Game Jargon Definition: “Pirate Game”
Pirate Game (noun) - pi · rate game / ˈpīrət gām /
The Pirate Game is a relatively simple, 5-player mathematical game—and is a multiplayer version of the Ultimatum Game. In the Pirate Game, each of the five players is a pirate with a strict order of seniority (A, B, C, D and E). Together they have found 100 gold coins, and they must now decide how to distribute them.
The rules are as follows: The most senior pirate (in alphabetical order) first proposes a plan of gold distribution among all living pirates. The pirates, including the proposer of the plan, then vote on whether to accept this distribution. If the majority of the pirates accept the plan, the coins are disbursed accordingly and the game ends. In case of a tie vote, the proposer has the casting (tie-breaking) vote. If the majority of the pirates reject the proposed plan, the proposer is thrown overboard from the pirate ship and dies, and the next most senior pirate makes a new proposal to begin again. The process repeats until a plan is accepted based on majority vote or until there is only one pirate left. Pirate decisions are based on the following two objectives: (A) survival, and (B) given survival, gaining more gold coins than any other player. Pirates are not bound to make nor honor any promises between pirates apart from the proposed gold distribution plan.
Beyond this 5-player mathematical game, tabletop game publishers and the community at large have wholeheartedly embraced pirate-themed games. They can be found in many of the tabletop game genres including 4x, pick-up-and-deliver, war games, and narrative games.
Popular pirate-themed board games include: Pirate’s Cove (2002); Merchants and Marauders (2010); Port Royal (2014); Black Fleet (2014); Dead Men Tell No Tales (2015); Rum and Bones: Second Tide (2017); Skull Tales: Full Sail! (2019); Forgotten Waters (2020); Sea of Legends (2021); Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest (2022); and Dead Reckoning (2022).
