Stonemaier Games | Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 1-6 Players | 45-60 Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

Once everyone is ready, the players reveal their chosen crew members and place them on the cargo ship from lowest on the left to the highest on the right. One thing Paolo Mori worked on improving for this release was the two-player game, which was somewhat bland in Libertalia. And… it’s fine. Definitely better. I’m glad it was tweaked. The two-player game now adds a mid-ranked character who’s always on the Island for players to compete with. This two-player mode is certainly an improvement but still isn’t terribly robust.

I agree with Ramenhotep that there are more components than are necessary to play the game, but it does lead to a very attractive game that catches the eye of people walking by. They also add a feeling of “weight” to a game that is, at its heart, a card game. I would have preferred the scoreboard be integrated around the central shipboard; the existing scoreboard is a bit hard to read as it spirals inward, but gets the job done. No, this is a completely new edition, with every aspect of the game enhanced, expanded, and (hopefully) improved. All components and art are brand-new as well. Everything has changed in some way, including every character (and more characters for a total of 40). The art in Libertalia is telling you how good the game is, and it's not lying. This is a really smart game. It's tense and surprising and fun. What could be a simple game of blind bidding for the best prizes becomes a cutthroat power play with more depth than you thought you were going to find. This will also activate if it has a dusk power, such as the sabre. Finally, dusk turns into night and any night-time powers from characters in your ship will trigger. These will trigger every time you enter the night phase on your voyage, so keep these in mind! Once you have completed every day (and night) of your voyage, you have returned to shore.Every player starts with the same set of cards, and you'll have to choose carefully which moment to play each card, and to try to read your opponents' strategies. That strange idiosyncrasy aside, the game is one of the best designed on the market. Gameplay is elegant. And once more it bears mentioning that the art design is second to none. Artists Ben Carre and Stéphane Gantiez have created a feast for the eyes, each character perfectly rendered to a degree that they could come to life right off the cards. The art alone inspires and supports the theme, and makes the game that much more enjoyable. I do not own and have only played the original Libertalia a few times. Libertalia Winds of Galecrest refreshes things and adds the reputation mechanic. It also adds 10 new characters and new artwork. It is different from the original but not drastically. There are 30 characters in all; players start with 9, and will use 6 (or 7) during each Campaign, and replenish with a new six between campaigns. The game mechanics are such that the nine starting cards, and each set of replenishments, are the same for all players. However, the play mechanics and some of the powers, combine to create an increasing variety of crew members in each campaign as the game progresses.

Place all booty tokens in a bag and shuffle them thoroughly. Draw 1 booty token per player per day of the campaign and place them on the various spaces under the ship which will be looted by the players (example: 24 booty tokens for a 4 player game). Like with the regular game of Libertalia, there are lots of ways to strategise how you’re going to get the best loot and if getting the best loot is even worth it. Should you instead prioritise getting shipmates with night time or anchor abilities? Will that score more in the end? There is no set answer to those questions in this game, but there’s definitely plenty to think about. My oldest daughter played clarinet and I got her a middle grade one so we didn't have to rent it. Of course, just after we got it she quits.

Object of the Game

At the start of each voyage (round), loot tokens are laid out onto slots on the board. There are seven types of loot tokens, each with a different use or monetary value. One of the tokens is a relic and it’s the only purely “bad” one, although there are characters that might pop up who can use them in creative ways to get doubloons (the game’s scoring mechanism). It can also be random as you play crew members with the best of plans that get derailed by other players’ actions. If you are someone that does not like disruption in your board games take note.