Port Royal

Adventuring on the high seas comes with trials and tribulations. The brave head out to travel the world and see what it has to offer but some adventurers never return. Luckily though, you are one of the few that did return and do so laden with goods. 


As a merchant trader you’re looking to get the most out of what you put in, but on Port Royal that can often backfire on you.

In Port Royal players attempt to secure ways to complete expeditions through trading cargo. However, greedy merchants will be punished so it may be a better idea to trade more shrewdly and patiently, though sometimes risks need to be taken.

Port Royal is a card based, push-your-luck game brought to us by Pegasus Spiele. The idea of a push-your-luck

game is to open up as many options to progress, or in this case gain coins, without going to far and getting punished.

Players start off with a small amount of money that they aim to increase and spend as the game goes on.

There are four card types in Port Royal: Ships, Persons, Expeditions and Tax Increases.

There are five different coloured ships and ten of each colour.

Each turn the active player turns over cards from the deck in the middle of the table into the harbour, the harbour will be situated near the deck. They only HAVE to turn over one card, after that initial card they can choose to carry on or stop. If two of the same coloured ships are flipped into the harbour all cards currently in the harbour are discarded and that marks the end of the active players turn. If the active player chooses to stop before this happens then they have the opportunity to hire one of the persons in the harbour, each person offers a different ability either relating to hiring other persons, gaining coins or completing expeditions. Alternatively, the active player can choose to take a ship from the harbour to gain the amount of coins shown on the ship card.

The aim of the game is to amass 12 victory points over the persons you have hired or the expeditions you have completed, which might sound easy but that’s where the push-your-luck element comes into play.

You will often find yourself in a position with none or one ships in the harbour which will prompt the gutsier players to keep flipping cards to give them more options. This has a chance of backfiring quite spectacularly as the more cards you go through the higher the odds of hitting a ship. Not only will this mean your turn is done but any of the person cards that have been revealed will be discarded, raising your chances of hitting multiple ships next time.

Port Royal is a simple game but not without its nuances, It’s a great choice if you are looking for a quick game to tide you over in an evening. For those players looking to get something more out of it however there is now an expansion for Port Royal that turns the game into a campaign, either for solo or coop play as well as competitive play.

The campaign expansion gives players scenarios to play through along with event cards that may relate to trading with specific ships or hiring certain crew members. When playing the coop campaign players win and lose together so constantly flipping cards into the harbour isn’t just detrimental to you. Though when playing competitively the game runs pretty similarly to the original with a couple of extra steps. This expansion opens up a whole new avenue for Port Royal, adding a story gives a game so much more room to grow.

As small box games go, Port Royal is one of the best. One thing that stands out for me is the efficiency, as the money you gain from completing expeditions and so on is on the back of the deck of cards meaning the costs to produce the game are reduced significantly. I first played it a long time ago and I have continued to play it ever since.
Port Royal plays well to the more logical minded in regards to the push-your-luck element with working out odds of hitting certain cards while also letting the more gung-ho players go really deep and feeling brilliant when it pays off.
Port Royal is a great entry level game, a game for players that are less experienced with board or card games.
It gives players a nice insight into multiple mechanics, including card draft and set collecting, while also being fun for the more experienced players without putting a divide between the two.

Usually the price point for Port Royal hangs around the £11 mark making it a no brainer addition to your games library.
I feel confident that almost anyone can pick up, play and enjoy it without too much difficulty making it the brilliantly designed game it is.

Head down to your local games shop for a look at Port Royal but until then, keep checking back to Game Changers

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