Port Royal: Big Box

Port Royal: Big Box arrived as one of those games I had put off trying for no particularly good reason: pirates, a bit of sea spray, and a box full of possibilities for a larger adventure. On a Tuesday after work, that can be plenty. This has the right lightness to turn one modest choice into a tiny piece of nautical theatre.

In base Port Royal, the whole affair rests on push-your-luck. You carry on for as long as your confidence holds, weigh what you might gain against what you might lose, and try to stop before the game stops you. It does not dress this up as anything more complicated; it simply wants to know how badly you want one more thing.

The interaction lives in the shared wait around the table. Everyone else watches your greed gather momentum and waits for the inevitable misstep. When somebody fails spectacularly because they have become a greedy goblin, there is no quiet disappointment. There is laughter, which is really the game's finest trick.

It is no design marvel, but it knows exactly how to make your greed into a spectacle. The base game gave us a thoroughly pleasant time and I would happily play it again, though the expansions in the Big Box look likely to provide the extra bit it lacks on its own.