Scallywags (2008)

About this game

Avast! Belay your bickering and gives us our treasure! Scallywags, originally available as a print-and-play game titled Doubloons!, is a light-hearted game in which players are swashbuckling pirates divvying up their booty. To start the game, a selection of coins are dumped in the center of the table to form the loot pile. These coins are marked on only one side and are left face-up or face-down as they fall. On a player's turn, he can either take a face-down coin from the pile and add it to his stash or play one card (from three in his hand) to take face-up coins, steal from others, give coins to opponents, and more. Why would you want to give coins to others? Because once a player has ten coins, he can't receive any more – which means you want to stuff them with all the pennies while making a play for the gold yourself. Once all players have collected ten coins, the game ends and the player with the most valuable stash wins!

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 6.
• Rules load. At 1.1/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.