There were seven of us this week so we split into two groups with Andrew, Nicky and me starting off with Black Fleet. This is another beautifully produced game by Space Cowboys and involves the players sailing around a group of islands, picking up cargo and delivering it to different ports while avoiding the pirates who themselves are trying to avoid two Naval ships. However, players control the movement of their merchant, one pirate ship and one of the naval ships all through the play of cards. The players' eventual goal is to deliver a ring to the princess but they can only do this once they've unlocked four different power cards, which reminded me of the landmark cards in Machi Koro as you pay coins to unlock them and they then give you an enduring power for the rest of the game. First player to present a ring to the princess is the winner.

This was a fun game and aimed squarely at the family market. The choices are fairly obvious but there is a bit of meanness in blocking opposing merchant ships, plundering them with your pirates and with the Navy sinking the pirates. Andrew seemed to start off very well but became a bit of a target and stalled badly about two-thirds of the way through. Nicky also started off pretty wel whereas I seemed to be lagging. However, once I had unlocked one of my powers, this helped me a lot and I managed to race through and win the game.