Empires at Sea (Deluxe Edition)

Launch your fleet, capture ports, and wage war in the epic board game adventure for 2-5 players. In Empires at Sea, play as one of five nations and work to amass the largest empire at the end of 15 rounds of play. During each round, History will give benefits or setbacks to each nation, while the Weather limits (and occasionally improves) movement across a map of the Atlantic from the 1800s.

Selected as a KickStarter Staff Pick during our launch and Project We Love shortly after, Empires at Sea is a strategy board game built around the golden age of piracy and huge sailing ships of the 18th century. It brings in elements of "serious" strategy games, but is extremely easy to learn and really, really fun to play. The basic premise of Empires at Sea is to establish an empire. At sea.

Each player starts with a port on the Atlantic and a small ship, each port produces resources and resources are used to purchase ships or advancements (for example: stronger cannons, thicker hulls). Once you've established your fleet, you can use it to attack your enemies, raid Pirate's Bay, or continue to grow your Empire. At the end of play, the captain with the most Empire Points wins.

The game is tightly tied to the historical events of the 1700 and 1800s. A History Card will give benefits/setbacks to different nations each round. A Weather Card will dictate which way the winds will blow and how your ships will be able to move across the map. Both the two-player and three-plus-player maps are based on actual maps drawn during the period. The ships are modeled off of actual ships of the time. Piracy also plays a large role in Empires at Sea.