SNAP Review – Bluffaneer Dice Game

Hey captain, the crew has finished swabbing the deck and shining up the cannons. The sea is pretty calm, so now what?

ARRRR, let me ponder that one for a moment. Ahhh! I have a idea, how about we play a round of Bluffaneer Dice Game?

Go down to yer quarters, grab yer gold, and let’s play!!!

Game

Bluffaneer Dice Game is published by Big G Creative and was cleverly created by two master Bluffaneers: Ken Gruhl and Jeremy Posner.

It plays 3-6 players (or pirates) ages 10 and up.

Art

The art is phenomenal. The coins are so shiny, they reflect rainbows. They have some kind of gold foil finish so that when you hold them in your hands and turn them, the light changes the color of the coins. They are a great simulation of real coins.

The treasure map board is easy to read. The symbols are clear and make sense with the theme of the game.

The cards are tiny, easy for kid hands to hold (and adult hands, too). The bone-shaped dice have the same icons and everything is easily identifiable.

Mechanics

Bluffaneer is simple to play and easy to teach.

Players start out with 10 gold coins and a card they keep hidden from their opponents.

The first player will roll the bone dice.

Doubles

If you roll doubles, refer to the treasure map to take an action.

• If you roll 2 treasure chests, all players give you a coin.
• 2 sabers, steal 2 gold coins from another player.
• If 2 ships, steal 3 gold coins from another player.
• 2 jolly roger skulls, you must give each other player one coin.

Match Your Card

If you don’t roll doubles, two possible actions can occur:

If the icons on the bones match your card, reveal the card and show the match. All other players toss one of their gold coins back into the box.

No Match? Time to Bluff!

If your card doesn’t match the bone dice, just shake your head and let the bluffing begin!

This is when other players can claim they have a match, shouting: “Gimme Yer Booty,” but they don’t reveal their card yet.

Go around the table. If someone thinks that player is telling the truth, then give the bluffer 1 gold coin. The bluffer reveals their card, and keeps the the coin, regardless of whether they were bluffing or not.

On the other hand, if you think that pirate is bluffing, yell “Bluffaneer.” and they must reveal their card.

If they were telling the truth (their card matches the bone dice) you must pay them 2 gold, because you were wrong.

If they were telling a tall tale, you’ve caught that scoundrel in a lie and they must pay you 1 gold.

Clean Up

Anytime a card is revealed, that player discards it and draws a new card, remembering to keep it hidden from prying eyes.

You and your fellow pirates continue rolling bones and bluffing until one unlucky pirate loses all their gold coins. The player with the most coins is the winner!

Expectations

What did we expect from Bluffaneer Dice game?

Izzy expected it to be more about dice rolling and less about bluffing. There’s “dice” in the name!

I (Nick) thought the same: some type of dice rolling and I wasn’t sure how bluffing would be involved.

At first glance, I thought of Liar’s Dice, but Bluffaneer wasn’t like that at all.

Surprises

It brings out the pirate in anyone. That alone lead to plenty of giggles and everyone getting in character.

Izzy definitely liked the bluffing aspect.

Rolling the Bones

When rolling doubles. something always happened. It could be good, it could be bad, or you could lose all your gold!

I favored stealing gold from other players, and it’s good that you can pick the player you’re stealing from. Be careful on who you’re trying to run out of the game: if you don’t have enough coins to win, you might want to target another player to make sure you have the most gold when someone goes out.

The Bone Dice are crazy cool – they look like bones! Who else has a board game with dice that look like bones? When you roll them, it just feels cool.

I recommend rubbing them together between your palms before tossing them. Watch them fly and bounce across the table.

Age Level

The box says ages 10 and up, but it’s way easier than that.

“My 7 year old brother could play it. He won, on his own, nobody on his team; he did the work.”

Izzy

We really enjoyed it with grandparents too! We were up and running really fast with them.

Best for Groups

We liked Bluffaneer Dice best at 6 players. It’s much more eventful. People pick on each other, trying to get people out, and there’s much more action than playing at 3 players.

We think it will be great for parties when people can do that.

This is great for people who love bluffing. And it would make for a great gift for anyone who loves anything pirate-related.

Bluffaneer Dice Game is a great little filler game that lasts around 10-15 minutes.

It would be perfect for kicking off a game night or when your looking for something short to play, and totally worth its $9.99 price point – find it at Target or on Amazon.

We rate Bluffaneer Dice Game 4 out of 5 tattered Jolly Roger flags.

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Big G Creative provided The Family Gamers a copy of Bluffaneer Dice Game for this review.

SNAP review music is Avalanche, provided courtesy of You Bred Raptors?

This post contains affiliate links, which do not change your price, but help support The Family Gamers.