Pirates of Maracaibo: Commanders Game Review
Pirates of Maracaibo made my personal top-10 list for 2024; since then, a number of things must be shared for the record:
- I have not played the original Maracaibo even once since playing Pirates of Maracaibo. In fact, not only have I gotten rid of my copy of the original Maracaibo, I haven’t even played it on Board Game Arena since Pirates of Maracaibo came along.
- I’ve played Pirates of Maracaibo in-person and online more than 50 times. I love it solo, I love it at the full player count, I love it as an entree, I love it as an appetizer. I love it in any format you want.
- Across the designs I’ve tried from Alexander Pfister (a co-designer for Pirates of Maracaibo, along with Ryan Hendrickson and Ralph Bienert), I think Pirates of Maracaibo is Pfister’s best work.
I get it—that last point might be a stretch for some players. Of the Pfister designs I have tried, I’ve played Great Western Trail, Oh My Goods!, Mombasa/Skymines (the same system, with the latter serving as the update), Isle of Skye, Maracaibo, and Boonlake. Some of those other titles are good; others are classics. But none of them packs as much game into such a clean space…
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