Hunt for Blackbeard

About this board game

Hunt for Blackbeard is a two-player board game with an approximately 45-minute play time, portraying the 1718 effort to track down the notorious pirate Edward Thatch in colonial North Carolina.

One player takes the role of Blackbeard, choosing an anchorage and seeking to commit acts of piracy or enjoy a pirate’s life while remaining free. The other plays the hunters from the colony of Virginia and the Royal Navy, working to discover Blackbeard’s plans and stop his piracy.

Across up to four turns, both sides draw secret tiles that reveal opportunities. Blackbeard can pursue his piratical aims, while the hunters interview informants who may know where he is. Players then commit Action pawns behind screens to prepare defenses, sail, scout, or plan piracy.

• Blackbeard secretly records changes to information on the main map.
• The hunters inspect map markers, often secretly, to search for Blackbeard, his camp, or signs of his passage.
• Blackbeard can place gold cubes on drawn tiles when he carries out piracy.
• Combat begins if the hunters catch up with Blackbeard’s sloop.

The hunters must decide how long to press their informants and arm their expedition, while Blackbeard grows stronger and weighs evasion against preparation. Will the hunters use a broad flushing strategy or attempt a precision strike?

Hunt for Blackbeard can end with a battle. The hunters win by capturing Blackbeard, while the pirate can win through piracy or by seizing a hunters’ ship as his prize. A boarding action automatically decides the game, making the final approach a dangerous test of timing, deception, and nerve.