Forbidden Games

I like everything about this game. The components are top notch. The pirate ships have a lot of detail, and the meeple pirates are unique. The cards have a nice finish. Even the crates aren't just colored cubes, but have little ridges on them to make them really look like crates. The box is designed so everything fits perfectly, and there are little compartments for each pirate ship in two levels of trays so they don't get broken. The board has great detail on it and also feels like it will hold up well. There are a few little facts about pirate history interspersed in the rule book which was a nice addition. Okay, now to the game play. The instructions are very well written and straight forward. I didn't have to watch a youtube video to clarify anything. The game is part deck builder, part resource management, part race to the end. There are a few things to keep track of, do you want to get crates to then get treasure cards worth victory points, or do you want to race to the finish to get victory points before other players can amass more treasure? Also, you can decide which is more important deck to get cards from and that might decide your tactic. The game played in just under an hour with two of us for a first play. You can definitely tell the designers put alot of thought and effort into this game. Love it!

This is a fun and easy to learn board game. Challenging when there are more people playing for sure, but just as fun with only two. But you have to know the rules!! :)I play board games with a group every friday and this is always a fun game with different outcomes...

Excellent game. Easy to learn, quick to play, and pirate-y fun!

This is a great game for families. It's easy to understand, has a good mix of luck and strategy, provides interesting choices, and can play up to 6 players!It's essentially a race to Trinidad, but the player who lands a ship there first may still not win because it all depends on total victory points. Those are gained by plundering ships for cargo and using that cargo to buy treasures in ports as well as where each of their 3 ships finish on the 3 different routes to Trinidad.If you'd like more details and impressions, check out our full review at The Board Game Family.

I love this game is wonderful and beautiful its components are awesome in all ways 👌🏻👍🏻

The game board is large and fits nicely with the theme. The player pieces are thick and high quality. Everything fits neatly in the box - there’s enough room for everything. The rules are clear and easy to follow. Basically this game covers every single complaint anyone’s going to have physically.Now the downside. The game gives such a huge bonus to the player that rushes to the end and finishes first that it’s not that fun to play. That person doesn’t always win, but because rushing to the end is the goal it is hard to really work on your deck, so you don’t get the satisfaction of using the awesome deck you made once it’s awesome. I feel that doing everything in moderation will lead to a win but it’s really not very satisfying and you aren’t fighting with your opponents over resources much. I really wanted to like the game, especially since the components are so great, but it’s a little too simplified and it feels like it is missing something.Possible ideas to make it better (granted I’m not a board game developer):1. Have the game fold into thirds. A 2-3 player game would use only the blue track. 4-5 players use blue and red. 6+ players use all three tracks. This would lead to increased competition and make each crate and pirate worth more.2. Smaller bonuses for rushing to the end. (Why does 1st place need a bonus and an extra tile? It makes it a lot harder to beat them when they choose a 8 point tile). I’d keep this perk if there were more ways to win.3. Maybe some perk based on how many cards you own? Or a perk based on what type of cards? Then you would have another strategy in the game4. Maybe make 2 ships of one color reaching the end, end the game. This would make so that rushing to the end is a lot less strong since it takes more time to do and other people could decide to focus on other things (and actually have time to do it). With this idea then the rusher should get the extra tile. I think it would allow someone to not rush at all and instead focus on deck building or crate and pirate gathering as an alternate strategyOverall I think the game is missing something. I’m not quite sure what. Maybe it needs more player interaction. Maybe more competition. Maybe just more ways to win. Probably all three.I would not recommend it because everyone that’s played with me so far feels the same. I do love that the game is well made however.5 stars for game components2 stars for amount of fun

Very high quality game board, cards, and pieces. Geographically and historically accurate which is extremely rare.Great playability. Easy to learn yet challenging to master. Worth every penny! Much more than just a deck building game.

This has quickly become our new go-to game when we have about an hour to kill. Easy to learn, easy to play, quality components.