rank system, nor part of a suit, but the pirates, when played or recruited will spring into action.  These actions make the main body of the game, adding both an internal conflict and to the player interaction: you’ll be able to attack your opponent, forcing them to lose cards; you’ll be able to retrieve cards lost to your discard; pick up extra coins or treasure; basically, loads of stuff.  It is this combination of rank, suit, and ability that makes Ruthless so enjoyable.

With every card played you’ll have to think about the long and short-term tactics, and in a slightly uncharacteristic fashion, these pirates are ushering you to think that way each time they are played. Their worth is only realised in the company they keep, their individual ability, although very “powerful” can only become a strategy if you have others of the same suit or rank, as ultimately it is the scoring that matters.

The final scoring naturally matters most, but noteworthy here that it isn’t necessarily the round winners that win the game. You know that saying about losing a battle to win the war?  Each game can be littered with winners.  In the end, you can lose, but not feel robbed, remembering that round where you scored 25 points with that mega flush.  With this comes a sense of achievement, of knowing that for at least one round your deck worked!  Just not often enough.

With any deck builder, there is the opportunity for optimisation, for finding the combinations of cards that just work well together, so if that is your cup of tea then Ruthless certainly won’t disappoint. But as cards of the same rank don’t all have the same ability, you’ll realise quickly that your plans need to be able to pivot, twist and parry like any good swashbuckler.  There is no card that is universally better than another, sure the higher ranking cards often offer some more powerful actions, and the Captain and Quartermaster also come with their own Notoriety Points, but—just as with poker—ace high is a rubbish hand.

I rarely find myself hunting and hoping for that one elusive card, Ruthless gives you options hand over hook, which cards to play and in which order, how to best use the pirate cards in your hand and how quickly can you buy that one you need.  Each round is made up of these tiny little choices, tiny little costs and that’s how this game will get under your skin.  From the outset, the plan is simple, but each step along that path is paved with seemingly innocuous choices.  Even the flipping treasure cards have a choice!  This all contributes to an overarching structure of action for the game, which despite all these little decisions you’ll be making, the pace never slows, the drama of the game builds turn by turn.

There’s a pseudo-narrative here, with the first two rounds being all set-up as players need to recruit quickly and heavily, and as you move into the middle of the game, the action and interaction heats up.  Now your recruiting, treasure hunting and blocking is more focused, more deliberate.  This all builds (hopefully) for the final act, as all those loose strands are pulled together, tightly bound in fortune and planning to create a concrete tactic and well-balanced deck, but it’s one that has grown naturally with you in the game.

Ruthless manages to feel familiar and new all at once, deftly dodging that games-ja-vu feeling and instead hits that sweet spot of familiarity without drowning in its theme or core mechanic.  It has an exciting and engaging arc as you turn a bunch of Powder Monkeys and a few doubloons into a dynamic and rollicking band of pirates with enough variety to grant a multitude of options for any play style.  The familiarity makes the game very easy to teach, the artwork makes it look great on the table and the mix of mechanics will convince you that next game your deck will be that little bit better.

Ruthless is available to pre-order now through the publisher’s website (or designer’s for non-English versions of the game as well as some extra bling for your copy of it) and will be available at Essen in October.

This review is based on a prototype copy of the game provided by the publisher, as such the final contents may vary – in fact they certainly will.

This review was first seen on Polyhedron Collider

 

Dead Man’s Doubloons Review

Land Ahoy! Grab your shovels and cutlasses boys, there’s treasure to be a digging and throats to be a cuttin’! I’ll lead a party ashore to pillage, explore and return with all the booty I can carry, you lads on the ship, follow the code and keep those filthy pirates at bay! Dead Man’s Doubloons from Thundergryph Games is a pirate adventure game of island exploration, naval battles of action programming and a doubloon-laden trove of take-that style mechanics.

Game: Dead Man’s Doubloons

Designer: Jason Miceli

Publisher: Thundergryph Games

Artists: Matthew Mizak

Player count: 2 - 6

Runtime: 40 - 60 mins

Doubloons and cannon balls will fly back and forth as easily and as frequently as the curses and name-calling. Each player will be desperately racing for the treasure buried at the peak of mount Zotétmon, once it has been claimed it’s all hands on deck as you either try and sail away as quickly as possible or send the wretch with all the gems down to Davy Jones’ Locker!

Right out of the docks I’m going to tell you some straight up facts about this game.

1. The artwork and components (especially the deluxe versions photographed here) are flippin brilliant.

2. The gameplay is ruthlessly take-that: sensitive souls beware!

3. The rulebook and insert are worse than a rum-infused hangover where you spent the night in a hammock in a cramped and smelly boat on rough seas.

[caption id="attachment_2713" align="alignnone" width="1600"] It's a manic and dangerous time on both land and sea[/caption]

Dead Man’s Doubloons tells a story over two game phases, the first; finding the treasure, followed by getting away with it. Using your rather lovely captain meeple you’ll slowly explore the unnamed island, judging and picking your route to spot marked “X”. There are various routes to the top, some more perilous than others, and some more rewarding. You’ll have to choose your way according to your needs and desperation; the blue coastal path is by far the longest but the safest, in contrast, the most direct route, red route, has a steep cost but will let you play catch up to the other captains.

[caption id="attachment_2716" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Losing two crew means your ship's special ability is lost, and for the Razzias this means doubloons could soon go missing too[/caption]

You see, you’re not alone looking for the treasure, in fact, your not the only pirate with that piece of the map. At the beginning of the game the map fragments are dished out to each player, and over the first few turns when taking the Quest action you’ll find additional fragments to better aid you in uncovering the treasure. Now, whenever you take a quest action to advance along a route on the island, any pirate who also has the same type of fragment you have declare you are following, well, they also get a free move. This quickly becomes an interesting choice, as you desperately try to keep your opponents back but advance yourself, send them blindly forward to suffer a cost you then don’t have to. It’s perfectly possible, you just need to pull off the right action at the right time against the right opponent. Which is about as easy as getting a bunch of sailors to clean up their language.

[caption id="attachment_2710" align="alignnone" width="1600"] With the right three cards, played at the right time you can quest and sail to victory...hopefully[/caption]

All the actions are managed using a programming mechanic with a slight variability via the multi-use cards. You’ll start the game with five cards and providing your crew doesn’t get pinched or killed you’ll stick with five cards, three of which you’ll use each turn, placing them face down in front of you. These cards present a simple set of actions, you’ll perform. The top of the card is your ship movement, and then you have a range of choices such as questing, attacking, repairing your ship or boarding one of your opponents. Each player, in turn, will complete a card’s action choice before play moves onto the next player, so you have those scant few moments of having a quick look around the table, mainly at the pirate you’re hoping to attack, trying to work out if, how and when you will launch your attack.

[caption id="attachment_2714" align="alignnone" width="1600"] The dreaded ghost ship prowls the waters, dishing out extra damage and carrying cursed doubloons, it's also immune to taking any further damage which makes them something to avoid[/caption]

This tandem play keeps engagement up, since one phase of the game is not reliant on the other, however, neither can be ignored. Once a route on the island is mostly explored playing catch up can be very safe, likewise if your ship is sunk it returns as a ghost ship, unable to take any more damage, but able to dish out extra - further to this it means that any doubloons or gems are cursed, but it turns out un-cursing yourself is “easy” it just requires five of those fateful coins.

Once the treasure is found, all players who are at the big X or even near it get to dig for some gems, then its all back to the ships and off you go. At this point the Captain Cards are shuffled into the deck, these when used advance the game end condition. All those landmark tiles that previously marked the route on the island, well they are now ‘exploits’ throwing them at your opponents, or should you need a little boost keeping them for yourself. It’s in this second stage of the game that there is quite a dramatic shift of pace. The player who thinks they’re in the lead just needs to stay away and stay afloat until they can cause the game end. For everyone else, it's a free for all.

[caption id="attachment_2712" align="alignnone" width="1600"] With a heap of diamonds each captain returns to their ship hoping to escape intact[/caption]

As is fitting for the theme, this is a cut-throat game from the off you’ll be firing, boarding, stealing, pillaging and it won’t stop. In fact, it gets worse. So, player beware, if you don’t like this style of game this isn’t for you. I had a blast, and thoroughly enjoyed my second and subsequent playthroughs of this game.

I didn’t enjoy my first game though, and if this were a “First Thoughts” style review it would read very differently. The rulebook is utter shite. I could sugar coat it, but I’d be doing you, dear reader, a disservice. My first playthrough was more or less out of the box with the rulebook open - because I was excited to play it - that excitement faded quicker than a wotsit when a sailor realises too late that that mermaid is actually a manatee. There is no anatomy of a player board, no indication as to what separates a Captain card from the seemingly identical action cards, the two-player variant is hidden at the back of the book as the third possible game variant - with no previous clue as to it even being there (making this game very flat in a two player game in my humble opinion).

Regarding my other irk about this game, the insert...well it’s clear the good folks at Thundergryph games tried really, really hard, but they missed the mark by a clear margin. Yes, it holds everything nice and safe. Too safe, getting those delicate looking ships out of the plastic insert...well, you know that feeling when you tear a cardboard counter when punching it? Now imagine it is a unique fragile plastic pirate ship. Removing this from the insert and putting them back is also an exercise in holdings one’s breath.

[caption id="attachment_2717" align="alignnone" width="1600"] There is a beautiful, tense moment before the first card is flipped, where all your plans and schemes could still work![/caption]

But, these “problems” are easily passed once you’ve dealt with them once, so you can get on enjoying this game, preferably at the higher player count, with a gaming group that is going to enjoy dishing out and taking damage. At two and three players though this game does suffer somewhat. You see as you lose crew, and you will, often and frequently, your hand size is reduced, from five to four, and then shortly after to three. At this point you are really on the back foot, you have no choice over how your ship moves, which, means the multi-use aspect of the programming become moot. With fewer ships on the board, you can often find yourself just sailing around not doing anything. Which, is pretty rubbish, because you’re still in the game but your role is perfunctory, not something you want in a game.

There are a number of modes of play, which in some ways feels a little like there is too much going on, as if designer and/or publisher couldn’t decide what should be cut, or kept having cool ideas that just bolted on to the game, but few of them feel truly at home. The Curse of the Black Gem feels a little unbalanced, and the “advanced” alternate Island board is a hot mess which might be fun if you can decrypt the rules for it - I gave up halfway through and house ruled it because I was sick of trying to figure it out.

[caption id="attachment_2715" align="alignnone" width="1600"] A fabulously colourful game with plenty of character and great take-that action[/caption]

All that being said, however, Dead Man’s Doubloons can tell an exciting story, and it does so in a very fun way. It is very easy to fall behind in this game, so providing you are ready for that type of game and know that when you start sliding down that slope you have to immediately claw it back. Dead Man’s Doubloons is simply (once you’ve figured out how to play), pretty and a lot of fun. Refreshingly this game comes in around the £40 mark, which is absolutely bang-on for this type of game.

Also: Pirates!

Disclaimer:

This review was based on a full priced Deluxe Kickstarter edition paid for out of my own money from my own pocket.  As such, some of the contents may vary from retail editions of the game.

Tortuga 1667 Review

Publisher: Façade Games

Designer: Travis Hancock

Artist: Sarah Keele

Players: 2 – 7

Run Time: 20 – 40 mins

“A dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.” - Jack Sparrow, on the issue of hidden role board games.

You're right, sorry; Captain Jack Sparrow.

There is little doubt or argument that Walt Disney and Johnny Depp made Pirates cool[er] again...a least for a little while, until the whole Mermaid thing - anyway.

Pirates = awesome.

Boardgames = awesome.

Boardgames that look like books = erm...

So, what else could a triple-decker awesome sandwich be, other than timber shiveringly awesome? Ladies and gentlemen, polish your brass monkeys, as I present to you a review of Tortuga 1667 from Facade Games.



You’ll play as a dubiously real pirate, in and around the island of Tortuga in, well 1667. You’ll hop back and forth between the Flying Dutchman, the isle itself and the Jolly Roger all in an attempt to horde as much of the treasure in the hold belonging to you and your countrymen. However, you don’t know who your countrymen are. Also, the whole hoarding thing is a little bit tricky, as it depends where you are, who you are and, who is with you.



This game has a smattering of worker placement, area control, variable player powers, bidding, and hidden roles to label just a few of the core mechanics. If that sounds like jumble ingredients doomed to failure then you are in for a pleasant and sweet surprise because it is the blending of these that makes this game worthy of your gaming table and shelf.



Picture this, you're on a ship in the bay of Tortuga, across the halcyon blue waters are two other ships. One with loads of gold, the other bustling with another group or unruly pirates. Now, if you’re the captain (taking the number one spot on the ship) you can order an attack against it to try and get some of that treasure. If you’re the first Mate (number two spot), you can try and mutiny against your captain and dispatch him to the Island. If you are the very last in the line on the ship, you’re the Cabin Boy (Roger!), and you can shift one of the treasure chests from the French hold to the British hold or vice versa. With the exception of the cabin boy, everything comes down to a vote (I know, I know, these must be the most democratic bunch of pirates in the history of Piracy) where everyone (except the captain during a mutiny) on the ship gets to cast their vote, plus the top card of the Vote Deck. Failures don’t do any harm, except potentially reveal whose side you’re on. Successes result in capturing a treasure chest- and then placing it in a hold (careful now), or you get promoted. But may also reveal whose side you’re on.



 

About this voting business, it’s not quite as clear-cut as saying “yay” or “nay”, your hand of just three Vote cards dictate how you're going to vote on any one of the three viable actions: Attacking, Brawling (vying for control of the island) and Mutinying. An attack needs at least one cannon and one torch - where each bucket of water nullifies a torch. The brawl action is either British or French flags, suggesting who piles into the fight to half-inch the treasure, and Mutinying boils down to a steering wheel or skull and crossbones (obviously). What makes this interesting is that depending on the action, your allegiance and perhaps, more importantly, the allegiance you are trying to present, you can only vote with the cards you have in hand. And you have to vote (hand management, there’s another mechanic for you). This creates an interesting mix, as there are cards you really want to keep for your actions, your plan, but you have to vote when called upon, and that can mean giving up a card you want for a result that might favour you, use a card you don’t want to hang on to, but in doing so you’re either sending the “right” message about your allegiance, or the “wrong” one.



If that wasn’t interesting enough, you’ve also got the Event Cards, a whole deck of them, and these set the pace for the game. The game-ending card - the Spanish Armada - hidden at the bottom. Until that card turns up though, there is a whole deck of shenanigans to get through, and most of these are varying degrees of bad, from the innocently named albatross to the ominous Black Spot. How you get these cards is one of my favourite parts of this game, in your turn, regardless of where on the board you are, you can interact with these cards in a couple of interesting ways. You can look at any two of these cards, you can demand that another player chooses between any two cards, or you can reveal one yourself. Knowing, and keeping track of these cards is almost like a metagame that goes on throughout, this part of Tortuga is about memory, manipulation and backstabbing.

On top of all of this, you’re trying to figure out who everyone is.



Being a hidden roles game, there is the potential downfall of it being very easy to suss out who is on which side, but, I’ve found that to be hugely player dependant. How good you are at lying, bluffing, and how much of a risk you are prepared to take as that deck whittles down. The deck acts not only as a countdown to the end of the game but to a player’s plans. Remaining hidden is of the utmost importance in this game, but you want to strike that delicate balance of also finding out who is on your side. When its crunch time, you need to ensure that you can shift that treasure quickly, you need to know who you can rely on, and who you throw overboard. Be wary of the honest ones!

There is, however, an elephant on the boat, and I think a much-needed caveat when it comes to playing this game: the player count. Technically, it plays two to seven people. Technically. But at two players it is kind of a drag, your actions are pretty prescribed. Three players is much the same. At four you get a big ol’ chunk of flavour. At five it is like you’re playing a different game, but at seven (I know I missed six, get over it), at seven this game is rollicking good fun!



Tortuga 1667 relies on, and flat out requires player and social interaction, so with more players, there is more of that, thus more fun. Further to this, the game becomes more volatile, swaying a vote becomes harder, and more involved. The odd player is Dutch, winning if the English and French draw, it is a brilliant twist on a hidden roles game that I’ve not seen before and Tortuga pulls it off with style. The variability and independence of the Dutch player can have massive consequences, and if played right can hold the tide of the battle in their hands.

And talking of style, I hope that my photos of this game do it justice. The game, the box, the board, art, components everything is flat-out gorgeous. And yet, manages to never feel over produced. It is tight, succinct and comes in at around £25. The neoprene playing ‘board’ juxtaposed by the simple, almost old-fashioned pawns is quite simply delightful.



Tortuga 1667 is one of my favourite games of 2017; it does everything a really good game needs to do. It gets you thinking, gets you interacting and playing. You never feel like you don’t have a choice of actions, and whatever you do you’ll be moving towards your ever approaching the goal. Ultimately the game comes down to being able to carefully balance subterfuge with careful, planned strikes against those players you think/hope are your enemy. Played at the higher player count this game will not fail to entertain and enthral, and oh my, doesn’t it look very pretty on your shelf.



This review was based on a full priced Kickstarter campaign at the Early Bird pledge level.