Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest - A Solo Review

Image: Stonemaier Games

Introduction

Here’s a fun piece of trivia: I’m not particularly fond of pirates. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a good chantey as much as the next buccaneer or scallywag but as a theme in general it doesn’t make me want to bring a spring upon’er and fill my coffers with booty.

I promise there will be no more scallywaggery going forward with this review.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest! Ten years since its original release and long since out of print, publisher Stonemaier Games has decided to bring back this old salt from the depths of the sea with an updated version featuring new artwork, components, and most importantly an official solo mode courtesy of the Automa Factory! Will Winds of Galecrest prove to be a worthy successor of author Paolo Mori’s beloved design? It’s time to take to the skies and find out.

Full disclosure: A review copy of Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest was kindly provided by publisher Stonemaier Games.

Components

As I mentioned, I’m not a huge fan of pirates as a theme or rather the Pirates of the Caribbean depiction of these seafaring raiders. I am however a huge supporter of the decision to bring artist Lamaro Smith on board this project to add his visual flair to Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest. I’ve been a fan of Smith’s artistic style ever since the first time I laid eyes on the card art for Murder on the Cosmic Express and Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest certainly does not disappoint with his interpretation of sky pirates. As for the actual quality of the components, it is consistently high throughout which should come as no surprise considering that Stonemaier Games is publishing the game. I especially like the chunky acrylic loot tokens that look like pieces of hard candy. Seriously, I might have a real problem wanting to eat board game components produced by this particular publisher… Anywho, the one exception though is the tokens used to denote your position on the reputation track. In a game filled to the brim with colourful illustrations and graphical flourishes (even the cardboard money tokens are nice), having plain hexagonal wooden blocks just sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the components. Don’t get me wrong, they serve their purpose albeit in a slightly dull manner.

Gameplay

I am going to be completely honest; I was expecting this solo experience to be one similar to Pendulum. Those of you who have read my review will know that I didn’t like that game for a host of reasons but long story short I found the solo mode to be borderline degenerate in its execution. When Stonemaier Games announced that Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest, the reimplementation of a game that features a heavy emphasis on player interaction and double-guessing, would feature a solo mode I was more than a little bit sceptical and dare I say even cynical. Well, shame on me for doubting the creative minds of Lines J. Hutter and Morten Monrad Pedersen at the Automa Factory because spoiler alert: the solo mode that is featured in Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest is bloody amazing! Similar to other recent designs like Red Rising and Tapestry, the solo mode in Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest has you squaring off against not one but two automated rivals. The prospect of having to manage two solitaire opponents might sound daunting but rest assured it is not, as this is a fairly straightforward solo mode in terms of rules overhead. This becomes even more true when one takes into consideration that one of your opponents, namely the Pilferer, serves as nothing more than a glorified roadblock whose only task in life is to occupy space on the island track thus adding a higher degree of interaction and unpredictability to the core gameplay. No, your real opponent is the eponymous Automa who much like yourself will amass a crew, collect doubloons, and generally mess with the best-laid plans of mice and men.

Photo: Fredrik Schulz / Table for ONE

As with any solo board game experience worthy of its salt, in Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest the mechanisms and turn structure remain intact compared to playing the game multiplayer. On your turn, you will select one crew member from your hand of cards and play it onto the island board in the hopes of amassing bountiful riches and being proclaimed king of the sky pirates. However, before you crack open the case of rum you must first outwit both the Pilferer and the Automa! The solo mode that is featured in Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest shares similar DNA with previous titles designed by the creative team at the Automa Factory in that it features a dual based card system that stipulates what action the two solo opponents will perform on their respective turn. Depending on whether the card in question is played for either the Pilferer or the Automa, each card in the solo deck is used in one of two different orientations. Once you have played your crew member, the top card of the solo deck is flipped face-up which then becomes the card chosen for the Pilferer. You then compare the numerical value of the solo card in question with your chosen crew member upon which the Pilferer’s card is added either to the left or right of your crew member according to the numerical value. Easy-peasy. As for the action of the Automa, things become a bit more complex but just a tad.

The back of each solo card features a “flowchart” for a lack of a better euphemism which indicates the target priority for the Automa in terms of the available loot tokens on the current day. Basically, she prioritises tokens that grant her the largest reward of coins i.e. chests, hooks, and maps. Depending on the distribution, the Automa will then proceed to the second tier designated as average tokens and so on. Starting at the top and working your way down, you will compare each icon row with the board state until you find the row that matches the loot tokens of the current day. Each card features five rows ordered from best to worst in terms of token composition, meaning that there will always be one valid alternative regardless of the distribution of loot tokens. In addition, the icons in the right column of the flowchart indicate which crew card the Automa will play from her hand which is represented as a row of faceup crew cards. For example, an arrow pointing left with the numerical value of three stipulates that she will play the third card from the left of her tableau. Once the Automa’s chosen card has been added to the island, the following daytime, dusk, and night phases are resolved pretty much in the same manner as if you were playing Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest multiplayer. The Automa will activate any special abilities associated with her crew card, whereas the Pilferer does nothing as a result of his half of the card only depicting a numerical value. Similarly, the Automa gains loot tokens whilst also activating any of their special abilities as dictated by the solo specific loot tiles at the bottom of the board. As for the Pilferer, his role in the Dusk phase is simply to snag a loot token based on his rank amongst the cards on the island row.

Photo: Fredrik Schulz / Table for ONE

If all of this sounds very straightforward then you are absolutely right because as a solo experience Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest is indeed very straightforward. To quote famous 18th Century poet and scholar Todd Howard: it just works. But this notion extends beyond a purely mechanical perspective. It is undoubtedly the case that once you have internalised the flowchart and how the Automa prioritises the loot tokens, playing Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest solo becomes a smooth experience in terms of upkeep, as the turns of the automated opponents take little to no time to execute thus keeping the flow of the game snappy. What makes this particular solo mode so impressive is the fact that the Automa really, really has a knack for throwing bucketloads of spanners into your machine! You would think that squaring off against someone who plays with open cards would be a degenerate experience in terms of difficulty but because the Pilferer is the first one to draw from the solo deck of cards you will never know exactly which one of the target priority rows the Automa will activate. Granted, you can make an educated guess based on the distribution of loot tokens for the given day but that is by no means a failsafe strategy, as the solo cards tend to fluctuate rather substantially in terms of which card to choose for the Automa. The result is a solo experience that feels truly dynamic, where you find yourself coursing at the sneaky manners of an automated opponent whose soul and intellect consist of nothing more than a deck of cards. Honestly, it is quite remarkable how well the solitaire experience of Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest manages to mimic playing the game against human opponents (more on that in just a bit) which is a testament to the quality of the design work that Lines J. Hutter and Morten Monrad Pedersen have poured into the creation of this solo mode.

Final thoughts

Based on my high praise surely then this is nothing short of a slam dunk, an instant and obvious recommendation for any solo board game player to pick up a copy of Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest as soon as humanly possible? Well…

You see, this is one of those “once in a blue moon” instances where I actually managed to play the game both solo and multiplayer as part of the review process. To provide a bit of context, this is an exceptionally rare occurrence as 99.9% of all the board games I review are done so based exclusively on me playing said game solitaire. And having had the opportunity to play Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest in the company of friends I can honestly say that I prefer this game as a multiplayer experience. What author Paolo Mori has designed is a game that thrives on human interaction and one that was made for light-hearted banter between players who enjoy stabbing each other in the back, figuratively of course. And yet you will laugh and sheer simply because this is a game that thrives on a no small degree of wild and swingy turns which is perfectly fine considering you are all in the same boat. Except you’re not seeing how you are each captain of your own sky vessel… You get the idea! From a purely mechanical perspective, I genuinely believe that the solo mode in Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest is nothing short of a triumph. The fact that Lines J. Hutter and Morten Monrad Pedersen have managed to design a solo mode that oftentimes can match the core multiplayer experience is commendable and I tip my hat to both authors. But personally, I see the solo mode in Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest as an exceptionally delicious, complimentary side dish rather than the main course. As such, I would not recommend Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest based solely as a solo experience.