Pirate’s Bluff Arrives!
Back in February 2020, we had to put Pirate’s Bluff on ice. As soon as we ordered our proofs from Drive Thru Cards, the pandemic hammer came down, and everything stopped working. The card factory closed for several weeks, and we all scrambled to make sense of the new normal.
Today we’re finally back on track, the factory is open again (though on a slower schedule), and we can make this gorgeous game available.
What is This Game? Pirate’s Bluff is a lightning-fast bluffing game in the style of Liar’s Dice. Each player has a hand of cards, from a deck with the numbers 0 through 8. Players bid in real-time, with no order and no waiting for their turn. You’re trying to correctly guess how many of a particular rank are in play (for example, seven 2’s) among all the players’ hands. Or, if someone makes a bid that’s too high, you’re trying to catch them in their mistake.
Where Did It Come From? This game has been kicking around since the Fall of 2017. James made some attempts to sell it to respectable publishers, as usual, before adopting it as a Crab Fragment project. (Though, if you’re listening publishers, we’re still here.) The deck was upgraded from 60 to 72 cards in 2020, after we decided to print with Drive Thru Cards, because they don’t make a tuck box for a 60-card deck.
What About the Art? The gorgeous character art is unique to this game; it’s some of Nate Taylor’s concept art for After the Fog, James Ernest’s big board game project of 2019-2020. These characters are airship captains, pirates, local heroes, and mysterious figures from the Dew Point universe. You can read a little more about them at the Dew Point pages at World Anvil.
How do I Get It? We’ve posted beta rules and printing files for the cards, as well as links to the print-on-demand decks on Drive Thru Cards. So you can print it yourself absolutely for free, or get the nice version for a little bit more. We hope you’ll enjoy Pirate’s Bluff and we look forward to bringing you many more amazing games!
All the card designs from Pirate’s Bluff. The game is available from Drive Thru Cards with red or blue backs.