| Reviewer | Reviewed On | Publisher | Designer | Published In | Rating |
| December 11, 2003 | Rio Grande Games | Liesbeth Bos | 2003 | 5 |
| Buy It Now | More Info |
And the verdict was unusual. At first glance, Capt’n’ Clever is a kids game, fun and simple. At second glance, Capt’ Clever is full of deeper strategy than one might suspect, and wholly appropriate for strategy gamers. At third glance, however (as the game goes on), it appears that the game is really not meant to be played other than lightly. This may not make a lot of sense, so let me explain…
A picturesque board is placed in the middle of the table, with nine islands on it. Each island has a picture of a treasure identifying that island (map, parrot, coins, etc.), and bridges that lead to other islands (two or three). Each player takes their captain pawn and wooden ship of their color and then takes the nine cards that are the color of their left hand neighbor! Starting with the youngest player, and proceeding clockwise, all players place their captains on an island (only one captain per island), and their ship between two islands, making a connection (again, only one per spot). Each player now picks one of the cards in their hand (each card matches one of the islands, as they have a picture of each treasure on the board) and gives it secretly to the person whose color it is. Each player now has an island that they must get to – the one which matches the treasure on their card. One player starts the game, and then turns proceed clockwise.
On a turn, a player first can move their ship – moving it to any open spot on the board, as long as the spot between those two islands is free. After doing this (it’s optional), a player MUST move their captain, if they can. Using the ships that connect it’s island (ships of any color), the captain can move as far as he possibly can, stopping on any island on the way, as long as 1). No other captain is on that island, and 2). There must be ships connecting his island to the next, then the next, etc. If there is no legal place for the captain to move, then he doesn’t. Once a captain reaches his destination island, he reveals the treasure card of that island, and the player holding his cards gives him a new destination. Once a player has found all nine treasures, they’ve won the game!
Some comments on this (certainly simple) game:
1.) Components: For the few components in the game, I must say that they are certainly top-notch! The pawns for the captains look ridiculous, but are nice, sturdy plastic pieces. The ships, on the other hand, are really sharp looking wooden tokens, and are rather large. The card, board, and box artwork is mostly that of a strange looking Capt’n Clever (think Capt’n Weirdo), but it is nicely done, and the board certainly invokes the feeling of treasure islands. The small board and few pieces fit well in a small, square, sturdy box.
2.) Rules: The rules for the game are printed in both French and English, on a four page color booklet, with English running down one side, and French down the other. This allows them to use the same illustrations. The layout is really poor, though. They tried to cram so much text on a page that it’s a little hard to read. This isn’t a big deal, since the rules are simple, but it was a slight pain to read them. The game is a breeze to teach, however, and folks (especially kids) pick it up quickly.
3.) Strategy: At first, the game seems rather simple. Move your ship to best allow you to move your captain quickly to his destination. But subtleties soon show themselves. If you know that someone is moving to a specific island, you can station your own captain there, and move your own ship away so that you cannot move. It’s usually fairly easy to deduce where people are going (especially near the end of the game), and so if the players are more aggressive, they can prevent a person from going to an island, or force them to move to an island they don’t want to go to. If someone is sitting on an island that you want to move to, and won’t budge, you can place your own ship there, making them get off. In two spots on the board, some bridge ways between islands cross, so if a ship connects two islands, the other two cannot be connected. All this adds up to make the game much more strategic than meets the eye.
4.) Fun Factor: And therein lies the failing. Since players can stop one each other fairly easily, and they can quickly deduce where the opponent is going to go, the end of the game quickly deteriorates into a “stop the leader” game, and can drag out a bit longer than the game should take. (30 minutes or less). But if players don’t take the game too seriously, it can be a lot of fun. Taken too seriously, the Fun Factor isn’t there.
So, my recommendation is mixed. If you have a family, or plan to play the game often with youth, then this is a good game. It’s simple for children to understand, and allows enough strategy for adults to enjoy themselves. But if you are planning to get it for your gaming group who plays Puerto Rico every week, and have all the strategies memorized, then I really think you should pass this one up. It’s nice, cute, and fun, but also not to be taken too seriously. A clever game, to be sure, perhaps a little too clever for its own good.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
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