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Arrrghh me hearties, it be international talk like a pirate day! So, grab yer nearest compass and join me as I navigate us through the best pirate board games yer gold doubloons can buy, Arrrrghh!
Peg legs, eye patches, treasure maps and rum. What’s not to love about pirates? It’s hard not to think of adventures and freedom when you think of the old-time villains of the sea.
It’s no wonder then that there is an absolute swag of pirate themed board games on the market. In this article I am going to list what I believe the best of these pirate themed board games are and why. So, have a swig of rum, weigh anchor and lets see which board games make the cut!
The Top 10 Best Pirate Board Games
1. Merchants & Marauders
Players: 2 – 4
Duration: 180mins
Ahhh, 18th century Caribbean… where he who rules the sea rules all. This is the age of Pirates and it is where the setting of Merchants & Marauders takes place.
The game is suited for 2 – 4 players who each take control of their own ship as captain and set sail.
Merchants and Marauders has everything you could want in a pirate board game, players are completely free to play the game as they see fit.
Want to be a savage pirate that strikes fear into everyone and everything you come in to contact with? Sure.
Want to be a simple merchant who sails from port to port buying spices low and selling high? No Worries.
Simply want to play as an opportunist who takes things as they come? Go for it.
The game is completely up to the player, and that’s what makes it so great. There is no ‘best’ play style.
The cards in the game add a unique element to the game, offering missions, rumour cards, event cards and even cards that allow players to use hard earned glory powers. There are a generous number of cards to keep every game fresh and exciting – and the cards are really fun to play.
Combat in the game is super intense and will have everyone at the table watching closely. The risk and reward of attacking other players is massive and players must put everything on the line if they decide to go ahead.
While no player is ever ‘eliminated’ from the game. Attacks can leave your wallet and ego completely crushed!
The game is best played in a casual setting. Players can become a little too invested (in both time and gold) in their ship… if you land the single dice roll that takes all that away from you. A flipped table is not a too far off possibility (not speaking from experience I swear!).
Bottom Line
Merchants and Marauders is a swashbucklingly good sandbox pirate board game that allows players to choose how they would like to play and there is an enormous amount of freedom.
Combat in the game feels real and exciting with its all or nothing prize and the generous number of cards in the game means there is a ton of replay value.
Pros:
- Sandbox gameplay lets you play however you choose
- High quality game pieces and art
- Replay value with huge variety of cards (and expansions available)
Cons:
- A little shallow
- Best played in a casual setting with players who have a sense of humor!
2. Black Fleet
Players: 3 – 4
Duration: 60mins
Black Fleet is a great pirate themed game that is quite unique from the other games in this list as each player gets to control a whole fleet of ships as opposed to just one single vessel. Each fleet consists of a pirate ship, a merchant ship and shared control over the royal navy.
Controlling the different types of ships opens a whole swag of strategies players can choose to follow in order to win the game, and just as many ways to block another players strategy. Which makes the game highly entertaining.
Players use their merchant ship to deliver goods around the board, the pirate ship is used to attack other players merchant ships and the shared navy ships are used to attack pirate ships!
There are therefore always three fronts a player can choose to manoeuvre around the board, all while keeping an eye on what your opponents are doing at the same time!
At it’s heart, black fleet is a simple ‘pick up and deliver’ game, but there is a healthy dose of player interaction and card play that keeps the game fun as the tide of the game can turn at any moment (no pun intended!).
The game is family friendly as no ship can be destroyed permanently and the production quality of the game is amazing (metal coins for dubloons!?).
The game allows players to earn dubloons in 3 ways:
- Transporting goods around the board with the merchant;
- Using the pirate ship to steal goods from other players (and bury them on an island of course); or
- Use the neutral navy ships on the board to sink opposing pirate ships to earn a bounty.
Players use Dubloons to upgrade their fleet which allows them to ‘surpass rules’ in interesting ways as well as to pay the cost to win the game (10 Dubloons).
Bottom Line
Black Fleet is an amazing family friendly pirate game that has a tonne of replay value.
The game is easy to learn and is great to play with any level of gamer. No game feels the same and there are a multitude of strategies a player can take to reach victory.
I love the player interaction that happens with black fleet – everyone gets involved and that’s what board games are all about!
Pros:
- Easy to learn
- Lots of player interaction
- Great component quality
Cons:
- Elements of luck
3. Dead Men Tell No Tales
Players: 2 – 5
Duration: 60mins – 75mins
Dead Men Tell No Tales is a cooperative board game published by Minion Games.
Players take on roles as a pirate crew that board a sinking ship (that’s also on fire) to steal as much treasure as they can find and escape before they all perish with the ship.
In the game, each player controls a unique pirate, each with their own unique abilities and items. Using an action point system, players need to work together to move around the ship, fight guards and deckhands, put out fires and most importantly – loot treasure!
The game uses a tile system to create the ships layout – meaning every game has a different layout.
Dead Men Tell No Tales is played in a turn by turn manner, with each turn allowing the player to carry out the following actions:
- Walk: players can move to a connected room (flipping a new tile if the room has not yet been discovered);
- Run: Players can move two rooms at once (higher fatigue than walking);
- Fight Fires: Players can lower the fire level in the room they are in;
- Eliminate a Deckhand: Players can fight a deckhand – removing a deckhand token from a room or adjacent room (must immediately fight an enemy if you move into a room with one).
- Pick up Items: Players may pick up item tokens in rooms.
- Rest: Reduce fatigue.
- Increase Battle Strength: Adds +1 to a players battlestrength – used to fight enemies.
In order to emerge victoriously, players need to find all treasure tokens on the ship and escape before it sinks.
There are 6 different ways to lose the game:
- If the game requires you to add a deckhand but there are no tokens left;
- If the explosion marker reaches the end of the track;
- If a room tile cannot ‘legally’ be added to the ship;
- If too many treasure tokens have been destroyed in explosions;
- If one player does not make it out of the ship once all treasure has been looted; and
- If a pirate dies and there are no more pirates left!
I love the fact that Dead Men Tell No Tales has an almost puzzle like feel to it. There are so many things to do, and take note of that all players are constantly working together and trying to find the best use of everyones actions.
The theme of the game is brilliant and it offers enough of a challenge to keep things interesting (even on the beginner difficulty).
Bottom Line
Dead Men Tell No Tales is a fantastic pirate themed cooperative board game.
Its use of mechanics and theme make the game super immersive and fun to play as a group.
The game offers a great challenge, even to hobbyist gamers and has enough variation that its replay value is high.
Pros:
- Great component quality
- Challenging game play
- Well implemented pirate theme
- Plenty of different actions to take each turn
Cons:
- Things can become chaotic at max player count
- Like most coop games – someone can take over team discussions
4. Port Royal
Players: 2 – 5
Duration: 20mins – 50mins
Found on the south side of Jamaica, the town of Port Royal was the centre of shipping commerce in the 17th Century (and with this it brought an absolute hub of pirate activity).
Port Royal is a card game that focuses on shipping magnates during this time. The game is essentially a ‘push your luck’ style game that is quick to play and a lot of fun!
The overarching goal of the game is to be the first player to reach 12 victory points. There are a few ways of doing this from going on expeditions to hiring the right people.
The game comes with 120 cards made up of 4 different types. Half the deck is ‘people cards’ which provide victory points and abilities, 50 ship cards (in 5 different colors) which allow players to earn income, 6 expedition cards and 4 tax cards.
The game is super easy to set up and is played in two phases:
- Discovery Phase: Players draw cards from the ‘draw deck’ and place them face up. Players may stop drawing at any time (at which point they move to phase 2).
- Buying Phase: Players may buy ONE card from those drawn in phase 1.
If the player draws a tax card, the negative effect of the card needs to applied and the card discarded. An expedition card is taken by a player and is set aside until it can be fulfilled.
During the buying phase, players can choose to purchase people cards (which add victory points and special abilities) or skip purchasing – whereby income can be collected from ONE ship card on display.
I mentioned earlier that the game was a push your luck style game. This comes in the form of the ship cards. There are 5 different colored ships with 10 cards of each color.
If you draw 2 ship cards of the same color, you bust out and may not draw any more cards.
If, however you draw ships of 4 different colors, you get to buy an extra card in phase 2. If you get all the different colored ships you may purchase 3 cards.
The game is super-fast paced and the ‘gambling’ aspect really keeps the adrenaline going.
Overall I have a lot of fun playing Port Royal, while not the most in depth game in this list – it makes up for that with its quickplay fun factor!
Bottom Line
Port Royal is a fast paced, light hearted card game that is great to play if you like push your luck style games.
It is very simple to learn and, being cards, can be played almost anywhere.
Pros:
- Very cheap
- Super fun mechanics
- Great player interaction and hardly any downtime
Cons:
- If a player gets ahead – they can be hard to beat
5. Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot
Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot is a dice rolling ship building game that has players controlling their own pirate ship.
The aim of the game is to plunder merchant ships, steal booty and return it to the pirate king to gain fame and glory.
The game is played over a number of rounds, each with two stages:
- A quest stage: Where players head out on their respective adventures and collect loot; and
- Upgrade stage: Where players head back to port and upgrade their ships, hire crew and purchase victory points.
As it is a dice rolling game – all actions and consequences are resolved via dice rolls.
During the quest stage, players each draw a card from the adventure pile and collect the necessary ships and token to complete the task.
Dice are then rolled, with the adventure card stating what each roll means as a result of the quest.
Players roll both player dice and non-player dice. When battling ships, the dice of the player are compared to that of the non-player (highest number sinks the lower number).
During the quest phase, players are awarded 1 coin for each non-player ship that gets sunk.
Each player ship that is sunk must be repaired (costing 1 loot token each).
After all the fighting is done, players head back to port and can use their plundered loot to purchase ship upgrades and crew that will help them in later rounds (as well as victory points).
Once all rounds are complete, the player with the most victory points wins.
Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot, is a simple yet really fun game. The components are super high quality with detailed art, custom dice and metal coints.
I usually am not a fan of dice rolling games, but the mechanics in Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot are very well thought out – the game really does come down to luck, but with ship upgrades you can really change the course of the game.
One annoyance of mine was the player interaction and having to measure ship distances for cannons during battle. This all felt out of place and is a bit cramped doing it in the game box.
However, the ship building phase makes up for this in a big way. I love upgrading my ship and crew and actually adding bits and pieces to the ship (buy a buzz saw token and actually add a buzz saw to the front of your ship – AWESOME!).
Bottom Line
Rattle, Battle, Grab the Loot is a great dice rolling pirate game that brings something unique and different to the table.
While luck is a big factor, the ship upgrade mechanics help players have at least some way to combat this.
The game is slightly let down by a few fiddly mechanics but nothing major and overall is a great light hearted pirate board game.
Pros:
- Upgrading ships is super fun
- Fantastic item and component quality
Cons:
- Game time can drag
6. Rum and Bones
Players: 2 – 6
Duration: 60mins
Rum and Bones is a board game that is based on MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) style of games (think league of legends or DOTA).
The game has players controlling legendary pirate crews that make up two factions – locked in combat with each other.
Each faction has its own ship.
The aim of the game is for players to control pirate heroes (that come in the form of brilliantly detailed miniatures), board the enemy ship and disable it.
The board is set out in a typical MOBA faction with a pirate ship on each end (controlled by each faction).
Each ship has 3 spawn points from which a never-ending supply of minions spawn and charge across to the other ship (and are in constant battle with the other minions). If left alone both waves of minions would cancel (kill) each other out in perpetuity. The only factor that effects this balance is the player-controlled heroes.
At the start of the game, each faction chooses 3 heroes that will represent their side. Heroes in the game never actually die (they are only knocked out for a period and respawn).
Each hero has its own unique skills and abilities and are way stronger than the minions.
The aim of the game is for players to strategically use their heroes to fight their way onto the enemy ship and destroy 3 objectives.
Each objective destroyed inflicts a penalty on the faction it was destroyed from and buffs the attacking team (usually creating a snowball effect).
Unfortunately, one of the let downs of Rum and Bones is that it has a luck element (combat is determined via dice rolls). Losing a game because of a few dice rolls can leave a bitter taste in ones mouth.
However, many of the games I have played have been really fun and the tense competition and beautiful miniatures really make up for any shortfalls.
Bottom Line
Rum and Bones is a stunningly well-crafted dual type game. The miniatures are very high quality and detailed and the gameplay is very much like a MOBA game.
You don’t tend to have close finishes, as once one team gains an advantage, there tends to be a snowball type effect. However, the theme, artwork and lore really creates a highly immersive and entertaining pirate game that deserves its spot in this list.
Pros:
- Plays exactly like a MOBA style video game
- Awesome pirate theme
- Dice and hero abilities are well balanced
- Great components and miniature detail
Cons:
- High price point
- Snowball effect if one side gains an advantage
- Need expansions to unlock all the hero pool
7. Libertalia
Libertalia is a game where players play as one of three Pirate captains approaching the age of retirement. The aim of the game is to collect as much treasure as possible within 3 ‘campaigns’ at which point the captains will retire in the Pirate city of Libertalia (the winner being the captain with the most money).
The game is very easy to learn and is mainly card based.
At the start of every game, each player is dealt an almost identical deck of ‘crew cards’. At the beginning of a round, one player deals nine crew members and reads them out to the other players.
Each other player then finds the same cards from their deck and puts them in their hand (essentially meaning all players play each round with the same cards).
Once the crew has been dealt, the game begins.
Every game of Livertalia is made up of 3 campaigns. Each campaign broken up into 6 days of plundering.
Each day is then broken up again into 4 phases:
- Sunrise: Players secretly choose 1 of their 9 crew to play and then reveal them all at once. These crew are arranged by their rank on the ship.
- Day: Crew members with ‘day’ actions carry these out in turn from lowest to highest ranked crew member.
- Dusk: Each player chooses a booty token that is located beneath the ship. Tokens are chosen by players in order opposite to the Day phase (highest rank get the best loot). Dusk actions may also be carried out.
- Night: Crew members are able to use their night actions.
Once all 6 days have been played, the board is reset EXCEPT for 3 cards in each players hands. These can be carried forward to the next two campaigns (creating a variety of crew moving forward).
At the end of the game – the player with the most victory points (most money ) wins!
Bottom Line
Libertalia is a great pirate themed card game.
It is simple enough for newbie gamers, but has enough strategy and variety of cards that even the most seasoned gamer will get some kicks out of it.
Pros:
- Easy to learn rules
- Quick gameplay
- Great artwork and components
Cons:
- Rulebook is a bit confusing
8. Cartagena
Players: 2 – 5
Duration: 45mins
Cartagena is a board game based on the famous 1672 pirate-led jailbreak from the Colombian fortress of Cartagena.
The aim of the game is to get all your pirates onto a boat and escape before all the other players.
At its heart, Cartagena is a tile placement strategy game. Players are dealt a hand of cards that contain six symbols in a random order (lantern, jug, gun, grappling hook keys, and a telescope) as well as 4 pirates.
The game is made up of six board pieces that are randomized to form a continuous path from the jail to a boat.
Players place all their pirates on the starting tile.
Each turn a player may take up to three actions involving moving pirates forward or backwards:
Moving a Pirate Forward: Players can move a pirate forward by using one of their cards. The pirate advances to the next unoccupied board tile depicting the same symbol as the card that is played.
This could be the next tile, or you might get to skip a couple of symbols if other pirates already occupy them. If a symbol doesn’t appear between your pirates current position and the boat gets to skip all the way to the boat.
Moving a Pirate Backward: Players can move a pirate backward into the previous group of 1 or 2 pirates on the board (can be a mixture of yours and other players pirates). You then draw cards equal to the number of pirates that you moved back into (1 or 2). You may never move back into a group of 3 pirates.
The player who gets all 6 of their pirates into the boat first wins.
Bottom Line
Cartagena is a quick and fun pirate game that is great for families.
The game is easy to teach and easy to play, however in order to win you will need a solid strategy and a bit of luck.
Pros:
- Great for families
- Easy to learn and teach
- Great quality components
Cons:
- Not very deep
- Some luck involved with cards you are dealt
9. Jamaica
Jamaica is a fast-paced family board game where players race around the island of Jamaica, fighting each other and competing side quests for food and treasure along the way.
The game is very simple, with dice rolling and simple combat that makes it simple enough to play with the whole family.
The boards design is essentially the island of Jamaica with a water raceway with each space of the raceway being made up of ports, pirate lairs or ‘the deep sea’.
There are multiple forks in the raceway, however all paths lead to the same place (just slight shortcuts).
At the start of the game each player is given 3 food tokens, 3 dubloons and 11 action cards.
The players are dealt 3 action cards with the 9 others being placed in the middle of the table.
The game is played in rounds, with the captain of each round rolling two dice and placing them in the area of the board labelled “morning” “evening”.
All players then choose one of the 3 remaining cards in their hand and place it face down in front of them.
Starting with the Captain, players then flip over their cards and take the two actions written on their card.
The first action uses the morning number, and the second action uses the evening number. The actions are:
- Take doubloons equal to the number rolled;
- Take gunpowder tokens equal to the number rolled;
- Take food tokens equal to the number rolled;
- Move forward the number of spaces rolled;
- Move backwards the number of spaces rolled.
Each space a player lands on the way around the course has different consequences:
- Landing at a port, means having to give up some dubloons;
- Landing on a pirates lair means receiving a treasure token and drawing a treasure card;
- Deep sea means discarding food tokens; and
- If there is another pirate in the space. You mus fight them!
At any time if a player cannot afford the ‘cost’ of landing in a space, they must move backwards to a space that they can actually afford.
The winner of the game is the first person to reach the start of the board again (travel all the way around Jamaica) signals the end of the game.
Players then tally the distance travelled, the amount of dubloons they have and the treasures they have found (less any cursed treasures) – the player with the most points wins!
Bottom Line
Jamaica is a fun and light hearted family pirate race game.
It is fast paced enough to keep the young ones interested and easy enough for them to learn.
Gameplay is over pretty fast (usually about 30mins – 45mins) and it can be anyone’s game right up until the end!
Pros:
- Great art and insert
- Fast play time and easy to learn rules
- Plays well with all player counts
Cons:
- If you play with two players (need to use a dummy player)
- Luck elements in the form of dice rolls
10. Loot
Players: 2 – 8
Duration: 20mins
Last but not least I have included Loot – an addictive card game produced by Gamewright.
Loot is a card game that is simple to play but opens up room for a massive amount of strategic thinking.
Essentially an auction game where players have two options:
- Draw a card; or
- Play a card.
When playing a card, a player has the following decision:
- Play a merchant ship which initiates a new auction allowing other players to bid for the ship (if no other player bids, the person who played the ship wins it).
- Play a pirate ship to bid for a merchant ship (i.e. blow it to smithereens).
- Play a captain (which trumps all other bids on the merchant ship).
- Play an admiral to cancel all other players bids on your ship.
The player at the end of the game with the most merchant ships wins!
Bottom Line
Loot is incredibly addictive and generally when its cracked open at my game nights it gets a LOT of play throughs.
The fact it is easy to learn and portable, yet has a very deep strategy aspect makes it the perfect game to take to a pub or travelling.
The pirate theme just adds a cherry on top of the whole situation!
Pros:
- Quick gameplay and game time
- Pirate theme is awesome
- Involves strategy to win
Cons:
- There is a bit of randomness to the game
- Playing with two players can be a bit tedious
Final Thoughts
Pirate games have long been a darling theme of the board gaming world. There is just something exciting about pirates and plundering the 7 seas to win fame, riches and glory.
In this article I have listed 10 of what I believe are the best pirate themed board games. I have included a range of games that all have different mechanics and play styles but all stay true to the pirate theme.
I hope you find something in the list that appeals to you and helps you decide where to spend your hard earned dubloons!
