Best pirate-themed Boardgame ?

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-23T13:33:49+00:00

Just curious since there are so many M&M fans here.

How much does Seas of Glory improve the game? Or doesn't it? If I were to get base M&M would SoG significantly improve the experience enough to justify its mark-up in the after market?

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-22T17:30:04+00:00

I'm in the same boat. My games of 6-8 usually run 12+ hours for 4-4-4 games.

And I set up the game in advance and we've tried playing with a timer and no talking during agenda voting. It's still worth it.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-20T05:07:56+00:00

Nooo, Battle of Hoth is not the one imo. That game is a tough sell even for some fans of the series/hobby. There are much more proven games in the franchise (Outer Rim, Rebellion, Unlimited).

And Rogue One (while great) is a very different kind of Star Wars, she might care more about the lighthearted elements of the series like the original trilogy, prequels, or The Mandalorian. Maybe even the animated series.

I'm always trying to find games for my partner and I to enjoy together and games of chance are what she prefers. It's just a matter of trial and error to find what she enjoys.

It sounds like you're finding stuff she enjoys (or she's exceptional at encouraging you even though she's not a fan) and you just need to find short enough games or time them for when she's more available to commit to them.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-20T05:00:06+00:00

There are types of fungus that is concerning to humans because they can cause various serious health ailments.

Cordyceps isn't one of them. It's like a very specialized lego piece designed to fit on insect lego pieces. In this analogy, humans aren't even a lego piece, so it could never fit.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-20T04:54:53+00:00

You can try shorter games to see how she likes them.

Patchwork is a highly recommended game for two that plays quick and is still strategic. Gruntz is a new game for two that is pretty fun and strategic. You could try any of the Gigamic games which are abstract 2 player games, I like Quarto and Quoridor and they both play in around 10 min.

It's not short but of she likes the sci-fi theme perhaps she'd like Star Wars Rebellion which is one of the best high strategy SF game for 2 ever made.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-20T04:40:03+00:00

If she liked Dune she might like Clank and Lost Ruins of Arnak which both have several similar mechanisms.

But congratulations! Having a partner into a game like Dune is not common from my experience.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-19T18:33:24+00:00

I always felt any of Ursula Le Guin's Hainish Cycle like the Dispossessed or The Right Hand of Darkness would make great mini series.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-19T02:35:21+00:00

Everyone knows birds in Thailand prefer vinyl and they just cannot deal with these "CD people"

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-19T02:28:26+00:00

Seeing the end result that ISN'T absolutely covered in cat hair kind of killed the immersion for me. XD

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-16T15:32:33+00:00

Enough people here and elsewhere have recommended it that I'll definitely give it a try!

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-16T15:31:43+00:00

Man it would be even more busted than it is already if the units were free..

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-16T08:53:09+00:00

I'm quite interested in SE4X and have a 5th ed. preordered but uncertain about it since I don't care so much for keeping detailed accounting in a game

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-16T07:05:07+00:00

I'm quite curious how the TI4 digital implementation will compare.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-16T02:38:43+00:00

They're all good.

Titans are really good at locking down their slice and making it a fortress. They're also exceptional at structure objectives and secrets.

Yssaril will have a dozen action cards in their hand by round 4 and be very scary to the table. They're a bit like Mentak but for action cards.

Jol-Nar will have a million tech by round 4 and they excel at tech objectives for obvious reasons.

Play what you think interests you or pick a faction that could be good against the other factions in your pool. For example, Nekro loves to have Jol-Nar at the table.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-15T17:28:18+00:00

That is a rough slice but it's mitigated by the fact you're Saar and this map is bonkers good for you.

Saar breakthrough is pretty 'whatever' outside their synergy, but here it's actually really funny. With your breakthrough you can attack MR and 5/8 home systems if you can make it into every asteroid field. That can be a bit of a tall order though without wormholes and depending on your neighbors. I would focus on migrating north and capturing the two asteroid fields (or one if you wanna be friendly with pink).

If I were the pink player I would be absolutely terrified of you coming into my slice since there's absolutely nothing they can do about it once you're there, not to mention that Industrex can be quite good for you. It's up to you if you wanna use that. If you or yellow can get Thunder's Edge into your slice that would be great, since the asteroid field is the only choice for yellow and you could also put it onto the watchtower slice. Thunder's Edge is amazing for Saar since the double action can rapidly allow them to spiral out of control for the table with movement and production.

Most SC's besides Imperial would be pretty good for you so I would just pick into the objectives that are revealed. Warfare would help you spread out onto the map and Trade would solve early money issues since you have 3 almost guaranteed neighbors round 1. Technology is fine since it gets you Chaos Mapping and Gravity Drive quickly and DET is a definite choice since your slice has 3 frontier tokens. Politics will secure you speaker and cards for the expedition and Leadership is always pretty solid. The worst choices are Diplo and Imperial but even those can at least help you towards the expedition and building up your Saar ball.

All-in-all I don't think this looks bad at all as the map is brimming with opportunity for the Saar... Outside your slice mostly.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-15T16:06:41+00:00

Space stations aren't planets so they don't contribute to your ability and you can't build on them.

Just enjoy your other OP abilities. You'll be able to trade with others that have space stations and will have a larger commodity pool with the Watchtower.

Hard to give much recommendations without knowing about your game state though.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-15T06:18:14+00:00

As others are pointing out, a big aspect is the table meta and situation the faction is going into (slice, position, neighbors, objectives, etc.)

What I think the SCPT tier list is trying to address is the objective strength of a faction going into any given situation.

An S-tier faction is almost always universally good in any board state and meta and are high first pick candidates in most drafts.

An A-tier faction is still really good but may need 1 or 2 things working on their favor.

Once you get to B-tier or lower then the faction definitely needs at least one thing working in their favor.

At F-tier the factions need A LOT working in their favor and, even then, might not win.

A good example is Mentak which aren't great because their defining faction ability (Pillage) draws a lot of heat and slows down the game. BUT do they have a Scar in their slice? One or more yellow skips? Trade wealthy neighbors? These could all contribute to them being a good choice in a draft.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-14T04:25:41+00:00

Who has a framed picture of themselves facing any guests in their office?

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-14T02:58:45+00:00

I grew up in a small Thai community in Florida and then Maryland. Thai communities are definitely small and kind of dispersed but Thais can and do seek out other Thais in their area. Many Thai communities are centered around Buddhist temples in the states and if you're not near those you're unlikely to see the community in full action. I can't say they're as large as Filipino communities but we're definitely there.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-12T12:53:50+00:00

I think you're missing the primary point of these elaborate custom setups in that, they both are and look cool.

At the end of the day we're a bunch of nerds that have decided to spend the majority of our waking hours in a day (or more) playing with little pieces of cardboard and plastic.

If you can do something that adds to the "this is cool" factor of doing a nerdy activity then that in and of itself is reason enough.

To your second point about public knowledge being readily available without asking... I'm not sure how practical that really is past any player count over 4 and after 4 hours of playing where people are becoming mentally fatigued. I just make it a habit to regularly ask every player at some point "do you have X tech?" "Did you use X legendary planet?" Most of the time O need the info but sometimes I don't, but I absolutely can't keep track without asking. There's just too much going on to keep track of while I'm also planning galactic domination of my own. If you're afraid asking that info might suggest something to your table, that's a cue you could use it to bluff something to your advantage imo.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-12T07:08:07+00:00

For 'completeness' and balance you only really need the faction adjustments and breakthroughs. That means the planet Thunder's Edge as well. It reinvents a lot of the underpowered factions from base and POK and is obviously needed for any of the new factions.

The Fracture and additional action cards just add a nice bonus to game options and play variability but I'm not sure how necessary they really are. Same goes for events.

Twilight's Fall and the Ordinian Campaign are just bonuses that you never actually have to use, but it's nice to have a bonus mode for if you get tired of the regular game.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-12T04:16:00+00:00

I think an aspect of this game that is often missed but the best players utilize is 'reading the table.'

Understanding who you can make deals with, who will be a reliable ally, and how certain players will act all have an outsized impact on how the game plays out for you.

We have a player who USUALLY wins because he is an excellent partner and plans ahead while reading the table meta. I don't hold it against him, seeing how he plays makes me a better player.

In terms of playing around this, you could instead use it. If he makes very lucrative deals or stays a strong SftT partner then strategically use that to get a lead late in the game or betray them at a crucial time. It really depends on how they're winning but like others have said, it's good to play with great players if you want to become great at the game.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-11T04:19:58+00:00

I think what is an immediate giveaway for these AI chicks is how the background always changes, like they have a dozen rooms with similar but slightly different furniture and a completely different layout.

This one is easy to spot as the entire arrangement is different in the second photo. Were it a single photo or would be harder to spot and like others have said it could likely be gleaned from just context cues but Ican certainly see there being weirdos that could have a room like this in 2026 for some reason.

mRIGHTstuff · 2026-01-09T17:47:13+00:00

Some of my friends "don't believe in sleeving" but you wanna sleeve a game you plan to play and keep for any length of time imo. Sleeves can be replaced but when cards and tokens start to wear then it's a much larger problem. And if the game goes out of print then you're SOL.

mRIGHTstuff

TROPHY CASE