Francis Drake was one of my favourite games at Spiel 2013.  A game of sailing, looting and plundering, but with strong eurogame mechanics and some psychological interplay between the players.

During the game, players will set sail 3 times and each voyage consists of a provisioning phase and a sailing phase.  The provisioning phase is where the players gather resources for their journey: guns, crew, supplies, trade goods, a bigger ship, special roles, etc.  Players take turns moving along the main street of Plymouth – 18 locations laid out in a long line – and the players take turns using a location by placing one of their 10 action discs to gain whatever the location offers.  However, players can only select locations further down the street from their last location (and never go backwards).  Also, some locations have limited slots/uses, plus some of the actions on a location are better than others.  As a result, players want to progress slowly to use lots of different locations, but move quickly so they can grab what is on offer before someone else does (and they are potentially left without a resource they want).  If you’ve played Egizia (one of my favourite games), you’ll recognise this very engaging game mechanic. Read the rest of this entry »

Francis Drake is a game of sailing, looting and plundering.  So, already, I’m thinking, what’s not to like?  From reading the rules, the game appears to have some very promising gameplay within it too.

Before setting out on to the high seas, players prepare for their journey in the streets of Plymouth by buying/gaining guns, crew, supplies, goods for trading, etc.  The 18 locations that can be used for these preparations are laid out in a long line (street) and the players take turns using a location by placing one of their 10 action discs on the location.  However, players can select an action further down the street from their last action (never backwards).  Also, some locations have limited uses and some of the actions on a location are better than others – so players will want to progress slowly so they can use lots of different locations, but move quickly so they are first to use a location and get the most from it.  This is very similar to Egizia (one of my favourite games) which is a very engaging game mechanic.

Once the players have all finished their preparations, they each set sail.  On the board are various destinations which are comprised of islands (with towns and forts) and galleons which can be attacked, as well as trade ports where players can exchange goods they have brought with them.  Players take turns placing numbered mission discs of their colour next to the destinations they wish to attack (or trade with).  The mission discs are placed face-down so players do not know the numbers that other players have placed, and are revealed when all discs have been placed. Read the rest of this entry »