Galleons. Cannons. Stylish hats. Walking the plank. Cutlasses. Treasure. Riches. Mystery and fame. If there’s a game theme that makes me reach out for my wallet – it’s pirates. Sure, dark fantasy is fine and so are zombies. But the sheer magic of swashbuckling romanticism is hard to match. We’ve had some pirate games over the years on Kickstarter. Just look at Tortuga 1667, Dead Man’s Doubloons and many smaller projects. Skull Tales: Full Sail is a second edition of a game, that was funded through KS in 2015.
From the Spanish Shipyards
Spanish team from Eclipse Editorial decided to overhaul their 3 years old project and turn it into something new. Former gameplay (now known as the “adventure phase”) is used only as one of 3 phases available in the game. To properly finish a chapter, you have to play through them all.
Skull Tales can be enjoyed solo or with up to 5 players. Everyone picks one of 12 characters represented by figurines and their own sheets. You can tackle single scenarios or go through the whole epic campaign. New version was thoroughly tested at game conventions and festivals, and has lots of adjustments over its predecessor.
Phase I: the Voyage
Voyage phase marks the beginning of a chapter. It deals with traveling the seas to reach your next destination. You may meet and board enemy ships, change your course and fight other pirates. A heavy focus is put on crew management. Your subjects will be hungry, tired and may require attention. Ignoring or keeping them unhappy results in conflicts and mutiny.
Even minor things like cleaning are also a thing here and may affect you much more than you expect. Everything achieved in voyage phase results in prestige points. These are vital for building up your future reputation as the king or queen of the seven seas.
Phase II: the Adventure
Adventure phase deals exclusively with exploration. After traveling for days, you finally see some land and go out for reconnaissance. Explorable terrain is made of square tiles, each covered with walkable terrain and obstacles. Tiles make this part of the game more randomized and therefore, very replayable. Enemies and tile setups are specified by scenario you’re tackling.
Adventure board is a key mechanic here. Track it to see how much time can you spend on these uncharted lands.
Phase III: the Port
Final phase lets you arrive at the port. There’s no time to rest though, as you have coffers of gold to spend and new equipment to buy. Players can also choose next goals and missions here. It’s also possible to learn rumors at the cantine, heal wounds in a chapel and even get ambushed on a dark street.
A Lone Pirate
The solo variant feels really strong here. Most board games we see on Kickstarter nowadays have it included, but it usually feels shoehorned in last minute. Skull Tales have an AI system based around cards. Player starts as a captain of the ship and controls the crew by himself. There are alternative rules for your fellow characters, which become less powerful, but also less expensive to support.
Mountains of Riches
The Kickstarter campaign for Skull Tales: Full Sail had a strong start and managed to keep the momentum going. The amount of stretch goal unlocked bonuses is huge and expands the game beyond expectations. Backers get additional plastic coins, gems, characters with figurines, sea monsters, whole scenarios and various new of cards used in the game. The coolest addon is probably a pair of twins, controlled by one player.
You can check out the project here. There are still 8 days left until the end.
