Collectible miniatures game
Pirates Constructible Strategy Game Oversized Pirates models at Gen Con Indy 2007 |
| Players | 2–9 |
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| Setup time | varies, usually 10 minutes |
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| Playing time | 30–180 minutes |
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| Chance | Considerable |
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| Age range | 8+ |
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| Skills | Strategy, Dice rolling, Collecting |
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The Pirates Constructible Strategy Game is a tabletop game (or constructible strategy game) manufactured by WizKids, Inc., released in early July 2004,[1] and discontinued in 2008.[2]
History
The game was created by Jordan Weisman,[1] and designed by Mike Mulvihill, Ethan Pasternack, James Ernest, and Mike Selinker.[citation needed] It was released in early July 2004.[1] With aspects of both miniatures game and collectible card game genres, Pirates is described by the producers WizKids as a constructible strategy game, referring to the mechanics of creating game pieces from components that punch out of styrene cards.[1]
Pirates of the Spanish Main won a Vanguard Award at the 2005 Origins Awards.[3]
In November 2008, Topps, the owner of Wizkids, announced that it would be closing the company and all of its product lines.[2] On September 14, 2009, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) announced the purchase of Wizkids name and its intellectual properties from Topps, including the Pirates line,[4] which was then cancelled.[citation needed]
Gameplay
The general goal of Pirates is to collect more gold than one's opponents, or with variants, to achieve a given objective or destroy all enemy ships. Additional scenarios also exist, created by WizKids and others. The game's pieces include ships, forts, sea monsters, crew, islands and other terrain markers, events, gold and other treasure tokens.[1]
A feature of Pirates is the 'constructible' element of the game; each game piece (except for terrain) is created by removing small polystyrene pieces from placeholder cards and assembling them. As the ship, fort or sea monster is damaged by enemies during the course of game play, pieces of it are removed to record how much damage it has sustained.[1]
