Created by Paul Randles, designer of Pirate's Cove, and developed by Mike Selinker and Bruno Faidutti, Key Largo transports players into the Florida Keys in 1899. As the new century dawns, players ply the thriving trade of finding treasures in shipwrecks around the island. Before a hurricane hits, players need to search the many shipwrecks and sell the lost treasures to the island denizens for as much cash as possible.
This was designer Paul Randles' final game before passing away in 2003. Tilsit Editions published it in French, German, and Italian in 2005, and Titanic Games made it available in English for the first time, with an all-new graphic design and pieces.
The Titanic edition of Key Largo contains:
Full-color board of the island in the Florida Keys
5 wooden boats
1 diving helmet
130 cards
15 divers
40 hoses, tridents, and weights
Money
Full-color rulebook
The setting :
The action takes place on a Caribbean island, in the very last days on the 19th century. The island has long been a pirate's harbour, and it has recently be found out that there were many sunken galleons around. Hurricane Katty is due in ten days, so you have little time to hire a diver team and bring back as much sunken treasure as possible.
The systems :
Key Largo is a double-guessing game, like Paul Randles' other game, Pirate's Cove. Every morning, each player secretly decides what he will do the coming day - take tourists dolphin watching, search a wreck for treasures, sell treasures at the market, buy equipment at the local shop, or go to the tavern to hire more divers and listen to the rumours. It's also a light management game, where you start with little cash and must make your money grow through fruitful investment. The winner is the richest player when the hurricane breaks through and stops all diving around the island.
- Mulligan is a low-risk decision since you redraw up to a full hand (six cards) after discarding your entire hand.
- Mulligan can help you set up important combos or favorable board presence, especially when chasing specific synergies (e.g., Witch of the Eye combos, archiving strategies).
- Using external resources (e.g., blinkingline's probability analysis and Arkon Arcana database) can guide mulligan decisions.
- Call of the Archons
- Mass Mutation
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Mulligan — Discard your entire hand and draw the same number minus one; at the end of the turn you still draw back up to six cards.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The mulligan is really a skill it's something that you have to master to know when to get a sense for when it makes sense to mulligan.
References (from this video)
- Unique deck concept with three houses per deck
- Key forging as a victory condition provides a non-traditional objective
- Strong fit with one-day tournament play due to deck learning and memory
- Tactical decision-making between attacking and reaping
- Deck randomness can lead to variance in outcomes
- Balancing issues in a diverse deck pool for tournaments
- Steep initial learning curve for new players
- Key forging as a victory condition; Amber resources drive key-forging; memory of opponents' decks informs strategy.
- Deck-driven sci-fi/fantasy world with three houses per deck; no fixed setting, play unfolds through combinations of factions.
- Procedural, emergent storytelling driven by the unique, randomly drawn decks and the day-long tournament arc.
- Dice Masters
- Marvel X-Men Dice
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Amber resources and key forging — Players gain Amber and use it to forge keys, which is the primary path to winning.
- Attack vs. reap decisions — Players choose between attacking to remove threats or reaping to gain Amber and progress toward keys.
- deck uniqueness — Each deck is unique, created randomly at setup, ensuring no two games are identical.
- Hand draw to six — At the start or end of a turn, players draw back up to six cards, shaping options.
- House declaration per turn — On a given turn a player declares a house and can only play cards from that house that turn.
- memory — Tournament play emphasizes learning opponents' decks over the day, influencing decisions in later rounds.
- Memory and prediction — Tournament play emphasizes learning opponents' decks over the day, influencing decisions in later rounds.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Key Forge, man, it just nails it.
- the unique deck is cool.
- I think it's absolutely brilliant on that front.
- forging of keys instead of just attacking because suddenly you have this interesting decision...