- BGG rank
- BGG #962
- BGG rating
- 7.5
ZhanGuo
- 2–4 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 3.8/5
- 2014
- BGG rank
- BGG #11,060
- BGG rating
- 6.7
Pirates Under Fire
2019
Rules assistance for Pirates Under Fire
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 25–35 min
- 10+
- Complexity 1.3/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Pirates Under Fire
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Pirates Under Fire is a board game released in 2019 for 2 players, 25–35 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Marco Canetta and Stefania Niccolini and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement.
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About the game
Pirates Under Fire is an original, tactical, and dynamic two-player tile game that lasts 30 minutes and that can be played from 10 years old. Each player is a pirate in charge of a fleet; each ship is numbered from 1 to 9, each of them having a special ability. The goal of the game is to deploy your ships to form combinations while performing their effects. Players perform their turns one after another by laying a ship on a sea space. They apply the effect of the sea space and the effect of the ship tile. This is the main action. They can also perform an optional action: buying a mercenary ship by paying its cost. The game ends when each player has played 16 turns. At the end of the game, players score victory points (VPs) for: • the combinations made (three or more ship tiles laid side by side with identical numbers or forming a sequence of increasing or decreasing numbers), • the ships laid in the opponent player's sea side, • some mercenary ships, and • the VP tokens collected during the game. The player with the most VPs wins. —description from the publisher
Designers
Publishers
- Lifestyle Boardgames Ltd
- Explor8
Questions and answers
Pirates Under Fire supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Pirates Under Fire is 25–35 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Pirates Under Fire for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Pirates Under Fire has a complexity rating of 1.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Pirates Under Fire belongs to these categories: Nautical and Pirates. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Pirates Under Fire are: Marco Canetta and Stefania Niccolini. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Pirates Under Fire as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.