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- 7.7
Ruthless: Tall Tales
- 1–4 players
- 45–60 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2022
- BGG rank
- BGG #4,813
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Ruthless
2018
Rules assistance for Ruthless
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 40–60 min
- 10+
- Complexity 2.2/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Ruthless
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Ruthless is a board game released in 2018 for 2–4 players, 40–60 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Roland MacDonald and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Open Drafting.
Expansions
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About the game
Ruthless is a pirate themed game in which players will gather their crew and fight with their opponents. The primary mechanic of Ruthless is deck building. Every turn a player must play a card or set of cards from their hand after which they may buy new cards to their deck. The deck consists of pirate cards, which allow to attack opponent, draw more cards and perform many more profitable actions, and treasure cards which allow to buy more and better pirates. Treasures can be discarded immediately to acquire gold when needed or added to the deck to benefit repeatedly from their bonus. New crew members are laid out in front of the players and their effects are used at the moment of acquisition. At the end of each round the players will form poker combinations with the cards in front of them and compare the strength of their crew in play. The player with the strongest crew wins the battle and gains most points. After five or six rounds (depending on player count) the game is over and the player with most points wins. –description from the publisher
Designers
Publishers
- Lucrum Games
- Board Game Circus
- Alley Cat Games
Questions and answers
Ruthless supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Ruthless is 40–60 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 Ruthless 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.
Ruthless has a complexity rating of 2.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-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.
Ruthless belongs to these categories: Card Game and Pirates. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Open Drafting. 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 Ruthless are: Roland MacDonald. 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 Ruthless 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.