Price Range: $10
Age Range: 10+
No. of Players: 2-8
Time to Learn: 5 minutes
Time to Setup: 5 minutes
Reading Skills Needed: YES
Playtime: 15-20 minutes

Game Rating:****

Game Review: When we first started reading through the instructions for this game, we were all a little confused. But like so many card games we've encountered, this one works best if you just start playing it -- all the rules and nuances of the game seem to reveal themselves best when you are "hands-on" and actually going through the motions of playing. This pirate-themed card game actually turned out to be a much better game than we anticipated originally. Basically every player is given a hand of 6 cards from which to play -- on each turn, you can either draw another card from the draw pile, or play one of your cards. You can play a merchant ship and hope no other pirates capture it -- or set your sights on one of your opponent's merchant ships. I like the simplicity of the card deck -- you just have merchant ships, pirate ships, pirates, and one admiral. The value of the cards is determined by the number of gold coins (on merchant ships) or number of skull-and-crossbones (pirate ships). Pirate captains add value to pirate ships, and the admiral can trump everything else to save your merchant ship from defeat. This game moved quickly once we got going, and the rules began to make sense. We did have to consult the instructions a couple of times for clarifications, but that was a minor inconvenience. The graphics on the cards are colorful and fun, and most adults and kids will enjoy the whole pirate theme, which is so popular right now due to "Pirates of the Caribbean". I recommend this card game for the whole family, and can even see younger children being able to play it, as long as they are able to count up to 10 so they can count the gold coins and skulls on the ship cards. A grown-up may be needed to read and clarify the rules of the game initially, but after that, children could play on their own.