Glory Islands

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In Glory Islands, you’ll be dropping off your scurvy crew onto the spaces in the hope of winning treasure and scoring points via a fun mishmash of different mechanics that adds up to a shipshape whole. Ship movement is governed by playing numeric cards from your hand that also have special powers, such as the five allowing you to pause and drop a second pirate. But be careful, as using too many high-value cards will cost you points at game end. Occupying an island space wins you small bonuses but, once an island is full, it bags a bunch of points for the player with the most crew members there.

Glory Islands is a fast, fun, family-friendly board game that doesn’t have the depth to sustain itself over repeat plays or for hardcore hobbyists, but it’s plenty enjoyable if you pick it up at sale price. Getting the balance right between doing well in the race, while still hitting the spaces you need to score with your crew and not incurring a penalty for sailing too recklessly is surprisingly hard. And there’s real tension in watching where other players drop their sailors, as islands you think are in the bag can swing away from you with surprising speed.

The game also comes with neat wooden ships and sailor pieces, plus miniature barrels of rum you can stockpile to really feel like a miniature pirate king.

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Matt Thrower is a contributing freelance writer for IGN, specializing in tabletop games. You can reach him on BlueSky at @mattthr.bsky.social.