Blackbeard: The Golden Age of Piracy

About this board game

Blackbeard: The Golden Age of Piracy is a pirate strategy game for 1–5 players with an approximately 120-minute play time. Players control individual historical pirates and pursue Victory Points through booty, daring deeds, and hard-earned Notoriety.

Based on the earlier Avalon Hill game and extensively redesigned by Richard Berg, Blackbeard focuses on interaction between players. Twenty-three famous pirates are represented, including Black Bart Roberts, Long Ben Avery, Ned Lowe, L’Ollonais, and Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. The King’s Commissioners are also on the hunt, creating a constant threat to every pirate career.

Send your pirate on missions to capture merchants and claim cargo ranging from useless paper to the monumental treasure of the Mughal emperors. You can also attack and sack ports, confront storms and scurvy, and seek refuge in infamous pirate havens such as Tortuga and Madagascar.

• Earn Victory Points through booty and Notoriety.
• Use Letters of Marque in the hope of retiring successfully.
• Play cards to harass rival pirates and seize unexpected opportunities.
• Contend with Royal Navy warships and individual hostages, including the Governor’s Daughter.

Movement has been simplified by removing hexes, while ship battles have also been streamlined. At the same time, the redesigned system expands the role of Royal Navy warships and keeps other players involved while a rival pirate carries out a mission.

With frequent opportunities for interference and unpredictable consequences, Blackbeard: The Golden Age of Piracy presents piracy as a dangerous career of treasure hunting, notoriety, survival, and competition.