Port Royal: Big Box

To wind down, we put Port Royal: Big Box on the table, a game I had wanted to try for ages and which finally joined my hoard because I found it at a good price. The big box, with all that pirate atmosphere and the expansions packed inside, was exactly the right excuse for a little salt air after dinosaurs. Avast ye scurvy lubber, and all that serious business.

At its core, it is push your luck: you draw, see what turns up, and decide how much further to press your luck. The tension is not deep or complicated; it is that immediate, clean anxiety of “one more, then I stop,” which of course often ends with you not stopping.

Interaction mainly comes from the shared game and from how far each player dares to go before making a mess of it. This is not a game selling heavy strategic conflict; its pleasure lies in watching someone turn into a greedy goblin, push a little further than they should, and fail spectacularly in front of everyone.

I would not call it something amazing or essential. Even so, the base game got laughs out of us, we had a good time, and I would happily play it again. My feeling is that the Big Box is probably even more worthwhile once some of the included expansions make it to the table.