Tuesday 28 February 2012

Beer and Home-Taping



Having missed last week's regular Tuesday meeting, and with unsullied cardboard in the cupboard, I was unwilling to wait another night for my regular fix and wanted to get sullying. Andrew was similarly inclined, and joined me for a game of Rum and Pirates last night as we, slightly illegally, listened to Andrew's birthday mix CD.

Rum and Pirates is a Stefan Feld game but not one of huge regard - it doesn't even make it onto his wikipedia page. That's right. I checked. Perhaps that's because it's extraordinarily silly theme - not the Pirates themselves, but the fact that the game takes place in a kind of pirate retirement village, where they all get drunk, fight with the guards and piece together treasure maps whilst following the Red Corsair around the place like a bunch of besotted schoolboys - then fight with each other over who gets to sleep in the hammock on the ship, despite there being numerous hostelries available onshore.

The other reason might be the badly written rules, which are so repetitive they feel like an experiment. We started fairly late, and when we turned to the double-page spread on how to fight over the sleeping berths (which is actually quite straightforward), I was ready to pack it in and play Stone Age instead.

But I'm glad Andrew persisted, as the game, for all it's fiddly bits, is actually rather simple and quick-moving. On your turn you move the Red Corsair to an intersection on the map and, as long as you have enough pirates in your supply to follow him there, you pick up what he finds and keep it for yourself. If you want to pay a gold coin you can repeat the action, as many times as you have coins. The resources at intersections might be part of a treasure map, or a gold coin, or a fight with the guards, or a few other options including inviting all the players for a drink and squabbling over the available 'honour points'.

For honour points, not treasure, is how you win this game. Pirates, of course, don't actually have much use for treasure when they have it, as the most they'll ever do with it is buy a round in the pub before starting a punch-up. But the getting-of-it is obviously important to them, in one of the silliest games I've played in a while.

After the initial disdain of the rulebook, and the slightly underwhelming board not winning our hearts, this was actually a lot of fun. Heavy on the luck, to be sure, as combat is down to the roll of a dice - which in most instances favoured me last night, as I ran out the Most Honourable Pirate with 72 points to Andrew's 61. But as Joe keeps saying, "dice are in!"

Let's play it again! Tonight!

6 comments:

  1. Mmm, dice, pirates, honour points . . . squabbling over hammocks.
    How long is it?
    Don't get me wrong, I'll happily play Portobello Market instead.

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  2. With the 2 of us it was about 50 minutes, including a 5 minute break!

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  3. Oh yes, I know the sort of thing . . .

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  4. What's the temptation to talk a pirate all night like?

    Garrr!

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  5. Actually fairly low. When your turn is finished you're supposed to say "Avast!" ...but we forgot.

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  6. Let's just play Portobello Marrghket . . .
    I'll bring 6 Nimmt!

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