Penchant for Plunder (a review of Libertalia)

When I was in college, each year there was one movie that got watched over and over again in the dorms, to the point that I never wanted to see it again. My freshman year, that movie was Shrek. My sophomore year, that movie was Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now, some ten years later, I can look back fondly on those times in the dorm together with friends (even if I'm not keen to watch those movies again). And despite not wanting to watch Pirates again, piratey games are definitely not off limits. Does Libertalia deliver the goods (and then plunder them)? Find out below!

Designing in a Vacuum

Time for a little change of pace.  Over the past year I've spent a lot of timing doing something a little different; trying to design board games.  A few years ago I had a game design in progress which had a fun concept, but ultimately I was unable to execute successfully.  I took a break from designing for a while, but I'm a creative person and it wasn't too long before ideas were cooking in my head and I just couldn't shut them up.

I decided to write a little bit about my design process, what I've learned, and the story so far. I hope you enjoy.

... And Really Bad Eggs (A Review of Merchants & Marauders)

Geeeyaaaaaarrrrrg!

"Not just the Spanish Main, love. The entire ocean. The entire wo'ld. Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs but what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom."
  -Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

Well, you may not be Captain Jack or sailing in a ship crewed by the undead, but you certainly will be sailing around the Caribbean, from Tortuga to St. John.  The world of a ship captain, if Mr. Sparrow's words are to be believed, is freedom; and that's the world Merchants & Marauders brings to you.