BG Wednesday: Captain Treasure Boots

Today only 4 players showed up. This low number of players has been the case for a few weeks. I work at a university. At the end of the last semester, we had 8-9 regular attendees for each BG Wednesday. Since then we've had one person leave, other players' schedules have kept them from playing with us, and it has been a busy several weeks.

So, despite three games being voted for this week, only one got played - Captain Treasure Boots. This one was voted for by Adam, who owns the game.

The game consists of a few cardstock flats which look like an overhead view of the ocean with some little islands scattered on various squares of a grid. Each island bears a number which helps you determine where to place new treasures. During the game, you travel around and pick up these treasures and then cash them in at various ports to earn points.

We didn't choose a point limit. Rather, we just played until the hour was up, making sure everyone had an equal number of turns.

Everyone uses their own marker for this game. I chose to use one of my little ships from the Pirates CSG. From the beginning, the dice had it in for me. I was consistently rolling 1s, which brought me pearls, but didn't allow me to move very far. While the other three players sailed around, attacking, pillaging, and cashing in treasures, I struggled to get anywhere. Eventually, I collected a little hoard of loot and managed to safely trade it in for points at a port. That was the first and last time.

Jack was sailing around with the apparent strategy to steal guns from everyone else to keep them from attacking him. Adam and Vernal managed to stock up on good loads of treasure, each of them cashing in 3 times during the game. Jack only cashed in once.

Toward the end, I had treasures of all 4 colors (5 total pieces) on board, eager to head for port. My lousy luck continued as I struggled to get a good enough movement roll to get me home. It wasn't long before Jack had swept in to block my passage to the nearest port, attacking me himself, and with a privateer as well!

Jack wanted to drop his treasure off at the same port, but Adam landed there, ruining Jack's chance of a final drop-off.

There is a lot of luck in this game. You're rolling dice for almost everything. Then, once you've rolled the dice, you can strategize to some degree as you move your ship around, seeking treasure and battle. As such, the final scores were a pretty good spread: Vernal - 17, Adam - 14, Jack - 7, me - 6.

We were wishing it was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, but alas, we must continue to wait until September 19th. Don't forget to mark the day on your calendar!