Board Game Review: Fleet

It's no secret that I'm a gamer. I make that pretty clear with with my Zelda and FF7 obsessions and all. But what you may NOT know is that I'm also kinda into board games.

Truthfully, it's my husband that is really into board games. I'm not talking Monopoly and Apples to Apples, I'm talking nerdy european style board games and card games and games with cool themes (like space and the wild wild west!) and creative mechanics (like auction style and rondels!).

There are some hard core and fantastic board game reviewers out there. Let the record show I am not one of them. What I am is your average girl who likes to play cool games and wants to share those cool games with you in the best way I know how.

Let's get started.

The Game: Fleet

Created by: Benjamin Pinchback and Matthew D. Riddle (no relation to Tom Marvolo, I hope.)

Publisher: Gryphon Games

Number of Players: 2-4

Ages: 10+

Time: 30-45 Minutes

Source: Purchased via Kickstarter
Style: Card based, some auction
Cost: Around $30

The theme: You're trying to build the strongest fleet with the most boats, fish, and fishing licenses. Lest you think that sounds lame, please watch an episode of Deadliest Catch and see how hard core this business is. Thank you.

The actions of the game and the rules are pretty basic. Even better, they put the action options on the card for you so you have a reminder of what to do and when to do it. I REALLY like that.

Basically you get a fishing license at the auction, if you can afford it, launch boats and hire captains and get fish. There are a couple extra things you can do like process or trade your fish with a special license that helps you manipulate the cards a little bit. 

After each player has gone through the turn sequence, you start a new turn. The player with the most victory points from boats, fish, and licenses wins! 

There's lots to like about this game. For one, it's a quick and easy learn which means it's quick and easy to replay again and again. I really like card based games, so I was predisposed to like this one, but even I was impressed with how much I liked it. 

This is what the game looks like about halfway through. You can see Andrew and I both have some licenses (the pale cards) and some boats (the cards with boats on them). You can also see that the cards have fun artwork and are easily understood as they represent multiple elements during the game.  And just in case those symbols don't come naturally to you, the back of the Turn Sequence card has a symbol key. I LOVE SYMBOL KEYS. It makes life so much easier and prevents me from asking all of the questions. 

Despite my best efforts, I was not the best captain out on the sea. Andrew beat me by 7 points, so it was a close one. He only won because he bought two Fisherman's Pubs (on the upper right corner) which doesn't seem legit (but totally is). Regardless, I think Captain Phil would have been proud of my mighty fleet. What more could a girl want?

The good:
- Doesn't use a ton of space. We were able to easily play two player on our kitchen table and had plenty of room.
- The cards are high quality. The artwork is fun and the cards themselves are actually thick and sturdy and don't bend easily. Huzzah! Makes for good repeated use.
- The symbol legend.
- The cards have various uses (ships, captains, money) so you never feel like you have a bad draw. You just need to use your noggin to figure out the best play for you with the cards you have.
- Wooden bits! Since Andrew kickstarted the game, we got an upgrade to little blue fish (instead of little blue cubes) and it came with a yellow fishing vessel to denote start player that's also wooden. It's the small things that make me happy.
- Usually card based games are space themed (which is fine by me!) but it was refreshing to see a different theme. Plus I'm in love with Deadliest Catch so you know, it worked out.

The not so good:
- Despite this being a custom box for the game, not all of the cards fit. I think that's a bit odd and a bit disappointing.

Overall, this was a great two player game for the hubs and I. It has enough variability that you can't just hone in on a strategy and repeat. I think this would be a great game for families to play too, as it isn't super competitive and cut throat. Sure, you're competing, but you're not screwing anybody over because the cards have so many uses.

[FTC Notice: I did not receive any compensation for this review.]