Pairs: Pirate

Pairs: Pirate

Pairs is a “New Classic Pub Game” designed by James Ernest and Paul Peterson. It’s a simple press-your luck card game with no winner, just one loser. The deck is 55 cards, numbered 1 through 10, with 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, and so on up to 10x10. It’s simple, fast, and fun. The Pirate deck has art from cartoonist Brett Bean, and features two pirate-themed variant games, Port and Starboard. Port and Starboard are both endurance games: in Port, players try to outlast each other for points; in Starboard, players gamble on the luck of a shared hand. The Pirate Deck also has a variant for the basic game, called “Pieces of Eight.”