Cartagena

How do you win?

Get all of the pirates of your colour on board the boat moored at the end of the escape trail.

How do you play?

Set up the escape route that leads from the meeting place to the boat by laying the colourful path tiles – these are double sided and can be placed in a variety of ways, making the game a little different each time you play.  

Each player then places their five pirates at the meeting place and is dealt five item cards. The first player picks up one extra card so that they hold six items in their hand.

The item cards include traditional goods for pirates on the run, including bottles of rum, keys, lanterns and grapple hooks. During a turn a player takes three actions, which can be used to either move one of their pirates forward towards the boat and freedom or retreat one of their pirates, allowing them to draw new item cards from the deck.

Playing an item card allows you to move one of your pirates to the next square on the path that features the matching item but no other pirates. In this way, large chains can be built up when several squares with the same item are occupied along the route, enabling pirates to skip the occupied square(s) and travel large distances by playing relatively few cards.

To retreat, a pirate must move backwards to the first square on the track occupied by either one or two pirates. If you join just the one pirate, you are then able to draw a card, and if you join two pirates, you may draw two. Once an item has three pirates on it, then it is deemed full and you must ignore it when retreating.

A player may use their three actions in any fashion, such as on the same pirate or three different ones; they could also mix retreating and advancing, or travel in the same direction three times. Once a player has used their three actions, their turn is over and play moves clockwise to the next player.

Why play it?

Cartagena is simple to learn, good fun and really competitive. In general, you have to try and stay with the group, where many people using the same items will increase the distance you travel and give you more opportunities to retreat and collect more cards. You will want to avoid letting one or two of your pirates getting left behind, otherwise your chances of victory will be slim, even if you have your other men ready to go on the boat!

The ‘chaining’ of a specific item to let pirates travel long distances is a clever mechanic that can really boost your chances of victory, but you’ll need to remember to pull up the ladder behind you to stop competitors from doing the same! It also leads to sudden rushes of popularity for certain items at different points in the game, and it can cause great joy if you pick up one of these items at the right time.

Since the position of other players’ pirates has such a big impact on your strategy, it pays to notice what others are up to. You will find yourself carefully calculating what your three actions will be on the basis of your opponents’ moves, only for the player to your right to grab opportunities you had in your sights – perhaps the chance to pick up two cards without retreating too far – leaving you to hurriedly rethink your next move. That said, there is no doubt the player to your left will have similar frustrations!

As players desperately hope to pick up a specific item to get their last pirate on to the boat, the players who look like the favourites to win are often pipped at the post during the final round.

Verdict?

Cartagena appears straightforward enough, but your turn can be a real brainteaser. Once you start playing a game, you’ll become very invested and you’ll really want to win!