Game Trade Magazine
Vol 1, Issue #10
Terry Mahooney
USA

Shipwrecked
Strategic Bidding for survival on a desert island

No luck, just brains. That's what I like about this game. A good poker face and chutzpah are essential skills for any bidding game, and this is no exception. In this colorful card game, the players are stranded on a desert island and must bid for resources each turn. They only start with a limited pool of these gemstones to spend on these resources, and it is not too difficult to loose them all and get kicked off the island.

Each resource has a different value, and some resources have income that let you replenish your bidding pool while others do not. Having a pet monkey is not as lucrative as coconut milk. To win the game players must earn 100 points, or more, in one resource group, or 150, or more, in any combination of resource groups.

The bidding itself is done in a maximum of six rounds, and as the bidding progresses, the final price of the resource goes down. That's the kicker that separates this from other bidding games. Each player has six iconic bidding cards, and they continue to lay them down, one per round, until someone calls an end to the bidding. Any player can stop the bidding after each round. This is where a good poker face and the ability to read an opponent come in handy. Bidding is resolved using simple formulae depending on the cards bid during that round. Ties, "BidLocks", are rare, and can lead to expensive "showdown" rounds.

Every game Out of the Box makes is on the Games Magazine Top 100 list, and with good reason. If you haven't tried this game or their other products yet, now is the time to start.

Shipwrecked (OTB 6666) is published by Out of the Box Publishing, LLC, $15.95

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