Ahoy

You are invited to a pirate adventure in which 2 players will fight for dominance over the islands, while the other 2 will play another game delivering goods. Again, there will be asymmetrical gameplay with different factions. Is Ahoy just such a lighter version of Root?

Dice and bones

We will travel to discover new islands, get gold, recruit new crew members and what is most important – shooting cannons at enemies. We have a lot of options to choose from, and I like that. We will perform all actions using dice. Each faction will get 4 of them, and the sharks are the only ones to get 1 extra. At the beginning of each round we will roll them counting on the corresponding results. We will be able to spend gold to lower the score on the dice or raise it. In our turn we have to use two dice which means that the sharks will always end each round.

Once everyone has done their maneuvers then we will check control in the regions by scoring according to the fame values on the blue dice. When any player scores 30 points this will trigger the end game. The winner will be the person with the highest fame.

Exploration

We will start the game with two discovered regions. Going beyond the edge of any tile will make us add a new area. We have practically total freedom in their placement. We just have to remember that two islands should not be next to each other. I love it when a game has a modular board or one that we have to build ourselves.

On each region tile there is an island and various special fields. They allow us to travel a greater distance. They can also protect us from conflict or repair our ship. Let’s watch out for water debris, which will inflict damage to us. Each player will also be able to use the tailwind action to teleport to a field according to the placed dice. In Ahoy, we are not in danger of wasting actions just to move around. That’s why exploration is very dynamic in this game.

Naval Battles

Combat is also done with the help of our dice. To trigger a fight we must have active cannons or our defender must have. This requires placing dice in the place of the cannons. Each of us will roll one dice, and the winner will be the person with the higher score. We can also lower the value of our cannons to add something to the final score.

Battles are very random. However, we can prepare for them properly. Because sometimes it’s worth surprising someone with a visit with loaded cannons. Ahoy promotes combat. It’s not the kind of area control game where we roam around and do nothing. The teleportation ability of our ships helps us even more. Our two fighting factions will be shooting all the time because without it there is virtually no chance of winning. Even smugglers get a reward for fighting. Each faction has different rewards from battles.

The damage we will inflict will allow us to cover the place for the dice on the opponent’s ship. Thanks to this we can limit someone’s actions.

Crew

We have up to 28 different crew members who can join us. They will offer us various passive abilities or require us to use our dice. Thanks to them we will be able to, for example, inflict damage without fighting, avoid penalties for entering the wreck field or move further. They can really modify our gameplay in a cool way, and sometimes we will even create such small combos. Unfortunately, there are also a few crewmen that I find too soft for this pirate adventure.

Fishy Business

The Bluefin Squadron is practically always ready for battle, and their fins help them explore. They also have one extra dice that can change the course of an entire round.

The Mollusk Union have a lot of comrades on Facebook. They like to spread out on islands and somewhat parasitize the discovery of new lands by other players. They are the only ones with cards. Some of them can be quite powerful. Such as the card that nullifies combat. They are not wimps at all and have already proven their strength many times.

The Smugglers have a single ship with which they distribute various goods. You could say that they are practically such sea couriers. However, they can also show their aggresive side. They will get fame and reward for delivering goods. Thanks to the rewards, our white bonus dice will wander around this cube all the time. The black dice will jump in place of the white one restricting us from making loops. Smugglers will also tempt other players by increasing the level of fame in the region in which they delivered their goods. They will then have to secretly bet on who will control the area at the end of the game. With this great power comes many responsibilities.

Root Syndrome

I can feel the rootiness in Ahoy. Even though the entry threshold has been gently lowered, we still have to explain step by step at the beginning of the game what our factions are capable of. We also have to make other players aware that it’s practically two different games in one. Because when two players load their canons they will be playing a battle game between mollusks and sharks. It’s only in a 3- and 4-player game that the smugglers join in.

Ahoy as a two-player game works great. I feel that the factions are well balanced and each offers me something interesting. The mollusks seemed quite strong at the beginning, but a quick tour with fins and pacification with cannons made it hard to determine who would win until the very end.

The problem arises with the Smugglers. Although I like that double asymmetry they introduce by making the gameplay multi-level. I have a problem with how many things they have to deal with at the same time. Because they don’t just play game with delivering packages. They also have to fight other players and make bets on who will control the area at the end of the game. They also can’t help that faction too much so that it doesn’t overtake them in the final score. Their winning practically depends on a lucky selection of goods. It’s a tough life for a smuggler, and all in all, I’m not surprised that Han Solo complained so much.

Fishing for compliments

In this beautiful box we no longer get cute meeples. Instead, we get ships, tokens and great illustrations on the cards. I really like Kyle Ferrin’s style. Once again he proves that such innocent animals can be bloody killers. Our ship boards are thick and have gouges for the dice which ensures that we don’t face accidental resetting of the game. On top of that, we still get an insert that will take care of the quick deployment of Ahoy.

There’s something fishy about this game

In Ahoy you could feel this asymmetry from the very beginning. People are calling it a lighter version of Root and I can tottaly agree with that. The entry threshold is definitely lower, but we still have to play a few games to get used to what happens in these dangerous waters.

For me Ahoy was love from the very first time I added a region tile. I was looking for a fast-paced area control game with asymmetrical factions in which there would be exploration, combat and on top of that it would still work well for two players. Every game has been exciting for me and even if The Smugglers has been a little harder to play I still want to deliver this game to my table. Ahoy!!!

[Współpraca reklamowa z Leder Games]