Pyramid Review
Pirate's Cove
Published by Days of Wonder
Designed by Paul Randles and Daniel Stahl
Illustrated by Julian Delval
Graphic Design by Cyrille Daujean
Boardgame boxed set; $44.95
Pirate's Cove is a legendary island in the Caribbean, a safe haven for scalawags of all persuasions, surrounded closely by five so-called "outer" islands where piles of plunder await. The life of a pirate captain in these waters is many things -- always colorful and adventuresome, often tense, and perhaps occasionally frustrating. Even in the frustrating moments, however, everything gushes with the romanticism of high seas piracy. Here, the pirate lifestyle has been boiled down to its essence: sailing to islands, plundering their valuables, taking them away to be buried, and blasting a broadside into anyone who gets in the way. Treasure, it should be noted, is not the real motivation for the denizens of Pirate's Cove. Fame is what a pirate captain is really after, the immortality of Blackbeard or Bartholomew Roberts. In 12 months, a pirate can rack up enough notoriety to make his name and his fortune or he can be swallowed by the tide of time and never heard from again.
Surveying the islands, the first thing anyone will notice is their lush beauty. From the gray battlements of the fort on Cannon Island to the eerie skull-shaped rock that juts out from one corner of Treasure Island, one couldn't pick a better environment for exercising one's rapacity. Talented . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: December 12, 2003
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