Loot (Gamewright, 2005 – Reiner Knizia) is a reprint of this game (also known as Pirat or Korsars). I had a chance to play Korsars a while back and remember thinking what a light, but fun pirate game. It took me a bit to recognize that Loot was the same game, because the cartoon drawings were so outlandish (Sponge Bob style) that the name “Knizia” wouldn’t have occurred to me from looking at the game. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the humorous artwork (done by Gary Locke); it just was odd for the game.
But Loot is an excellent game, one that I enjoy with three or four players, but one that really shines with six to eight players. I’m always on the lookout for games that accommodate up to eight players, and Loot does that well, with little downtime and involvement for all. Boardgamegeek classifies the game as a “trick-taking” game, and that may be technically true; but I think the game basically consists of players trying to sneak a victory under everyone else’s noses.
A deck of seventy-eight cards are shuffled, and six cards dealt to each player, with the remainder forming a draw pile in the middle of the table. The player next to the dealer goes first, with play proceeding clockwise around the table. On a turn, a player must take only one action from the following list.
- Draw a card: This is the only way to get cards, and a player’s hand size has an unlimited maximum.
- Play a merchant ship: A player may play one of the twenty-five merchant ships in front of them – with a number of gold pieces on it (values range from two to eight gold). If, on the players next turn, no one else has attacked this merchant ship, the player who played it may add it to their “won” pile automatically. Players may have more than one merchant ship in front of them.
- Play a pirate card: There are pirate cards in four suits (blue, yellow, green, and purple), each with a number of skulls on them – denoting their power (one to four). A player may play a pirate card to attack any merchant ship on the table, even their own. Once any player has attacked a merchant ship with a particular color, other players must use a different color to attack that ship. Players may add pirate cards of the same color to those they’ve already played to ensure that their total is the highest on future turns. If a player has the highest sum or pirate strength on any particular ship at the beginning of their turn, they place the merchant ship in their win pile, discarding all pirate cards played on that ship. Each suit of pirates has one pirate captain card, which may be played only if the player has already played a card of that color. A pirate captain trumps all other numbers (if there is more than one pirate captain played, the last one played is the most powerful).
There is also one Admiral card, which can only be played on a merchant ship that a player has played themselves, and which can be added to any color (becoming the highest card – but able to be trumped by a pirate captain.) An admiral card can even be played if a player has not played any pirate ships on their own card.
- Discard a card: Usually only done at the end of the game, when a player has nothing else they can do (they cannot discard merchant ships).
The game continues until the draw pile is depleted, and one player plays their last card. All cards in play on the table are immediately discarded, along with the cards in players’ hands. Players total the gold on the ships in their win pile, subtract the gold from any merchant ships left in their hands, and the player with the most gold wins!
There is also a partnership variant, where the partners sit next to each other and can look at one another’s hands (I’m not sure I’ve played any other game that allows this). Players cannot exchange cards but can work together when attacking ships, etc.
Some comments on the game…
1.) Components: I really enjoy the artwork on the cards, as silly as it might be – the pirate captains look like hilarious caricatures ripped out of a Saturday morning cartoon. My only objection to the artwork is that there’s no way to tell the colors apart for color-blind folk on the pirate cards. The cards are good quality – and even though the box is bigger than your typical card game box – having a plastic insert inside a box with a lid is MUCH easier for me to handle, and I don’t worry about fitting the cards back in. Loot is an attractive repackaging of the game Korsars, as long as you don’t mind the humorous artwork.
2.) Rules: The rules are on an eight page foldout – and are quite clear (although the game is fairly simple regardless). I found, though, that even while I consider the game is fairly simplistic (in my opinion), some people have a difficult time grasping exactly what’s going on – as cards can be played all over the table. For that reason, with a large group, I would always recommend playing with partners first (as long as they didn’t take too long to confer).
3.) Confusion: After reading the rules, it would seem that the game is confusing, as players can have multiple merchant ships, and pirate cards all over the table. And while this may initially throw off new players, it’s not as complicated as you might think. Since players have limited hands, they only have a few cards on the table at any one time, and believe me – players keep track of what cards they’ve played. So the game is a lot less chaotic than it might appear to an observer. This confusion can allow one thing, however. Even though players keep track of their own cards well, they probably aren’t watching everyone else’s plays. Thus, it’s not too difficult for a player to drop some merchant ships in a large eight-player game, and win them because everybody’s busy fighting over larger ships. This, of course, is a viable strategy, but one that players should watch for.
4.) Luck: Pirate captains are powerful cards, and the players who get them have a nice advantage – as long as they get at least one other pirate ship in the same color. But having Pirate captains doesn’t assure you the game, knowing where to carefully play your cards is more important. There’s no denying, however, that luck has a high role in the game. One should realize that when playing, as the game is simply a light filler – taking a short time, and able to be played with a lot of people. The hardest choice is what to do with a large merchant ship. If you don’t play it, you’ll be penalized at the end of the game, but if you play it, and can’t claim it yourself – you’ll have a bit of trouble.
5.) Fun Factor: As with any pirate game, the fun factor goes up tremendously as the amount of bad pirate playacting increases. If there’s anything good about the theme, it’s the fact that it’s attractive to many folk. But even beyond the theme, the gameplay is a lot of fun. It’s certainly nothing that you’ll see massive strategy articles written about it, but it’s quick and fun.
If you’re looking for a game that accommodates up to eight players and is fast, simple, and fun, then Loot is an excellent choice. Gamewright has put the game in an inexpensive, attractive package, and the game works well – and has a very interesting method of having partners sit next to each other. While the game isn’t nearly as fun with only a few players (I would never play it with two), it still works well with 3+ players, and just finishes quickly. It’s a good way to end a gaming session – no one really cares who wins, and the game is fun to play, and not taxing on the brain. Buy this game, matey!
Tom Vasel
“Real men (arg!) play board games.”
