In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection.
This review is of the Curse of Amdiak expansion for Tiny Epic Pirates. In this expansion, the Ghost Pirate Amdiak is on the move, chasing down the Pirates who have stolen his treasure. Along with the end-game requirements of the base game, with the expansion players must also bury their Amdiak Urn at a cursed burial site. Setup for a game is very similar to that of the base game, with a few changes. Four new Cursed Map Cards are added to the gameplay grid, a market of Skeleton Crew is created, and the Ghost Ship is added to the sea. Pictured below are some of the new components added by this expansion.
The overall gameplay with the addition of Curse of Amdiak is essentially the same as that of the base game. Players spend turns Sailing, collecting/selling/stealing Booty, hiring Crew members, engaging in combat, and burying Treasure. The expansion introduces a new resource to the gameplay – Cursed Gold. You’ll be gaining Cursed Gold that can be spent on purchases and burials, but remember it all ends up going back to the Ghost Ship one way or another… The Ghost Ship is sailing the ocean, trying to hunt down the Pirates and reclaim its Cursed Gold. Eventually at some point during the game, the Ghost Ship will catch you and Haunt your Ship, cursing your Captain and altering some of your abilities for the remainder of the game. It’s not all bad though – once you’ve been cursed you can hire Skeleton Crew members to your Ship!
The goal of the base game is to be the first Pirate to bury your 3 Treasures, and the expansion requires you do to the same but with one additional caveat. During the game, players must visit a Mausoleum and collect an Urn that holds the mummified remains of Amdiak. You must take this Urn to a Cursed Burial Site and bury it, thus setting the soul of Amdiak free from this mortal world. A player must bury all 3 Treasures AND their Urn in order to win the game.
To touch on components – the production quality is unsurprisingly very high. The Tiny Epic games have all been exceptional when it comes to components, and this expansion is no different. My only qualm would be the size of the expansion box. This was mentioned a lot during the Kickstarter as well, but the box for Curse of Amdiak is not as tall as the standard Tiny Epic boxes. So when I go to put this expansion on my shelf with my other Tiny Epic games, the games don’t all evenly line up anymore. Does this affect the gameplay at all? Definitely not. But it just bothers my organizational brain to see the games not quite even with each other.
Official recommendation: All in all, Curse of Amdiak is a neat expansion that adds several new elements and strategic considerations to the gameplay. Is this expansion necessary? I would personally say no. The base game itself is already pretty involved and ‘heavy,’ and this expansion just adds more content on top of that. If the base game alone feels daunting, then adding Curse of Amdiak may feel overwhelming. However, if these heavier games are your jam, then I would definitely think that the expansion would elevate the gameplay for you. As I mentioned in my review of the base game, I don’t think Tiny Epic Pirates will hit my table too often. So with that being said, I think the expansion will see even less table time for me.
