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In Walk the Plank!, players represent the worst pirates in a captain's crew. The captain has rounded you all up because you're all lazy and stupid and simply not worth the rum and loot you get paid. That said, the captain has decided he's willing to keep two of you in his crew. To prove you're worthy, you will fight amongst yourselves, trying to shove other players' pirates off the end of the plank while keeping yours alive!
In game terms, each round players secretly stack three of their ten action cards, then they take turns revealing and playing those actions one by one no matter what's gone wrong between the planning and the doing. If you plan to have a pirate shove someone off the plank on your third move and all he sees are his own best mates, he will still shove away! Some cards bear a skull on them, and these powerful cards must remain on the table the round after they're played, but otherwise players then pick up their action cards and start a new round. As soon as two or fewer pirates remain on board, the game ends and the owner (or owners) of these pirates win! Watch out, though, as sometimes every pirate will end up in the drink, which means that no one wins other than the sharks circling in the water below...
Walk the Plank! Review
- fun and laughs at the table
- high production value for a small game
- cartoony, well-done artwork
- clear iconography on the cards
- enjoyable as a chaotic experience rather than strict strategy
- Charge card is hilarious to play
- strategic decisions can detract from fun for some players
- optimal strategic play can slow the game and cause it to drag
- with experienced players the game can run 40+ minutes
- not appealing to euro-game style players or hardcore strategists
- skull cards and their timing can disrupt the flow
- pirates attempting to kill each other while avoiding being consumed by the Kraken
- pirate ship with a plank and a Kraken
- cartoony, light-hearted chaotic pirate scenario
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Charge — move one of your pieces forward; if there is a piece in the destination, you bump that piece forward as well; you must knock a piece into the Kraken's mouth, including your own; cannot be played as the first of the three cards in a turn (must be second or third)
- drag to sea — requires your piece and another piece on a spot; direction determines which piece is dragged toward the sea
- extend the plank — extends the plank up to a length of three; cannot extend past three
- I don't want to die — move one of your pieces one or two spaces back toward the ship
- pull to ship — requires your piece and another piece; pulls pieces back toward the ship; may pull your own pieces or an opponent's
- Relative Movement — move one of your pieces forward; if there is a piece in the destination, you bump that piece forward as well; you must knock a piece into the Kraken's mouth, including your own; cannot be played as the first of the three cards in a turn (must be second or third)
- retract the plank — plank length can be shortened; cannot extend past three; if a pirate on the plank is affected by retraction, they can be consumed by the Kraken
- run around — move one of your pieces one space in any chosen direction
- shove anyone — lets you pick and choose a target to shove, as long as there is a legal target
- shove left — affects the player order; if there is a legal target to your left, you push that pirate forward
- shove right — affects the player order; if there is a legal target to your right, you push that pirate forward
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a light chaotic game about pirates trying to kill each other before they kill themselves
- the artwork and production value for such a small game it's really high quality
- the iconography on the cards is exceptional
- it's almost an experience at that point
- not going into this game thinking like a gamer and being like this is a filler I'm going to win
- if everyone does that then it becomes a 40 minute game and everyone just wants it to end
- lots of vaporious laughter
- i've had a lot of fun with this game