Loot
How to Play
Yo-Ho-Ho and a Barrel of Fun! Set sail for an exciting adventure of strategy and skullduggery in this captivating card game. Storm your opponents' merchant ships and seize valuable treasure. But watch your back, matey - plundering pirates are out to capture your ships as well! The player with the most loot rules the high seas.
About This Game
We've talked about making a pirate-themed game for years but wanted to wait until the right one came along. From the moment we first played Loot, we knew we found our buried treasure! Renown game inventor Reiner Knizia has created a highly clever card game that is at once simple to learn and fast to play, while engaging those looking for strategic challenge. We're particularly fond of the team play version, where you and a partner get to look at each other's cards and conspire moves. We find that the game's even more fun when everyone talks in pirate accents when playing. Give it at try and you'll be hooked!
User Reviews (12)
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Every gaming session needs one of those segue games. The type that’s quick, fun and takes your mind off of the heavier fare. For our group, Loot fits the bill perfectly.
The game consists of 78 cards. There are 25 merchant ships, each carrying 2-8 pieces of gold, 48 pirate ships (12 of each color) with denominations from 1-4 “Skulls”, 4 pirate cards (1 of each color) and one Admiral card.
The premise is simple. On each turn you either play one card or draw. If you choose to play a card, you can either play a merchant ship, play a pirate ship on a merchant ship to try to win its gold, or you can play a pirate to help one of your pirate ships (of same color) win the merchant ship’s gold. There can only be one pirate ship of each color trying to claim a merchant ship. After the last card is drawn, you subtract the value of the merchant ship cards in your hand from your total, and the player with the most gold wins.
Once a merchant ship is played, anyone can play pirate ships on it until that ship is claimed. You must continue playing the same color that you started until someone claims the ship. At the beginning of a players turn, the player examines the open seas to determine if he has the most pirate skulls on any merchant ship(represented by the total number of skulls on all the pirate ships he has played on that merchant ship). If he does, he takes the merchant ship. If the player played a merchant ship on his previous turn and there are no pirate ships played on it, he may also claim that ship. If someone plays a pirate on one of their pirate ships (of same color), they win regardless of the skull count. If there are multiple pirates, the most recently played wins. The player who originally played the merchant ship may also play an Admiral on that ship without having played any pirate ships. The Admiral card is resolved just like a pirate card.
The fun factor of the game is highly influenced by the group of people that is playing. If your group is a swashbuckling bunch of rapier-swingin’ plunderers like mine, you’ll have a blast. The draw pile is almost like the stopwatch of the game. You see it slowly ticking down while you try to plunder the open seas for all its worth. The subtle strategies of the game are it’s beauty. For instance, when there’s a few big-money ships on the board, it’s always fun to try and slip a few low value ships in under the radar. And it’s always entertaining to have a pirate ship shootout over a big money ship.
And if you don’t throw in a few ARRRGGH jokes in there…you’re really not getting the full-on Loot experience. Enjoy it for what it is…a quick little session game to play in between the big-hitters. My group decided we need a few games just like this to fill the gaps. Now, what are you waitin’ for? Grab a few of your peg-legged, eyepatched, pillaging friends and have some fun!
I was hunting for new Heroscape expansions at Wal-Mart one night when I stumbled upon Loot. I saw that it was designed by Knizia and only cost 5 dollars. Since I hadn’t found any Heroscape stuff to burn my money on, I decided to pick up Loot.
Gameplay- This game has relatively simple mechanics that make the game easy for all to pick up, but it still offers players the ability to make tactical decisions.
At the start of a players turn, they first check to see if they looted any merchant ships, if so they add that ship to their pile of loot. Then that player must do one of two things in an attempt to gain more gold. One choice would be to draw a card and the other is to play a card. There are several types of cards one can play. They are as follows:
Merchant Ships – These cards have a picture of a merchant ship and symbols of gold doubloons in the upper right corner from 2-8. If one plays a merchant ship and it gets back to his or her turn without anyone playing a pirate ship to attack it, one adds that merchant ship to his or her loot pile.
Pirate Ship – These cards depict a pirate ship and come in 4 colors with a printed strength of 1-4 designated by skull and crossbones symbols. These are played to attack a merchant ship. They can only be played on merchant ships that do not already have a pirate ship of that color attacking it. One can however boost one of his or her pirate ships strength by playing a pirate ship of the same color on top of it. If it gets back to a player’s turn and they have the highest strength pirate ship on a merchant ship, they get the loot.
Pirates – There is one card depicting a cartoonish pirate for each color. It may be played on a pirate ship you control of the matching color. This ship is now the strongest ship and will take the merchant ship, unless a pirate of another color or the admiral is played.
Admiral – There is one admiral that one may play on his or her own merchant ship. The admiral makes that merchant ship strong enough to repel all pirate ships, unless a pirate is played.
The game ends once the draw pile has been exhausted, and one player is out of cards. Players then total their loot and the player with the most loot is declared the winner.
Another fun aspect of this game is that it can be played with partners, where one can look at his or her partner’s hand and play cards to help boost each other’s attacks. I think I prefer the every man or woman for his or herself version better, but I think the partners can make for some good variety every once in a while.
The game can be played with anywhere from 2-8 players. I have yet to play it with two, as I can’t see if being a lot of fun as the luck of the draw would be too big of a factor, but it is very fun with 3-8.
Loot also plays pretty quickly, so it can be a good filler game or multiple games can be played in succession very easily. Families and younger players can be introduced to this game and should be able to pick it up pretty easily.
I feel that the gameplay deserves 8 out of 10 gold doubloons.
Look and Feel- A game based on pirates is always going to grab some people’s attention. However, I am not sure the theme is that necessary. I don’t think the theme is pasted on, but at the same time I also don’t think it is integral to the game. The theme does make it fun though!
The game components are just a deck of cards in an oversized box. The art is very nice, with semi cartoonish pirates and ships. The cardstock is pretty good. My cards are starting to show a little wear, but for five dollars, replacing the deck isn’t going to be the end of the world or send me to the poorhouse.
I don’t especially get into the role of a pirate capturing merchant ships on the high seas while I play this, but it is still a lot of fun to play.
The look and feel of this game earns Loot 8 out of 10 gold doubloons.
Overall Score- 8 gold doubloons out of 10
Final word- If you like Knizia’s games and are looking for a cheap, fun, fast paced card driven game this is a good one for you. It plays well with 3-8 players individually or with partners. Loot is also good for younger players and families, as the mechanics are simple and easy to learn.
Loot is an engaging, simple card game designed for kids. Players try to sail merchant ships worth victory points past pirate ships controlled by other players. Someone trying to steal your merchant ship? Send out a pirate fleet of your own to rescue it!
Adults playing without kids will soon wish for more depth, but kids will enjoy the mechanics and the fun card art. The one tricky mechanic is the lack of a constant draw – new players will find themselves reaching for the deck automatically when instead they should play a pirate or merchant ship.
As said, the art is good and the cards firm but a little slippery. Instructions are sufficient. Game can be learned within five minutes, and play lasts for about 20 minutes. Best with 3-5 players.
Other reviews have gone into detail as to how the game is played, (I recommend the one by Jormi_Boced.) I will just give my thoughts on Loot. It’s a pretty good filler game since it doesn’t last to long. Sometimes it seems people are scoring ship cards way too easy and other times it seems nobody can get the upper hand. That’s part of the strategy though. Do you throw everything at the high gold ships, just try to score a lot of little ships, or a combo of both.
Really it depends on what cards you have in each color and their can be some real strategy to playing them at the right time. You can still get hosed when someone else plays a pirate or admiral card but that’s the risk you take on the high seas!
Nothing beats talking trash with your buds in your best pirate vernacular! Aar! Fast paced, easy to grasp yet plenty of room to stab that scurvy dog in the back! Similar to games like Junta, where you are not sure how much booty each pirate has stashed until the end. Well worth the price of admission.
Very basic strategy, easy to learn lots of laughs. The simple play format makes it an easy game for kids to pick up. The relatively cheap price allows it to be a game your kids can keep in their room, (as opposed to some of the $60+ games) and play with their young friends.
A very light game. I played this with my 5 year old daughter and enjoyed it. It can be played as a counting game with young kids, and, fortunately, requires no reading, making it viable for pre-kindergarteners. It doesn’t really stand as much for adult gamers, though. A few playthroughs and you are going to be done. Great for playing with young kids, though. You really can make it fun with pirate talk, too!
My 5 year old twins enjoy this game very much. What I like about it is that, while they’re enjoying the theme and the artwork, they are really learning lessons about risk-versus-reward and probability without even realizing it! There are very few games that the adults enjoy as much as the 5 year olds, but this is one of them. The art is fantastic, and the gotcha element of playing a captain (or the ever elusive Admiral!) is fun for anyone at any age.
It felt like a somewhat more elaborate version of war. With only two people, this game is definitely broken. I’d like to try it with more, but I have the feeling that you need four or more to make it work. I’m not really sure that even if it were “working” it would be something I’d care to play. Hate to be a downer on it, but just not feeling it with this one…
This game is a great game to whip out on vacation, or when you don’t have a lot of time, but want to have fun with the family. It’s easy to teach and learn… so, newbies like it.
This game is fun and a blast with a large, aggressive group. Can be played by a large range of ages making it great for family get togethers.
Seems like it might be fun with a group – but I tried playing it with 2 (which it says it can do) and it was pointless & broken.