This game is OUT OF PRINT at the manufacturer!  We only have a few left and then they will be gone! 

The game has 12 turns and at the start of every turn, each pirate must decide (secretly) which of the 6 islands they will visit. All players reveal their navigation directions simultaneously and then the turn is resolved. If any two or more pirates end up at the same island, Combat ensues.

Combat resolution is determined by the strengths of your ship and the results of cannon fire (dice). The goal of combat is to scare away rival pirates so that you are the only pirate left at the island. If you stay in combat too long, your ship will suffer and make subsequent turns more difficult, so there is a fine balance of when to stay and fight and when to let the bigger ship have its booty. If you flee from combat, you end up at Pirate's Cove where you receive a small compensation for the turn. Once all conflicts are resolved, then the bounty for each island is given out.

Each island (except Pirate's Cove and Treasure Island) offer various amounts of Fame, Gold and Treasure. The bounty is skewed so that some Islands are clearly better choices than others, so it can force you to decide (or bluff) if you think you can take the island should other pirates go after the same bounty. Once you have your bounty, you can purchase upgrades for your ship. Each Island offers a differnent ship component. The four parts of your ship are: Sails (determines speed and initiative in combat), Hull (how much treasure you can carry), Crew (needed to man the cannons), and Cannons (how many dice you roll in combat).

There is also an island with a Pub that offers useful strategy cards to help you in all aspects of the game. The last island is treasure island which offers no real bounty other than the chance to bury treasures that you have in the hull of your ship. Buried treasure is converted to Fame (which is the ultimate goal of the game).

Other random elements of the game include the dreaded pirate Blackbeard who is has a highly dangerous ship that patrols the islands in order. If you end up at the same island as Blackbeard, you had better have a strong ship or he will blast you with his fully upgraded cannons. However, if you can manage to chase away Blackbeard, you can score a good amount of fame, so it seems to be one of the main strategies.

In all, there seem to be three distinct strategies to the game.
1) is to become the most upgraded ship and fight Blackbeard.
2) is to not worry about so many upgrades and go for burying the most treasure.
3) moderately upgrading your ship and going for the best bounty on the table every turn.

At the very end of the game, there is a chance for everyone to tell "tall tales" about themselves to increase their final fame standings. These tall tale cards are gained at the pub and offer yet another fun "pirate" mechanic. In all, Piratenbucht offers you the chance to truly play like a Pirate where you can fight and plunder your way to victory.