The chair creaks as you settle onto it. The candlelight flickers. All around you the ravenous faces of your so-called friends twist in delight as you slowly open the box laid out on the table. Welcome to Dangerous Games! Each week, we'll feature a horror/thriller/monster tabletop game you should be playing. Don't be scared… roll the dice… what's the worst that could happen?
Ghost Pirates
Somewhere off in the Florida Keys, away from the partying and spring break-ing, a creaky old ship rocks in the sea. The crystal clear water licks at its rotting wooden sides, the warm breeze whistles through a tattered mast, and as another ancient ship lurches through the water… something stirs in the cabins below. This is Ghost Pirates, a fun tactical ship-to-ship combat card game for two!
You and your opponent both take the role of ghost pirate captains. The idea of the game is that you're the spirits of old sea dogs, destined to continually battle each other in open waters until the end of time. You may not be tangible, but you sure are tactical!
Gameplay Mechanics
Each player's ghost ship is initially comprised of three cards. Players set down five cards representing the ocean in the middle of the play space. Then each player lays down their initial three cards (Forecastle, Main Mast, and Poop Deck) and the game begins. Each ship has crew members, a first mate, and a ghost captain. The goal of the game is to keelhaul your opponent's captain by boarding and wrecking his or her ship!
Players draw from decks of cards, and a player can draw various items of booty, or extra parts of his or her ship. You can draw a piece of your ship with an extra mast, or a cannon, or a treasure hold! You could even draw a boarding plank which you lay down over the ocean cards to attempt to board your opponent's ship!
Through careful tactical play one player will emerge victorious. But not before many cannons are fired, many planks are walked, and much rum is drunk! Here's to living the pirate's after-life!
Replay Value
One of the really cool features of this game is the captain card. Each player chooses a captain from the deck to play, which subtly changes the game and forces your opponent to alter their game plan. You could have a ghost captain who gets extra help, or a ghost captain who ignores normal cannon damage. These cards, along with the dice rolling, keeps the game fun and variant. There are definitely plenty of ways to play the game, and you'll find yourself coming back to it time and again.
Overall Impressions
You play as a ship-full of ghost pirates trying to raid another ship full of ghost pirates. What's not to love? This high-seas adventure is clever in it's design and compact in its packaging. This is the type of game we break out whenever we've got the time. And there's always time for pirates!