A children’s classic game if ever there was. Pop up Pirate has been popular for decades. I had a set when I was a child that I regularly used to play with my brothers. I now play with my own children and see the thrills they have at the suspension building game.
Gameplay.
Pop up Pirate is for 2 to 4 players. It’s not so much a game you win, you are just not trying to lose. Don’t be the player that pops that pirate.
A very simple game where you load this plastic pirate into a barrel. A barrel with 24 slots evenly spread around the side. Players then take it in turns to push one of their pirate daggers into the side of the barrel, hoping, praying that they do not trigger the launcher within that sends the pirate flying. If you do, you lose.
There is no more to it than this. Unless you wanted to build some rounds in and some sort of knockout format where you have a last player standing. However, it is a young children’s game…
Shiver me Timbers.
Pop up Pirate is a pure guessing game. There is no skill involved and therefore it is total luck (or bad luck) if you are the player that triggers the launcher within the barrel. That makes the game ideal for young players (not too young with the small parts) to learn the gaming basics of turn taking and learning to win and lose. It is perfect for this.
Avast ye.
However, the games lack of skill required really gives the game a limited shelf life which is probably about reception school age. There are so many games now that also get children just to start thinking as well on planning and strategy, that is just not evident in this game. It’s a lot of fun in a moment but it has so many limitations and no variation in the game. You wait for the inevitable pop and no chance element means there is nothing that can be done to influence the result.
There is also a peculiar thing. This game is only for young people but the parts included means you cannot risk using this game with too young a child. It doesn’t fully make sense but then it was created a long time ago.
Scurvy Dog.
The theming within Pop up Pirate is a lot of fun and always looks great. It has been a well made product that ticks all the boxes for a pirate theme. Whilst I noted this game is for young children, if those same young children enjoy the pirate theme then they will enjoy this game and there are those basic game play learnings that they can get from it. Who doesn’t love a pirate?
Final thought.
A game that was perhaps unrivalled when first created, now probably has too much competition around it to make it the same success story it once was. If you have a young child that loves a pirate theme then they will likely get a thrill out of this classic game and feel that tension and exhilaration in the anticipation of the pirate launching.
