In 2022, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, a new edition of the pirate game released in 10, was released to coincide with Libertalia's 2012th birthday Stonemaier Games. The game has not only been visually redesigned, but has also been supplemented with many useful innovations, such as a fame system or a solo mode. Stonemaier Games is for many great games like Scythe or flapping wings and kindly sent us a review copy of the new edition of Libertalia. You can find out in our review whether Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest can also shine for players who haven't played the original.
The pirate airships of Galecrest set sail in search of adventure, treasure and glory. As an admiral, we command one of the airships and their colorful crew. We land on various islands and send out a crew member to collect our share of the loot. Hopefully this will also return to strengthen our growing group more and more!
Same conditions...
In Libertalia we embark on three journeys through the world of Galecrest. With each trip (= round), the number of days (= trains) that we are on the road increases by one. This means that if we spend four days on our first trip, we will drift through the winds of Galecrest for six days on our third trip.
At the start of each journey, all players receive the same set of six character cards. Each character has different abilities that affect the game. One day we play one of the characters in our hand face down. Once all players have selected a character, they are revealed and placed on the island (= display) in ascending order. In the event of a tie, the new fame system decides which person can place their character card higher.
… different outcome?
Once the characters have been arranged in order, the day is played through. Starting with the day, characters activate their day ability in order from left (lowest rank) to right (highest rank), if one is present. Then twilight occurs, where the characters are activated in the opposite direction (high to low). One after the other, the players may take a loot token from the current day's display and, if available, activate its twilight effect. Once you have done this, the character comes face-up onto your own ship (personal display) and becomes part of the crew. The characters on the ship are important to the final phase of the day - the night. All night abilities of the characters on the ship are triggered here. With the end of the night, the next day begins.
When you end the last day of a trip, you evaluate it. First, all anchor abilities on loot markers or characters are triggered. These can give us more doubloons or take them away, depending on how well we did on the trip. We then add up all the doubloons we have collected and add them to our treasure chest. This secures our profit.
At the end of the third journey, the contents of our treasure chests will be compared. The person with the most wealth wins.
A newly developed solo mode
In contrast to the original from 2012, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest comes with a solo mode, which - as usual with Stonemaier Games - was developed by the Automa Factory. Solo mode introduces two artificial enemies, the Automa and the Marauder. While the Automa simulates a classic player, the looter takes on a special role. From a gameplay perspective, the looter is neither a player nor the owner of a character. For him, a character card is drawn from the solo deck each turn and placed on the display according to the regular rules. No effects are activated for this character, although effects can affect the character he is playing. In the twilight phase, the looter takes a loot token from the current day's display according to a predetermined priority list. The looter is therefore another factor that can influence which treasures we can grab.
The Automa, like a normal player, receives 6 cards at the beginning of a round. These are the same as those of the solo player. The cards of the machine are laid out in a row in ascending order. Which card the Automa plays on his turn is decided based on the top card of the solo deck. The back of the card specifies different card positions depending on the quality of the loot tiles in the current day's display. Afterwards, the same rules apply to the day, twilight and night phases of the game. The Automa also chooses its loot markers according to the established priority list.
In the end you win if you were able to collect more treasure than the Automa. The looter does not take part in the scoring.
Information about Libertalia
| Number of players: 1 – 6 Age: from 14 years Playing time: 45 - 60 minutes Difficulty: Higher family game Long-term motivation: medium Classification: Hand Management, Set Collection, Take That Author: Paolo Mori Illustrations: Lamaro Smith Publisher: Stonemaier Games, Tierra del Fuego Games Official Website: Link Year of publication: 2022 Language: English, German Cost: 60 Euro |
Conclusion
Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest fascinated me. Because even though all players start the game with the same cards, the results are completely different. Each person approaches the game with a different strategy, particularly supported by the reputation bar. This determines how much money you start with and how well you do in the event of a tie. This small but subtle difference makes you wonder whether you are playing at risk or playing it safe. Do you perhaps play an effect that helps us personally or one that harms others?
This is exactly what you have to like, because Libertalia doesn't skimp on take-that elements even in the "quiet" game mode (even if it's much more sneaky in the stormy version). The nice thing, however, is that you can always get back at your opponents because after all, you have the same cards in your hand and can follow suit in later rounds. This leads to wild battles in one or two rounds, but they never seem unfair. You have to blame yourself for one thing or another. Unlike many other games, Libertalia manages to create a perfect balance in the take that mechanism.
Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest is also pleasantly easy to learn. Even those new to the game will quickly understand the system and start playing. This means that the game can easily be played even with children under the recommendation of 14+ years. However, due to the individual effects of all 40 cards in your deck, there is a lot of text in the game, so you should have a certain level of reading comprehension. The 40 individual cards make Libertalia extremely replayable. Rarely will you have the same cards in your hand in exactly the same order in multiple games. A change in thinking is required in every game in order to win.
In terms of quality, the quality of the material stands out again - typical for Stonemaier Games. All components feel very high quality. For example, the loot markers are very reminiscent of the manufacturing tiles from Azul. The cards have a non-slip linen finish and the box comes with a perfectly arranged inlay. Very commendable!
Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest is a fun family game with simple rules and perfectly balanced take that mechanics. Even though I'm not a big fan of Take That in games, Libertalia really caught my fancy. Since the game can be played with 1 - 6 people, works well with any number and can be played in under an hour, Libertalia is a game that can definitely be played on the table often. Since it's quick to learn and pretty simple, but moves still have to be well planned, frequent players as well as casual players will find it fun together.
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