Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest Game

Set sail from Galecrest to discover islands in search of fortune and new adventures! As the pirate of a sailing craft, collect loot, play crew cards and total up your doubloons for a har har hardy good time! Rival ships may try to thwart your plans to keep the treasure for themselves, but if you use your talented crew to the best advantage, you will prevail and the riches will be yours!

This game has so many great aspects to its play. It is quick to set up, easy to learn and because it can be played by 1-6 players, it has a wide range of player accommodation. Although the publisher states that this game is for ages 14+, the game community has shared their experience that they have played with ages 10+ and I support that assessment.

Libertalia plays in 45-60 minutes and takes place over three rounds (or voyages). Each round consists of daytime, evening and night phases over the course of an increasing number of days per round. Players start each round with six new Character Cards (their “crew”), which they add to their player hand for that round. During each new day, players choose which card to play to the “island” on which that their ship is visiting. Depending on the numeric sequence, time of day that the card allows them to take their specific action and their rank on the reputation track, players are able to use the abilities on the card to their advantage and collect loot during the evening phase of the day. Once night falls, the crew returns to the ship and the benefits of any crew cards that activate at night are available. Over the course of each round, the goal is to utilize the best cards to collect the most doubloons. Once each round ends, new cards and loot are available for the next round. Once three rounds are over, all benefits are collected and players count their booty. The player with the most doubloons wins the game! I was so pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment of this game that I have made a permanent place for it in my collection. ~Marsha