Defunct Collectible Card Games Review - 7th Sea

When I can get a starter deck of a zany CCG for $1, it's hard to resist. I haven't dug out 7th Sea in a loooong time, but I have two decks just in case someone comes over, wants to play, and forgot their discontinued-10-years-ago cards.

THE GAME: You've got a Captain, the other guy has a Captain. Go kill their Captain. All this takes place on 5 Sea cards (always the same seas and layout), and your whole crew is on your ship which is unique to your Captain and his faction. To power up your crew, you can add attachments like Mr. Briggs the parrot (sacrifice him to save your crew) or the cheap cutlass (breaks after one use). You can also place adventures, then move to and complete them for additional bonuses.  If you're in the same sea as an enemy, you can attack with cannon fire or attempt to board and duel.

EASE OF PLAY: Pretty straightforward after seeing a turn or two played out. Every character card seems complicated, with at least 6 numbers and 3 big letters, but the use is quite simple: if you need to do some feat of sailing like moving the ship, it costs sailing points, so look at the number by the sail icon on your characters cards and "tack" (tap in Magic lingo) enough to pay the cost. The boarding battles involve playing any card out of your hand, and the letters on the side determine what type of attack you're trying, like a slash or punch. The opponent gets a chance to counter if they have the right card, making it so a puny rower can beat a Captain with luck, although it probably won't kill him.

WHAT THE HELL?: "Laerdom" and "Glamour" are important traits crewmen can have.

WHY IT'S FUN: Characters and effects are a good mix of badass and funny (see "Blows up in Your Face" in the picture).  The gameplay is fun and simple,  it's fairly quick to build up a good size crew and then you can go for the kill. Wish I had a few more Captains and ships: right now all I have is two sets of Sea Dogs.