Review: Bermuda Pirates

Argh, Matey! We’re in search of buried treasure and it’s buried inside this board game!

Bermuda Pirates

Bermuda Pirates was one of the most unexpectedly fun board games that I have ever played. I almost wished I could go back in time and play this one as a child because it’s truly just so delightful. While it isn’t the same type of game, it definitely delivered the same sort of joy that Hungry, Hungry Hippos once brought me.

Bermuda Pirates is designed for two to four players, and would probably be the most fun with the max number of players pushing their boats around the board. At the start of each game, the players choose their ship’s color and a corner of the board — decorated like a little dock. The boats aren’t just tokens to play with, they are magnetic boats that react to pieces of metal embedded in the board.

At the center of the board is an island with four colors of jewels that each player has to claim as their own. In order to win, you have to pick up all four colors and get them safely back to your dock. This is more challenging than it seems. As you push your boat around the board (with just one finger!) you will hit different magnetic spots that keep you from moving forward. In fact, if you hit it just right you might discover your treasure flying overboard.

Depending on how difficult you want the game to be, each player gets one to three buoys to use to mark these magnetic spots so they avoid them as they return to their dock. Now, just because your treasure goes overboard doesn’t mean you can’t retrieve it — but other players can pull them aboard before you get a chance to!

The board game is designed to be reformatted for every game so no one can memorize the whirlpool patterns in the board. Endless potentials are the best for quick games like Bermuda Pirates, because you can keep trying out new combinations.

Bermuda Pirates isn’t exactly a difficult game, as it takes very little skill and mostly just luck to win, but it is so much fun. The highlight of the game is when the magnetic whirlpools catapult the gems across the board (and the room!). If you aren’t particularly dexterous, you might find the mechanics challenging.

If there are just two of you playing, the game takes around ten minutes, but if you play with four you’re definitely looking at a twenty-minute game. While the game is designed for ages seven and up, it’s definitely meant for kids and not adults.

Bermuda Pirates comes out of FoxMind, a gaming developer that creates games that offer mind-stimulating fun and help develop reasoning skills, spatial logic, and other skills associated with STEM. Pick it up today!