Friday, August 3, 2012

Fleet Sails in September

Not too long ago, I got a chance to play the New Card game called Fleet.  It was invented by Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle.  I sat down with my sons to listen to the directions.  I have played several of these detailed, strategy oriented games before.  Often I was overwhelmed by all of the rules and other issues. While they explained Fleet, we played a hand.  The beautiful ships in the fleet jumped out at me and I couldn't wait to draw another card, to see what fantastic boat I'd see.  All of the pictures are so colorful and full of mystery  You get pulled into the game even at this point.  Then there is the bidding which my son helped me to understand.  And there is an accessory card with what happens on each turn so that you can carry on.  I'm not sure at what point I quit asking questions all the time and the play just became natural.  It wasn't too long.  And this from a mostly non-gamer.

There are so many activities on a turn and you need to assess your hand frequently so that it seems like  you are always playing.  Three players was a nice number to play the game, though it can be played by two to four players.

Besides the boats that you launch, there are other cards with things to do that you can draw.  On many of them, there are directions written on the card so that each time you play the game, you could play it differently.  Also, you get to draw on every turn.  It's a comfort that you always get a chance to do better next hand.  And there are many opportunities to get the money you need.  It's a matter of strategy how you spend it.

Well there you are.  I found Fleet to be exciting,visually stimulating, fun, interactive, and while easy enough for a beginner, with enough challenge to  wonder how I will play  it next time.  I did pretty well, by the way.  Only the "master" got more money than I did.  What a way to start.  Hope you can get your fleet sailing soon.

Fleet will be sold on Amazon.com in September.

8 comments:

  1. Interesting! I usually loose interest when the instructions seem impossible to remember. But maybe I should not drop out so quickly!

    Earlier this week, I was in a table game marathon of sorts with our two grandsons! I think we played 14 different games -- and many of them more than once or twice!

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  2. Rebecca - That sounds like fun. How did you do?

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  3. Fleet sounds like a game my family might like. Thanks for the info. BTW - your granddaughter is adorable! :)

    Have a good week,
    Karen

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  4. Wow, sounds interesting! I've never heard of it before but it could be very big. Thanks for sharin about it. ;-)

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  5. I've never heard of this game, but it sounds exciting.

    BTW, I love the pics of the new baby. She's adorable!

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  6. Thank you all for your comments. Hope to have some exciting news about my granddaughter soon.

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    1. I love finding new games! I'm not much of a strategist thought, and when you were first describing it, I thought it sounded like it might get too confusing. But if you say it wasn't long before it became "natural," maybe I'll give it a try.

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