xxxx

Key Largo
page 2

x
The treasures that the divers manage to collect can be sold on the tourist market. The treasures can be divided into three categories: there’s goods (mainly crockery; those old sailors took the oddest things on board!), artifacts (gold statues and crucifixes) and gold (coins). All cards have two numbers: its quantity in ‘units’ at the top, and its endgame value at the bottom. The endgame value is always lower than the price you can get for it at the market.
x
Also on the market, the prices are determined by supply and demand. On the gameboard there’s a table that shows the price per unit against the number of players that are on the market. Cards with goods decrease in value when more players are on the market; apparently, the demands for old crockery are quickly met. The artifacts, on the contrary, become more valuable when the supply increases: customers are drawn to the artifacts like moths to a flame. The gold coins have a fixed exchange rate: they always have the same price, irrespective of the number of players on the market. Each player can sell as many card as he wants, as long as they are all of the same category. The number of units on the cards is multiplied by the price per unit from the table.
x
At the end of day 10 the players count their cash, and they add the endgame value of their unsold cards. The richest player wins!

Key Largo is a good game that offers a lot of fun for various types of players, ranging from inexperienced to frequent players. Unfortunately, the board is of very thin cardboard, with a central jig saw piece that does not hold together all four parts as it should do. And the boats have difficulties keeping their balance; we mounted a wooden cube underneath to solve this. But apart from this, the game is very nicely made.
The illustrations on the board and the cards are beautiful, and functional: it’s immediately clear what actions can be performed where, and what the prices of the items are. The divers in their old fashioned diving suits are fantastic: the hoses can be attached to their helmets, the tridents next to their sides and the weights underneath their feet. The shipwrecks at three different water depths, where divers need 0, 1 or 2 hoses, are also a nice element of the game. When diving in the dangerous deep waters a trident is a necessity: it’s crawling with sea monsters down there. Fortunately, you can get some information on the wrecks and the treasures and monsters they harbour by buying the old mariner a drink in the Siren tavern; that way, you can bring down your risk to a minimum.
x
The optional rules with the encounter cards are really recommended: they add a little bit of uncertainty to the game to keep it exciting. When selling treasures at the market it’s wise to wait until you have cards of all three categories: that way you can always sell something for the most favourable price, irrespective of the number of players that decided to go to the market at the same time. But on the other hand by collecting treasures you will be an attractive target for your fellow divers, who in playing a thief on you will rob you from one of your cards. It is up to you if you want to risk this.

Key Largo is not complicated, the game is designed as a family game and maybe it doesn’t offer the frequent player a big tactical challenge, but it plays really well. Inexperienced players get an hour of fun and hilarity, while the more experienced player can try to predict what his opponents are planning to do, and try to hinder them as much as possible.

In a way Key Largo is a sequel of Pirates’ Cove, from the same author, where the main goal is to sink each other’s ships loaded with treasures. Elements of Pirates’ Cove are clearly present, like secretly selecting a location where you want to perform your action, and of course the theme. In Pirates’ Cove the dice play a major role in resolving the battles, and the game is also rather long. In this respect, Key Largo is an improvement. The game is lighter, more accessible; it contains more humour, less battling and its playing time also is accordingly. All this makes it a game that will be played with joy more often.
© 2006 Barbara van Vugt

Key Largo, Paul Randles, Mike Selinker & Bruno Faidutti, Tilsit, 2005, 3 to 5 players, 10 years and up, 45 to 60 minutes

x
x
x