Game Preview: Martinique

By W. Eric Martin
July 13, 2009

Designer: Emanuele Ornella
Publisher: QWG Games
Distributor: Iello

Players: 2
Ages: 10+
Playing time: 30 minutes
Release date: October 2009
Link:

Much to my regret, Martinique is not about me and my life as a genetically-modified race-car driver who stymies the competition at every turn – especially the mysterious Purple Dragster – while trying to solve the mystery of his lost love and her missing eyebrows. No, Martinique is a deduction game and a pirate game. Asked about the title and setting, designer Emanuele Ornella says, “The most famous pirates were in the Caribbean seas, and since Puerto Rico and Cartagena were already used, why not Martinique? That was my working title, and then QWG liked it and decided to keep it.”

Although Martinique is a two-player game, each player has a crew of pirates at his disposal (as one must in a pirate game). Your goal is to find the island’s Lost Treasure, a treasure so astounding that it cries out for capital letters to emphasize its greatness.

The location of the Lost Treasure is determined secretly each game, with two map tiles being set aside to mark the spot. You’ll need to scour the island for clues as to its position – but the opponent will be searching for these map tiles, too, and with the information split between you, you’ll need to rely on deduction (and perhaps a bit of luck) in the endgame; at this time, you and the opponent place each of your pirates on a field on the island to dig. Find the location of the Lost Treasure, and you win the game.

If no one finds it, however, then the player with the most small treasures wins, and this is where the game gets trickier. Instead of going all out to find map tiles, you could choose to search for and hoard treasure tiles. As long as the opponent doesn’t grab so many map tiles that she’s certain to find the treasure, you’re in good shape. Thus, says Ornella, “you have several strategies to follow: Block your opponent’s pirates? Try to get a good place at “The Hook” bar? Load up on treasures? Steal clues that the opponent has collected? Each move you have a tough decision to make.”

Until my namesake game comes into being, this will have to be the standard bearer for games bearing the “Martin” name…

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