Who hasn’t dreamed of being a ship captain, charting the seven seas and finding all sorts of treasures to claim as your own. As the leader of your ship, it’s up to you to get the best items into port to earn you the most gold. Today we will look at a game that allows you to do just that as you explore the world and find the treasures that could make you the best smuggler of all time-let’s take a look at Ship Shape!
Ship Shape is designed by Rob Daviau and published by Calliope Games with illustration by Ben Wotten, Dhaniels Castillo and Andy Hepworth. It plays 2-6 players in 20-40 mins.
Overview
In Ship Shape, players take on the tole of captains of their own ship, attempting to claim your bounty in gold, cannons and contraband. Each voyage you will total up your bounty and the captain with the most money after three voyages is declared the winner!
Gameplay
Each player starts with a Hold board from the first voyage to being their adventure. Each of these is different but all of the ones in the first voyage will have only rats in them. In the second and third voyage/round there will be more on them in the likes of different treasure types.
Stack a number of crates equal to three times the player count in the middle so that the top is the only one you can see the details on. You will be able to glance down the crates as a stack to get an idea of the ones below it, but not all information is visible as long as there is a crate on top of the stack.
Each player begins with a hand of ten crew cards all similar to everyone else’s hands numbered 1-10. These provide you with the cards you will use in bidding during the game.
Ship Shape takes place over three rounds/voyages where each player will simulataneously play a card from their hand face-down and then reveal them to show the order of crates chosen. Ties will cause players to replay for spots, and all cards are placed into the discard pile for that player.
Players pick their crate and turn, twist and position it in any direction they would like on their Hold board. In further rounds subsequent crates are placed on top of the one on the top of the stack. This will occur for 3 crates in each of the three voyages. Once a crate is placed it cannot be moved during the round, so make sure you have it right where you want it!
If a player is ever down to 1 card in their crew deck in hand, they pick up all the cards in their discard pile into their hand. When we played this happened a few times over the course of the three voyages, especially when you run into ties!
Once all players have chosen and placed three crates, the current round ends and their ships are sailed into the harbor to assess their holds and earn some bounty. Players add up their gold and receive gold for the value showing minus the rats they still have showing. Cannons are assessed based on the amount you have minus the lowest amount on the table. So the player with the lowest total cannons will not score any points and everyone else scores points minus that player’s total. Finally contraband is scored and players gain coins equal to their contraband total but if you have the most yours is seized and you lose all of your coins. If a player happens to fill all of their hold spaces with no empty spots they receive a full ship bonus of 8 coins.
The next voyage begins and a new crate tack is setup with unused crates. Each player gains a new hold and repeats. The game continues for 3 voyages/rounds and then finishes. The player with the most gold accumulated over the course of the voyages is the winner!
Impressions
I had a chance to play Ship Shape back at Origins 2019 for the first time with Chris from Calliope Games and really enjoyed the experience. He was excited to show it off and rightfully so, this game is a blast to play and looks great on the table. The foam cargo pieces are great-they look good and they have a table presence siting stacked on your ship. I love a good 3D style game and components and this one really shines in that aspect.
The gameplay is simple but don’t let that fool you-this game is still a challenge to play. The bidding to determine your place in line is fun, especially when a tie messes up the order players assume they will be in. Collecting the different aspects are fun and I like the push your luck for the contraband. It was easily played by both gamers and non-gamers alike and our younger players were able to figure it out just fine as well.
If you are looking for a game that brings a lot of fun to the table in some of the best pirate-themed artwork and components I have seen in a while, Ship Shape may be the game for you. The gameplay is tight, the strategy is there but not overly complicated and the length of time is just right for a quick 30 min or so game after dinner with the family. It is sure to be a hit for gamers of all ages when it sails over to your game night!
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