Stats:
No. of players: 3-4
Amount of time to play: 60-90 min
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: 5 min

In Black Fleet you control a merchant ship, a pirate ship and share control of the royal navy ships. You must deliver goods with your merchant ship while avoiding your opponents’ pirate ship. And try to attack your opponents’ merchant ship while avoiding the royal navy.

Black Fleet Rules Description:

Black Fleet ends once you purchase your victory card. You must purchase your four development cards before you purchase your victory card. To purchase any cards you must earn doubloons.

You earn doubloons in a few ways. Your merchant ship can deliver goods to a port. There are five ports on the board and each produces a certain type of good. Ports also want certain goods and you are paid more for delivering goods to more distant ports. Your merchant ship can carry up to three goods and each time you land in a port space you sell all your current goods to that port and load three goods produced at that port.

Stealing goods from your opponents’ ships can also earn you doubloons. When your pirate ship is adjacent to an enemy merchant ship you may take one cube from it. This alone earns you two doubloons. On a later turn you may bury the cargo on certain spaces and earn a few more doubloons.

Lastly you gain two doubloons when you sink a pirate ship (not yours) with one of the royal navy ships. To sink a pirate ship you must have one of the two royal navy ships adjacent to it.

On your turn you play a movement card. You start the game with two movement cards and always draw a new card at the end of your turn. Each movement card has one of the royal navy ships on it, a merchant ship and a pirate ship. Each ship has a number that equals the number of spaces you may move that ship. The bottom of the movement card tells you if you draw or sometimes discard fortune cards at the end of your turn.

You start the game with one fortune card and may never end your turn with more than three. You play fortune cards during your turn and they give you a bonus. Some examples include, swapping the numbers on your movement card between the different ships, moving over island spaces, or gaining extra doubloons when you deliver goods.
After you have moved all three ships and drawn or discarded the necessary fortune cards, you may buy one of your development cards. Each player has a development card that costs five, eight, eleven and fourteen doubloons. Once flipped development cards grant you a special ability for the rest of the game.

Once one player has bought all their development cards they can purchase their victory card on the next turn if able. Then each player finishes the round so that they all have an equal number of turns. If more than one player purchases their victory card remaining doubloons is the tiebreaker.

Quick Review of Black Fleet:

Black Fleet is easy to teach and play, fun and looks great. This game is very accessible and you can play it with gamers and non-gamers alike. I am not sure why the suggested age is 10+. My 7 year old can play this and do just fine. This game is great for families but be aware it is full of “take that” mechanics.

The components for this game are fantastic. The board is bright and might be a bit busy, but the ship miniatures and art look great. The doubloons are even metal and the box insert is in the shape of a skull and crossbones. The rules are very well written and super easy to follow too.

I mentioned this above but I really like how accessible Black Fleet is. You can play it with young and old and all can enjoy the game. There are even two options for victory cards. One costs ten doubloons and the other costs twenty doubloons. You can play shorter games with the ten doubloon victory cards or balance experience levels by letting new players use the cheaper victory cards.

This game also plays fast. Even with new players turns go pretty quickly and the game speeds along. Before you know it everyone is rushing to buy his or her victory card first. The thing to remember here is you may only buy ONE development card per turn. This can trip new players up so make sure you point it out.

I said to be aware of the “take that” present in this game, but you should also be aware of the randomness in it. Some of the fortune and development cards are clearly better than others. And getting a fortuitous set of development cards or a few really good fortune cards can be very powerful.

Black Fleet is a great game for families or groups that enjoy sticking it to each other. You can play it with most anyone and teach them the rules quickly.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6