Historical card games are making a comeback!
Hey Guys,
How's it going! Today we're going to be checking out a game called Tortuga 1667. This game was successfully funded on KickStarter early this year. It's another social deduction game right out of history by Facade Games. Their last game, Salem, was a great concept with great presentation, but the rules were hard to understand and a little complex for anything but game nights for family and friends. Let's find out if Tortuga 1667 improves upon the previous game!
Let's start off with the design and presentation. I love Facade Games' classic
book design for their game boxes. I really liked the box of Salem, since it was small and compact, just like a book, it also didn't have any branding or logos. This game ditches that look for a taller and a little wider book style. They also included the "Facade Games" branding and "Dark Cities" branding. This approach definitely loses some of the aesthetically pleasing nostalgia of the previous game but it is probably for the better, since most people will have this on a shelf or in a box with a bunch of other games; which would make it easily identifiable.
The actual game-play is pretty good. The rules were a lot easier to understand than their previous game, but it's still got some work to do. Facade Games should try an approach that has all the basic rules easily laid out for the player to understand, and then the less important rules should be in the end of the rulebook. This would make getting started playing the game very easy.
Besides that, game-play was fun and engaging. It was fun to guess who was on who's side when on the ships. There was lots of treachery and betrayal when my friends and I played.
All the pieces feel good and well-made. The play mat was not a must-have, but they still included it, which was an awesome move on their part. The satchel of coins is great. The cards are glossy, they could have been that cross-hatched kind that games like Exploding Kittens use, but alright.
Final Verdict -
This is a fun and engaging game that is well thought out, but the rules are hard to understand and convoluted. If you have a patient crowd of players who are willing to put the time into understanding the game, then this is a great purchase.
Thanks for reading everybody!
