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ESPG

Pirate Code

Other Games

3840 Pirate Code Board Game
Blue 31 I 10

The parts that are contained in this game are rather pleasing. There are a large number of gems in six colors: trans red, trans clear, trans neon orange, trans yellow, trans light blue, and trans green. Any pirate fan can always use more gems for a bigger booty. Nice tiles are also included. There is a large quantity of jumper plates in five gorgeous colors: blue, red, green, yellow, and pearl gold. Most importantly, the skeleton has the OLD skeleton arms. I am absolutely not a fan of the new style skeleton arms. Having the old arms included in this game made me very happy. There are two swords and a pirate hat. If you are a reddish-brown brick fan, there is a nice selection of parts plus the big treasure chest in that color. Overall, these are very nice parts to any collection.

The game itself comes with instructions that are clear. It is loosely based on Mastermind. You have to guess the other players’ secret codes. These codes are of course set in gems. First, you pick a series of four and place them in your treasure chest when no one is looking. Next, the game proceeds with the rolling of the LEGO die. The difference between Mastermind and this game is that the die determines the color of your guess. The guess is placed into the guess area of any player on the board. If the guess is incorrect the gem goes off to the side. If it is a color in your secret code, it is left in place. If it is both in the correct place and color, it is moved to the pearl gold jumper plates in front of the treasure chests. Game play continues until one player’s secret code is completely discovered. It is a fast paced game.

Part of the greatness of this game is it made of LEGO bricks and can be customized to play as you want. The designers encourage you to develop your own or change the rules to make the game your own. In fact, they have included three other alternatives for game play.

Overall, I have to say that I really enjoyed playing this game. I played it with both adults and kids. Both groups enjoyed it. The rules are not completely detailed, but that actually made it a bit more fun, especially with the kids. I do like the LEGO die piece. It still makes noise as it rolls, but it is more bouncy and unpredictable. It fell off the table several times, but that became funny each time.

In terms of the build, the set is modular with four spokes built exactly the same just with color changes. The jumper plates tend to come up when you are removing the gems, but it is LEGO, it is not meant to be permanent. The lids on the treasure chests also have a tendency to come off. They are only attached by a 2x2 hinge plate, but once again this is LEGO. I did find it difficult to slide the secret code piece into the treasure chest without people being able to see, but both times the treasure chest was already attached to the game board.

At the time of this review, the set was only available in Europe. I imported it for my own personal collection. If you are a person who enjoys playing board games, then it is worth the effort to purchase.

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