Stats:
No. of players: 1-4
Amount of time to play: 60 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 10 min

Skull and Shackles is the latest edition of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. It has a pirate theme and adds ships, new classes and more scenarios.

Skull and Shackles Description:

Skull and Shackles is a stand-alone game not an expansion. This post is going to focus on the new things introduced in Skull and Shackles. If you have not played the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game read my overview and review of the Rise of the Runelords (the first Pathfinder Adventure Card Game).

Like I said, Skull and Shackles has a pirate theme and pirates need ships. So your group starts with a ship. You can acquire different ships as rewards for completing some scenarios. On your turn you are considered to be commanding the ship. If you choose to move while commanding the ship other characters at your location can move with you.

If you encounter an enemy ship you check to try and defeat it. If successful you gain plunder. Plunder is random card from the box and it is placed it under your ship. If you win the scenario you keep the plunder. If you fail to defeat an enemy ship you take structural damage. As usual you can play cards that reduce structural damage. If not reduced to zero, any player(s) can discard cards equal to any remaining structural damage. Your ship is flipped over and considered wrecked. You can attempt to fix your ship at the start of your move. Any structural damage to a wrecked ship comes straight from the blessings deck. And any turn that ends with a wrecked ship, causes you to discard a random plunder card from it.

There are four new characters in Skull and Shackles, an oracle, swashbuckler, magus and gunslinger. The oracle is a divine spellcaster that may recharge a Divine card to look at the top card of ant location deck. The magus can play a one-handed weapon and attack spell card on one combat check to add 1d6 to it. But one of them must be recharged. The swashbuckler can re-roll 1 die on checks with the Swashbuckling trait. The gunslinger makes guns more reliable. The bard, fighter and thief from Rise of the Runelords return, but are slightly different.

The cards and rules have been revamped too. The wording on both has been updated to be more clear and streamlined. The recharge box has been eliminated and a card’s recharge information is part of the Powers section.

Lastly, the difficulty of the game has increased. Barrier cards block their locations longer. The villains are tougher and some henchmen no longer let you automatically try to close their location.

Quick Review of Skull and Shackles:

Skull and Shackles is a fun cooperative or solo game. Like Rise of the Runelords it has excellent character development. It adds some new elements but does not stray far from the gameplay of the first Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.

The components for this game are really nice. The updated rules are welcome and even include sidebars that just highlight the new elements in this adventure path. The rules are a bit more streamlined and better explained than in the original game. The art and card quality are on par with the rest in the series.

More of a good thing is good. And having another adventure path to run characters through is cool. The new characters and theme add some variety to the series. The new items and allies are piratey and just continue to add to the theme.

Ships and plunder are resolved in an interesting way. It may take a play or two to get used to, but they fit the theme and who doesn’t like the opportunity to get more booty?

My one criticism of Skull and Shackles is that it doesn’t expand or change the gameplay of the series enough. There is a slight difference in a couple of the introductory scenarios, but the game is still pretty similar to the original. It is not bad. I just expected something more different. Maybe this is addressed in later adventure packs.

Skull and Shackles is for you if you really enjoyed Rise of the Runelords. It adds a few new elements but has a very similar gameplay. So fans of the original that want more should pick this up. If you did not like Rise of the Runelords you probably won’t like Skull and Shackles. If you have not played either then you should give them a try. I like them both especially for solitaire play. If you had to choose to buy just one then I’d look into the characters more. Whichever has the characters you want to play more is the one you should pick up.

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