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Games Night 25th April …… ‘Jamaica’ by Messers Braff, Cathala and Pauchon
Kendall arrives at Dicken’s, having been given a lift neither by Roz and Derek, nor by Paul and Liz. In the former case this is because Derek is in Gallipoli (Anzac veterans reunion) and Roz is at Pilates. In the latter case it’s because baby Zoe and kit are also due to arrive. They duly do arrive and Zoe receives all the attention deserved of someone who entered this world barely four months ago. Once the fuss has died down and Zoe has been settled nearby, the assembled party (which includes Carol) adjourn to the gaming table where ‘Jamaica’ is already set up.
Five plastic boats are ready to set sail round a cluster of Caribbean islands with the express intention of getting back to where they started (Port Royale). Doing this first will reward that player with fifteen bonus points; those further behind will receive rather less. Other than that it’s all about getting and keeping as many doubloons as possible. These are stored ‘in’ a player’s ship – cardboard strip, off map showing five holds. Food and gunpowder can also be accumulated. Food and doubloons will be needed to fund the journey and gunpowder to attack / defend against other ships. The only spaces en route where payment doesn’t need to be made are those containing treasure – cards are collected with various bonuses and the odd ‘negative’.
Dicken goes about explaining these rules … and more. Not that there are that many; ‘Jamaica’ is pitched really well into the ‘family gaming market’ (as opposed to the ‘family games market’ – i.e. things to be played at Christmas only). Just that any such game tends to have rather more rules than one might expect or subsequently remember having to explain. In order (possibly) to alleviate the impact of rules, Rio Grande have come up with the rather novel solution of having them printed on a poster-sized / pirate map-sized single sheet spread, in various languages. There is a tidy flow from one box of instructions to the next. Not too easy to use in a confined space, but might convince some that the game is a snitch.
Fortunately there is an unhealthy supply of Dorittos and no small amount of alcohol; but no rum on this occasion.
Paul is his usual confident self, giving Dicken the nod that everything is fully understood. He goes first, lurching from one misconception to another in time honoured fashion. To complete his role as captain, he must roll two dice and place one for the ‘morning’ and one for the ‘evening’. He will make this decision based on the three cards he (like all other players) holds. They show a morning and evening action; movement or getting food or getting doubloons or getting gun-powder. Paul elects to not move, but to stock up on food and gun-powder. Simultaneously all other players have been making a similar decision and in turn order reveal and carry out their actions. Liz heads off taking a Treasure and then gun-powder, Carol heads off and is immediately into a fight when landing on the same space as Liz. More rules….
Zoe meanwhile is not taking this lying down. Or rather, she has been lying down, but isn’t going to stay out of the action any longer. Despite having had a feed three hours previous, she is beginning to grumble. Liz starts to cogitate about next feeds.
Fighting is simple. Declare how much gun-powder you are using and roll a dice. The highest total wins, unless the ‘explosion’ is rolled – in which case that player achieves an immediate victory. The winner gets to steal one holds worth of whatever is stored on the other player’s ship or a Treasure should one be lurking in the defeated Captain’s cabin .
Liz wins.
Dicken sets sail and has a fight with Liz. Dicken wins and chances taking the Treasure from Liz– as it happens a minus card for the count up at the end, but no one knows this yet. Kendall stocks up.
The round completed, the captaincy passes to Liz. This turn sees rather less fighting as the ships separate to go round one of the smaller islands. Acute paranoia has begun to set in, so loads of gunpowder is taken on board.
Holds may only hold one commodity, and when all five are filled something must be jettisoned to make way for whatever is being taken on board. This is fine when the dice rolling is high, but agonising when the low rolls start to appear. In addition (and Dicken struggles to remember this all evening) jettisoned commodities cannot be the same as those coming on board.
Dicken storms into an early and significant lead; the cards are coming out just right. Others are picking up treasures, but becoming becalmed in the backwater regions. Dicken enthuses about the realism of pirates ‘laying-up’ and scraping the hulls of their ships betwixt orgiastic revelries where vast quantities of a sort of rum based sangria would be consumed – Dicken has read a book on Pirates.
Too much for Zoe. Time for a feed; and this does not involve a bottle. Babies and gaming can mix - unlike very small children and gaming. Kendall patiently asks Liz if she wouldn’t mind playing her next card, before breaking out the milk rations
Paul has yet to win a fight. No matter how much gunpowder he uses, the dice rolling continues to let him down. Kendall is experiencing the same pain, but tries to be more elusive. Liz, Carol and Dicken share the spoils. As a result though, it’s Kendall who first rounds the corner into the home straight – and then becomes becalmed.
Zoe finishes feeding, but she has been merrily farting throughout and now needing a change has been handed to Dicken though he is content to hold the cuddlesome babe, making no move to offer to change the nappy. However… Kendall’s boat has suddenly spread wings and with a good dice roll and the double move card reaches the winning line – to universal surprise.
Points are tallied. Paul has 2 (two!!) – having won not a single fight. Dicken has five (five!!). Carol has 12, Liz 21 and Kendall 22. A win for Kendall, even though his fighting record equals Paul’s.
‘Jamaica’ is one of the year’s favourite games - thus far. Light, but tactical. Beautifully produced. Definitely fun. Easy to play, simple rules (though aplenty). However….. not recommended for children under three years.
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