Pirates Behaving Badly
Ahoy matey! Clamber aboard for a light family-friendly set collection card game from Green Meadow Games. Pirates Behaving Badly takes 2–5 players and it's designed by Taylor & Patty Hayward.
Players all have a Captain card with a number and colour and an initial hand of eight Cargo cards. These are cards numbered 1–6 in five different colours (two copies of each) but they could include Crew (cards in each colour that can be played for their special ability). You're trying to collect sets of three cards - either a numerical run of three same-colour cards or any three cards of the same type (eg: three cards numbered 1). You can't use your Captain to make a set, even tho' he has a number. Placing a set out takes your entire turn (you don't get to take any other actions on that turn) but the set you lay out is then locked in for the rest of the game. The game is won by the first player to lock in four sets.
If you're not laying down a set, you can draw a card. Alternatively, you can use your turn to make a Go Fish-style request from another specific player. You target the request and you state a colour and number (or crew type). If the person you targeted has a card that matches either of the criteria you named then they have to give you one of the qualifying cards, and face up so other players can see: seeing what card goes into your hand could obviously be helpful information to another player...
The other alternative action open to you is to play (discard) a crew card for its effect. The Swashbuckler names a colour and number. The targetted player has to hand over all cards in their hand matching either of those. Likewise, the Sharpshooter names a colour and number. If that combo matches the targeted player's Captain, that Captain is 'Lost at Sea': it's discarded along with the targeted player's entire hand. That player isn't out of the game; they get to draw new cards but the odds are they'll be set back. If the combo doesn't match the Captain but matches one or more Cargo cards, those cards are handed over. Finally, the Grenadier forces the targeted player to discard their entire hand, excluding their Captain, and re-draw the same number of cards.
This all makes for a brisk family-friendly card game. It's at its best at higher player counts because with more players there's more opportunity for others to snatch cards that a player has been handed before they've had a chance to use it in a set. Tho' there's a 'take that' element, the light theme keeps everything good-natured. No planks are walked, there's no player elimination and even quite young children can play this game without getting too upset when they are targeted for a Go Fish or Crew action. The numbers on the cards are only printed on the top left and bottom right, which could make them awkward for a left-handed player to fan in their hand; maybe that's something that could be addressed in the final version?
Shown here on Board's Eye View is a preview prototype of Pirates Behaving Badly. Green Meadow are about to launch the game on Kickstarter. Click here to climb onboard.
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