Review

Shiver me timbers and batten the hatches, WizKids has another hit on their hands! The runaway success of Pirates of the Spanish Main has reached a fever pitch, and WizKids has responded in kind, making sure that retailers have the tools they need to take advantage of the latest game revolution - the Constructible Strategy Game!

For those who don't know, Pirates of the Spanish Main, the world's first Constructible Strategy Game, is a low-priced, fast playing collectable game. Each game pack contains everything one person needs to play, including two ships, treasure, an island, the complete rules, and a die. The ships come in varying degrees of collectability, much like the collectable miniatures for which WizKids is renowned, and players can expand their collection by purchasing more game packs. Additionally, a wide variety of crew and unique treasure await collectors, including colorful personalities from the Spanish Main and typical pirate fare such as parrots, monkeys, and treasure maps.

What sets Pirates of the Spanish Main apart is the ease of storage and use. The ships punch out of styrene cards that are approximately the size of a standard baseball card. Players build their ships - instructions are available online or in the game packs and set up the game in a matter of minutes. Ships hold varying amounts of treasure, and the first person to collect a certain amount of gold, wins! But like any good Hollywood pirate movie, there are high-seas naval battles, boarding, and lots of nautical mayhem. Each ship's damage is recorded by removing its masts; when a ship has no more masts, it sinks, so players can either dig the gold they need out of the ground, or let their opponents do the hard work and let their guns take care of the rest!

WizKids has expanded its support of Pirates of the Spanish Main to include the more traditional aspects of its Approved Play program. In addition to the month-long Pirates of the Spanish Main leagues, which culminate in a "pirate plunder" auction where players can bid the gold they won on prizes, WizKids has already begun offering regular tournaments for Pirates of the Spanish Main, beginning with the Marquee tournament in October 2004. Each month, WizKids will support a limited number of these events for venues who use the WizKids Approved Play program to help sell their products. These events will include regular leagues, tournaments, and some surprises as the line develops and grows!

The Pirates of the Spanish Main game line has grown on the WizKids website (www.wizkidsgames.com) through support of online fiction that has helped develop the world in which the game is set. Fans have enjoyed reading about the exploits of characters from the set online, and the prizes for many of WizKids' Pirates events reflect this growing enthusiasm for the game's fiction. Prize kits consist of limited edition replica busts of famous - and infamous - characters from Pirates of the Spanish Main, including Calico Cat, the signature character, the mysterious pirate El Fantasma, noble Jack Hawkins, and even the monkey mascot, Skyme.

With the resounding success and rave reviews of Pirates of the Spanish Main after Origins, Comic-Con International, and GenCon, it is clear that WizKids is once again carrying the banner in the next gaming revolution. Make sure you and your players get started on the cool Pirates of the Spanish Main events early, because there's nothing worse than being left on the open seas without a treasure map!

Jason Mical works as the Public Relations Coordinator for WizKids.