Facade Games has taken to Kickstarter with a game themed around my favorite subject matter - Pirates! Tortuga 1667: A Pirate Game of Mutiny, Plunder & Deceit.

"The year is 1667 and you are a pirate sailing the waters of the Caribbean. A Spanish Galleon floats nearby, and you’ve talked your crewmates into working together to steal all of its treasure. What you haven’t told your fellow pirates is that you have no intentions on sharing the treasure once you have it.

Your crewmates have told you that they share your loyalty and that they’ll help you maroon the greedy pirates on your ship to the rocky island of Tortuga. But you’ve seen your friends’ loaded pistols and heard their whisperings of a mutiny. You know that nobody can be trusted."

It didn't take but a second for the game to capture my attention by it's theme and lovely packaging, but once I looked further I was really impressed. This is a fast and fun card game for four to nine players that plays out in twenty to forty minutes.

Each player has a secret loyalty card indicating your team. The game revolves around trying to determine who is on your side and who can cannot be trusted. The game is won by whichever team has collected the most treasure in their treasure holds when the Spanish Armada card has been revealed.

There is a row of  unknown event cards on the table, and players must decide their course of action very carefully on their turns and choose wisely when interacting with the event cards. It's all about vying for position on the ships (or Tortuga) while trying to get a good read on the the allegiance of the other players.

Nobody holds a hand of cards in this game- instead game play is driven by a series of voting. Players can call for Mutiny or Brawls, which force all players to cast a vote with one card. The results of these cards dictate the fate of those involved, which may lead to being thrown overboard to Tortuga or perhaps stealing treasure.

I absolutely love the presentation of this game- from the fantastic game box (an old book, perhaps the Captain's log?) to the perfect little game mat with ships and Tortuga. The devil is in the details and it's all tied together beautifully. The art direction on the cards is full of character and the pirates are all straight out of the history books with their biographies in the back of the rule book.

It probably goes without saying that I've backed yet another Kickstarter.

Will you hold the position of Captain on the ships or find yourself cast away to Tortuga?