Pyramid Pick
7th Sea CCG
Published by Alderac Entertainment Group
Designed by Dan Verssen
Starter Decks $8.99, Booster Packs $2.99
[Editor's Note: This game is scheduled to be released Sept. 17.]Yes, another collectible card game. But that's where the cliché stops. No, I won't say that 7th Sea is "unlike any card game you've played before," because this is simply not true. 7th Sea is in many ways like other games you've played before, but where all the good parts have coalesced into one single game, with the flaws thrown to the (scurvy) dogs. What makes AEG's latest offering a gem can be summed up in three admittedly classic but nonetheless fitting categories: ambiance, design and learning curve. Shall we?
Ambiance
This one's easy: it's a pirate game! 7th Sea captures admirably well the spirit of the classic pirate movies, moving from three-masted pursuits on the high seas and infamous betrayals, to deafening ship battles -- with cannons roaring -- and deadly boarding duels. And I mean deadly. In addition to the beautiful, evocative art, the flavor text carefully phrased on each card enhances an ambiance from which nothing is found to be missing, and where the players reflexively start speaking with pirate accents, mouths dry and hair ruffled by the salty winds. The game does not pretend to be a historical simulation, and adds some fantasy elements to spice up the experience, without taking anything away from what life as a pirate feels like it must have been.
Design
. . .This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: September 10, 1999
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