We’re Sinking: A Pirate’s Dilemma
Once again I was faced with a semi-cooperative experience, and once again I had a blast playing a genre of games I generally don’t like. I think it was the chaotic nature of this one that made it fun, and while I haven’t come out victorious yet, the pirate shenanigans have me coming back for more.
In We’re Sinking: A Pirate’s Dilemma, players are attempting to keep their ship afloat, fight off mighty monsters, and still collect the most treasure so they can win at the end of the game. On a turn, players will discuss what actions they will perform that round, whether bailing water out of the boat, nabbing treasure, fixing breaches and cannons, or firing cannons at the monster. Each player can say whatever they want, but make their selection in secret – careful, the other players at the table may be lying to you! Once everyone has made their selection and placed their action dial in the appropriate column, they are revealed left to right, and rearranged if someone was lying. Then players take actions as outlined on their dials.
Ultimately, you don’t want the ship to sink, unless you feel you have the least amount of treasure, because then you win! To keep the ship from sinking, you’ll need to keep water out of the ship. If the number of water cards ever exceeds the capacity for that round, another piece of the ship is lost and you are one layer closer to losing the game (or winning, again it depends).
The treasure cards serve a dual purpose, as they often have abilities on them as well. Sometimes you’ll use those abilities to help the greater good, and other times you’ll hoard them to either sink the ship (because you have the least treasure) or because you think you won’t sink and the values are too good!
The trick here is that you cannot win the game until the monster has been defeated, and each monster has its own dice, plus generic battle dice, that it will use.When their special powers get rolled, it can cause a lot of problems for you and your crew, so be ready to pivot your strategy at any moment to keep your ship from sinking. There is a nice variety of monsters in the game, and each operates in their own unique way. Defeat the monster by shooting it with cannons!
I think We’re Sinking: A Pirate’s Dilemma is an incredibly well thought out game, with tons of options but a fast paced, everyone is always playing system. You’ll want to bluff from time-to-time, and work on your negotiation skills. Afterall, you are pretty good if you convince your partners at the table to fix the ship while you snag treasure!
And that is what makes this experience so great. I love the banter around the table as we played, and with the right group, this game not only can be played pretty quickly – much faster than the box says – but you’ll have a ton of laughs while you do. This is a feel-good type of game, even when you lose.
That doesn’t come around often in the board game space, so to see that be the reality here is amazing in my opinion. Even when I got absolutely flattened, I still was laughing the entire time, having fun deceiving other players, and even worked up a silent-but-deadly alliance with a neighboring player while we racked up treasure and managed to keep the ship afloat.
Overall, this is an excellent game and pretty accessible to a wide variety of ages. There is an expansion available soon, and I look forward to what that adds. Until that drops, though, I’ll be coming back to this one again and again – it’s too much fun to pass up on!
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Article By Adam Roffel
