[Board/Tactical Game]: Caribbean, reviewed by ShannonA (5/4)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11434.phtml

Shannon Appelcline's Summary:

Ar, Matey! Bid barrels of rum to bribe pirates to bring their booty to your safe havens! A fun, blind bidding filler.

Go to the full review for more information.

[DougOrleans]

I haven't played, but it sounds like that's not really blind bidding (although a cousin). You're not "paying" any resources for the right to move; you always have the same set of cards each round, regardless of how many "auctions" you won or lost. You also don't have free rein to bid any amount you like, you're just choosing how to distribute your fixed set of cards. It's more like a simultaneous programming game, like Robo Rally; Dragon Delta is probably a closer example, since you have some decisions to make after the "programs" are revealed. (Plus everyone has the same set of cards.)

Perhaps it's a minor distinction to some, but I happen to generally like simultaneous programming games and generally dislike blind-bidding games. And this sounds like a game I'd like.

[ShannonA]

You're right, there is a distinction. However, it's a very blurry one given that in _Fist of Dragonstones_ you have a set of 8 fairy gold coins that you get to spend over 8 auctions, then you get them back.

A somewhat similar concept, except that the bid amounts are discrete in Caribbean (-1, 0, 1, 2 ...) and not in Fist (8, split however you want).

Shannon

[DougOrleans]

In Fist of Dragonstones (as I recall, only played it once) the 8 auctions are sequential, i.e. you can see the result of the first before deciding how much to bid in the second, etc. I think that's a big difference from allocating all of the bids at once.