Pyramid Review
Key Largo
Published by Paizo Publishing
Designed by Paul Randles, with Mike Selinker & Bruno Faidutti
Edited by Vic Wertz
Art & graphics by James Davis, Ben Huen, Andrew Hou, & Drew Pocza
Full-color boxed game with mounted game board, five wooden boats, diving helmet ("first player" marker), life preserver (day marker), 130 cards (wrecks/treasures, five actions per player, & encounters), 15 divers, 40 counters (hoses, tridents, & weights), money, & rulebook; $39.99
Some games come with an emotional pedigree, and Key Largo is one of those games. For those who are fans of Pirate's Cove, know that this comes from the same designer, Paul Randles, who died of pancreatic cancer five years ago. Indeed, this game was at one time meant to be a thematic sequel to the other, with players in a new age searching for the booty left behind by those who sank during the Age of Sail.
The object of the game is to finish as the richest player.
Three to five boatmen are plying their trade on the famed islands during the closing years of the 19th century. They get a ship pawn, money, a diver, and a hand of five action cards (everyone has the same hand). Everyone starts at the dock and chooses two cards for the turn, one each for the morning and afternoon. These are one's activities for the day, revealed simultaneously and resolved clockwise beginning with the starting player. How they play out depends on who else had the same idea.
The thrust of the game is diving for treasure in one of the many . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: September 5, 2008
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