13/02/2025
Captain’s Log. Part 2.
Game creators’ diary.
After a lot of questions and consultations, both internal and external, we decided on the name of the game:
Ahoy Privateers! - but… since we are already retired and have to run a tavern, maybe we should cross out Privateers and call the game: Ahoy Taverneer
☠️ We decided that our new game will be an economic-adventure sandbox.
The idea was that the game could be won regardless of the path you choose, or its change during the game.
We wanted there to be no single winning strategy, so that every player could play with the possibilities offered by the game.
The game was supposed to revolve around managing a pirate tavern, but we decided that it is hard to get the sea dog out of an old pirate, so we added a board with the possibility of sailing and experiencing pirate adventures. You may not be in command from your ship as often, but you still own it, so you don't want that rotten tub to sit idle on the quay.
So the tavern development board has expanded to include a part related to the ship.
☠️ Since the story takes place on Nassau, it's also worth showing how to do shady business in the port city itself, in a pirate way. The tavern itself can't function in a vacuum either, and it's located in a very specific place in a specific district.
☠️ So a third board has appeared. On it, he'll send his be**er to conduct slippery business on your behalf in the city itself.
☠️ And it would seem that that's enough boards.
But no, then we discovered that various ships, commanded by other pirates, also dock at Nassau. And since we have a tavern, they can be our clientele...
So a fourth board appeared, with a list of possible guests, whom we will have to try to get to visit our infamous pirate haven...
☠️ And since shady deals can also happen on this board, it not only has a list of potential ships, but also opportunities for further dark games under the banner of the club and knife.
☠️ The whole thing has caused that from the original concept of the game devoted to economic management of a tavern with little interaction between players, an element of competition and pirate backstabbing has also been added.
What made us very happy is that the appropriate rebalancing of the game still allows you to win without having to actively participate in negative interaction with other players.
🗺️ This fits very well with our style of games, as we like games with the possibility of sticking a pin in someone's head, but in a way that doesn't necessarily require it to win.
🗺️ Since we plan to release the game as Print2Play, each game should put pressure on the player, regardless of whether they play solo or in a group.
We set a time limit for the game, in the form of the inexorable arrival of the Spanish fleet, which corresponds to a certain, finite number of rounds of play.
🗺️ Of course, as with our other games, you can always end the game earlier by reaching certain end conditions.
