Pirate Cove game review

Game Review: Pirate Cove by Boardam
Reviewed by Sean Cruz Exconde

Pirate Cove is a “Push your luck” Game that has Simple and easy mechanics made by the company, Boardam. The game is almost about “Pirates VS. Marines” (That’s my theory, by the way.) that Marines will attack the Pirates while the Pirates will Dodge the number of attacks of the Marines. 

Overview of the game:
The Game is simple. Players will choose their side either the Pirates or the Marines, I choose the Pirates because I’ll just going to Dodge the Marines attacks. 

In the Beginning of the game, the Pirate’s ship is positioned at the center of the sea (Which is 5 “SPOILERS) and each player has their own cards. The pirates had 9 cards (each card has a corresponding number) and choosing the right card to dodge the marines attacks. The Marines in the other hand, Had also 9 card and 5 card slots. These card slots are the cannons. The player will choose 5 cards and guessing where the Pirate’s ship is positioned. 

The game had eight rounds to attack or to defend. The pirates had 6 lives to survive the attacks of the marines. At round 6, the marines had to disable two cannons for maintenance (my theory again….) and the pirates had the opportunity to dodge more because only 3 cannons where active. At the last round, the marines had only 4 cannons but one of them had upgraded (my theory… again) and had the opportunity to take double damage. The player will win if they survive the attacks of the marines or destroying the pirate’s ship. 

Experience while playing the game:
The game is simple but unique because of the simple rules of the game. The design of the game is very nice, and I can determine where the pirates and the marines are located. I may post a photo of the board so you guys may know what its looks like. While I’m playing the game with on of the founders of Boardam, at first I am confuse on how to play this game. So he explained how to play the game. After he explained, He ask me who will be I am in the game, I choose to be a pirate because the pirates will only dodge the attacks and its so basic to choose the number I will positioned. So the founder of Boardam chooses the marines. In the beginning of the game, I choose “card 6” to lose my first life because I need to know how my opponent will draw his cards. At 8 rounds of surviving I only had four lives left. The first damage I had is at Round 1 and my last damage is at Round 8. By the way, round 8 had their new cannon that takes two damage and the good thing that the number I choose to dodge is not in the cannon whit two damage but it was positiond at the 3rd cannon which had 1 damage… 

“SPOILERS: I WON THE GAME!”

If someone’s asked how I rate this game, I will rate it 4.8 out of 5 Because of the Simplicity and the uniqueness of the game. The mechanics is very understandable and it is enjoy playing this game. 

Choose as the Pirate. Also, choose Wisely on your cards.

For more information about the game's story and mechanics, visit their website

"Astral War" Game Review

Astral War
Game Review
by Jethro Loreto A. Azores


Astral War is an area control board game made by Synergy Games. The story behind the game is simple: there are two races, humans and aliens, that are harvesting asteroids to have advantages and eventually conquer their opposing race. Whoever transfers a higher amount of resource on an opposing team's main base will win the entire game. It is a simple game, yet you need to think and strategize to win. In my opinion, it is a fresh take on the area control and worker placement genre.

Let's first talk about its mechanics. The mechanics are very simple: take down areas and if you have more areas, the more resources you have. It is a unique execution in a way that having more areas on the game doesn't mean you can easily win. Sure, it can be an advantage, but you still have to make the right moves and choices, making it a mind battle. You also have the choice to transfer the resources, the minerals you harvest, from one place to another. I can safely say that this game is bringing a refreshing take on the area control / worker placement genres.

Next is its game components. Let me be clear that the game is in its development stage, so the game's components still might not be that pretty. The components consist of race flags, minerals, game map and spacecrafts. The game pieces are simple, and have nothing special to bring on the table, to be quite frank. The game pieces does not really immerse you in its great theme, which is a necessity for every board game. I hope they make more appealing game pieces on their next prototype.

Lastly, we'll be talking about its theme. I think the game's "spage age" atmosphere is a cool and interesting idea. I've only seen this theme in a 4X board game, namely Eclipse, but in an area control game? I think this one is a first. A war against humans and aliens in a world with post-modern technology is a theme that I will personally love, and this board game has it. As a science fiction fanatic, I genuinely enjoy and respect its theme. It has that Starcraft feel that I really love and I am thankful for the game's creators for choosing this kind of theme for their first game.

As a whole, I had fun playing this game. Mechanics-wise and theme-wise, it is great. The only gripe I've seen in this game is its game components. I think they'll still improve on that aspect since the game is currently still in development. I highly recommend that you buy this game once it comes out on game stores near you. You will have a fun time, and will probably enjoy winning against your friend. I will give this 4 stars!

For more information about the game's story and mechanics, visit their website.