Loot Strategy: When to Play Merchant Ships

by Brian Durkin

The Admiral: only trump card for protecting your merchant ships

“Gimme da loot. Gimme da loot.” – Notorious B.I.G.

I could not help but think of that song the first time I played Loot, because after one game I knew I needed to own a copy. I love games with plenty of strategy but few rules to learn how to play; Loot qualifies as such a game.

Whoever seizes the best opportunities to play merchant ships will typically win. Three general principles help guide my decisions on when to play a ship.

Protect your Investment

Do not just send a high valued merchant ship out to sea without any pirate ships in your hand to defend it. People will fight over these high valued ships because they constitute such a large percentage of the potential gold to earn in the game. You will never win every battle, but avoid putting yourself in a situation where you could lose your ship to a two strength pirate. Sometimes with the right game state, a three or four strength pirate will suffice to win a ship. If not, expect to defend high value merchant ships with at least a couple pirate ships totaling five or six strength.

Ace in the Hole

Try to save Pirate Captains and the Admiral for the high value merchant ships. These high value cards will hit the table at some point. If they do not, then someone will take a minus to their score. Only a crafty player with a good lead and some luck can survive with a high valued ship stuck in his hand at the end of the game.

Be careful. Pirate Captains and the Admiral do not guarantee victory; another player can trump your card with his own Pirate Captain or the Admiral. Pay attention to what cards still exist in the deck. This will aid you in figuring out if an opponent has the potential to out trump you.

Under the Radar

Creating a situation where you do not need a defense will score most of your gold throughout the game. If someone plays the eight gold merchant ship then go ahead and play your highest value ship. Most people will want to compete for the higher value merchant ship, reducing the competition for your ship. This increases the odds of you winning the merchant ship you played. Some players will not even waste a turn playing a pirate ship against a merchant ship worth only two or three gold.

Today’s Challenge

For those who cannot view the pictures or captions along the side of this article, I listed the scenario below.

• You just drew the last card: a Merchant Ship (Seven Gold) 

Your Hand

• Your hand:

• Merchant Ship (Seven Gold)
• Four Strength Pirate (Green) 
• Three Strength Pirate (Blue)
• Three Strength Pirate (Blue)
• One Strength Pirate (Purple)

• The rest of the turn:
• West player plays a Merchant Ship (Six Gold).
• North player plays a Merchant Ship (Five Gold).
• East player plays a Three Strength Pirate Ship (Yellow).

Board position after everyone takes a turn

• The scores and cards in hand:
• West: 19 gold and five cards
• North: 18 gold and four cards
• East: 17 gold and four cards
• You: 23 gold and five cards

Blue and green pirate ships still not played

Merchant ships left in the game

• Cards still not played:
• Merchant Ship (Two Gold)
• Merchant Ship (Three Gold)
• One Strength Pirate Ship (Blue)
• Three Strength Pirate Ship (Blue)
• Three Strength Pirate Ship (Blue)
• Two Strength Pirate Ship (Green)
• Three Strength Pirate Ship (Green)
• One Strength Pirate Ship (Yellow)
• Three Strength Pirate Ship (Yellow)
• Pirate Captain (Yellow)

Yellow pirate ships and Pirate Captain still in card pool

What would you play next? What do you expect to play over the next turn or so? Do you risk playing your Merchant Ship, or do you try and win enough gold to absorb the minus to your score? What needs to happen in order for your strategy to work? Do you justify your strategy based on odds, personal preference, or intuition based on how the other players may like to play (feel free to speculate potential player types for this situation)?

Let us know what you think.

Additional Information

For more information about Loot check the product page on BoardGameGeek.com.

Interested in purchasing a copy of Loot? Try the following links.

Amazon: Loot.

Cool Stuff Inc. - Loot

If you live in the tri-state area, consider stopping by AU to pick up a copy and play with the staff.The AU Holmes location might have a demo copy if you want to try the game before you buy.

Alternate Universes - Loot