Treasure Island

In A Nutshell

For some reason this reminds me of 'Buccaneer' from the eighties and has been developed by Peter Burley, who invented the game 'Take It Easy'. The game involves lots of cards, tokens and treasure to collect as you cordon off areas around the board, it was launched in December 2003 and was at Essen this year.

It's a double sided board, and so two different islands can be played on. The smaller island is for 2-4 players, the large island can be used for 2-6 players. Deal out the treasure cards onto the spaces on the 'Treasure Trove' card. There are different types of treasure cards - gold, diamonds etc. and there are also 'cannon' cards, and 'jolly roger' cards in the treasure card deck.

Players take it in turns to roll two dice and place counters on the board attempting to cordon off an area of the island for themselves. If you cut off a space you can fill it up with your counters and if you capture a ‘treasure’ square then you get those cards from the space on the Treasure Trove. You now own that treasure and have to lay it out in front of you, so the other pirates can see it. If you get a cannon, you can steal from the opposition, and if you get a Jolly Roger you can collect more than your fair share of treasure. A player may only hoard a specific number of treasure types, and any extra must be deposited in Davy Jones’ Locker.

When all the squares are filled, the player who placed the most counters gets bonus treasure cards from the Davy Jones’ Legacy treasure chest, and then you tally up the treasure score to see who has won.

There are a bunch of extra rules, that I won't go in to here. Splendidly complicated and piratey - kids will love the game. Make them wear eye-patches, and stuffed parrots while they play it.

They Say

"It is the early eighteenth century. You are a daring pirate captain in command of a small fleet. Land your ships at secret anchorages on Treasure Island and venture inland in search of buried treasure. Amass hoards of gold, gemstones, pearls and many other treasures. On your mission, you may find it necessary to use low cunning and surprise attacks to steal treasure from your rivals, before they get the chance to attack you! You must also try to occupy uncharted regions of the island’s interior in a bid to be awarded Davy Jones’ Legacy. "

In The Box

• Double-sided playing board
• Double-sided 'treasure trove' and scoring chart board
• "Davy Jones' Locker" board
• 6 set of coloured plastic counters
• 6 plastic pawns
• Treasure Cards
• 4 dice - 2 black, 2 white
• Rules

More Information

Developed by: Peter Burley

Publisher / Distributor: Burley Games, +44 (0)1276 514 307

Official Website: www.burleygames.com

Buy a copy online from: Compendia

Category: Kids/Family Board Game

Number of players: 2-4 or 2-6

Ages: 8+

Takes: 45 or 90 minutes +, depending on which side you use