A Tale of Pirates is a worker placement co-operative game played in the thrilling excitement of “Real Time”. This swashbuckling adventure challenges players to work together to crew their illustrious ship “Ellen” through ten chapters of adventure on the high seas. Each chapter provides new features and challenges that keep players coming back for more.

First of all I should start out by saying that my wife is a huge fan of pirates. If I’m ever at a loss about what to get her for Christmas, or her birthday, Pirates is a safe bet old or new. This means that we are always eager to pick up new games in the Pirate genre and have been subjected to mostly disappointing results thus far. Not to say that all games based on pirates have been bad but they have had a tendency, in my opinion, to lack balance. A well balanced game has both a solid story line and a mechanical play structure that tie together to create a fun and engaging experience for the play, that's not news it's just how it works. Most pirate themed games that I have experienced have been sorely lacking in one or the other, condemning them to the ratings of mediocre or just okay, and not often making the list of games that I am excited to play repeatedly or bring to the table and share with friends. Let's face it, we have all had games that were so mechanically beautiful but lacked any real story, meaning the game could just as easily be about fairy princesses and nothing would seem amiss. A Tale of Pirates, takes both mechanics and story and melds them together producing a fantastic, engaging experience that I am continually drawn back to.

Never have I been so excited about the use of these two words, but they sum up the experience of this game perfectly; “Real Time”. As we read through the rules(As one does when learning a new game) the booklet mentions playing in “Real Time” on more than one occasion. At this point we hadn’t learned enough about how the game is played to fully appreciate the significance of this. Upon completing the initial reading of the rules a realization quickly set in, there was no turn order. We quickly came to discover that this is because the game is played in Real Time!!! This is executed by the use of two layers of timers(might sound complicated but it's super simple) The first is the round timer, this is operated on the companion app and is not displayed so aside from a few audible cues, you never know how much time you have left which is great because watching the clock is a waste of valuable time. The second layer of timer is controlled by the player. Each player controls a sand timer that they place in different spaces on the ship to perform different actions such as loading a cannon, repairing a hole, raising the sail, etc. in order to complete the action the player must wait for the sand to run out on their timer, perform the action and then move their timer to a different space and start the process over.(with two players you each control two sand timers which has both its advantages and disadvantages) all players are playing at the same time and need to communicate with each other in order to work towards the common goal. This dual timer mechanic, paired with a unified turn sequence creates a very real atmosphere of urgency about what you are doing. I’ve never seen anything like it and Personally I think it’s genius.

Without giving away too much of the story, the obstacles in this game are all represented by cards that are shuffled at the start of each round and randomly dispersed, face down, around your ship. Based on the chapter of the game you are playing you will interact with these obstacles in different ways. Now we have only played through a handful of the provided chapters at this point, but have managed to fail our mission more than once. The simple randomization of the card placement allows us to go at a chapter a second time and have a completely different experience without feeling like we have a great advantage having played the chapter before. I definitely score this game well for replay ability.

The ever important question of value for money. This topic can be a bit subjective as everyone weighs the aspects of a game differently when determining if they feel like they got a good deal. The Frugal Dutchman Retails this game for $44.95 CAD, which is well within the expected price range for a game like this. It has well constructed components as well as good quality cards making the physical elements well worth the price. The game itself is extremely enjoyable to play and is very unique so there is good value there. Overall I think the price is right on this game giving great value for your money.

I honestly believe that this game will be one that we will be able to continue playing over and over. It has already become a favourite for my wife and I, and we are excited to bring it to the table and share it with our friends and family. Having young children, after the kids go to bed is when we get to play games together just the two of us and it can be a struggle to find a game that plays well with only two players. A Tale of Pirates has a mechanic that works just as well with two as it would with a full complement of players. The only real criticism is that I would have liked a clearer “Learn to Play” section as we didn’t fully understand how to play until we read the entire rule book cover to cover. Being the kind of player that just wants to figure out the basics and learn the game on the fly I appreciate a well written rule book(which i find this to be) however a quick fire “Learn to Play” section always manages to get the ball rolling. If you are a fan of pirate games or are looking for the challenge of a real time strategy on the tabletop, A Tale of Pirates is sure to please.

Rating 4.5/5 

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Review By: Christian Kentie

Game Specs:

Designed By:  Asger Granerud

Daniel Skjold Pederson

Daniele Tasoni

Published By: Cranio Creations

Ages 10+

2-4 Players

30 Minutes