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Libertalia will not see a reprint from Stonemaier Games, studio co-founder confirms

Thar she goes.

Libertalia, the pirate-themed board game that’s been out of print for almost a decade, will not be re-released by Stonemaier Games.

The news was confirmed by studio co-founder and designer of Scythe, Jamey Stegmaier, who commented on a forum on BoardGameGeek in response to users asking about a potential Libertalia reprint. Stegmaier stated “in perfectly clear terms,” that “Stonemaier Games is not reprinting Libertalia.” When another user commented that Stonemaier had filed a trademark application to use the name Libertalia for “board games; tabletop games; equipment sold as a unit for playing board games,” in 2020, Stegmaier replied that whilst his company did have the trademark, it would not be used for a reprint of the original Libertalia.

“Trademarks mean lots of different things,” Stegmaier said, “I appreciate your curiosity, and I’ll explain in full when the time is right.”

Cover image for YouTube video

Stegamaier’s confirmation follows another post on BoardGameGeek which revealed that the designer behind Libertalia - Paolo Mori - had re-acquired the publishing rights for the tabletop title from its original publisher, Marabunta. Within the post Mori stated that they were “currently looking for others interested in putting the game back on the market!” However, despite Stonemaier listing a game under the codename of “Sail” in its 2020 October project progress report, Stegmaier’s confirmation that the studio will not be reprinting Libertalia now throws the fate of the board game into question once again.

Libertalia is a bluffing game for two to six players that takes place on a pirate ship currently on a campaign to pillage whatever treasure its crew can. As rival pirates, the players will be competing to collect the most doubloons by the end of the campaign, with plenty of backstabbing and meanness involved. At the start of the game, players all receive the exact same hand of cards, which they must then use to acquire a place in the line to receive the spoils of that day’s plundering. The higher the number of their card, the further the player is to the front of the line.

However, certain cards also have effects that can directly impact the other players for the worst - such as pushing them further back in the line or even removing their card completely. Once they have played their cards, the players then place them within the den, with particular cards having abilities that activate when they’re within the den. After the end of each round, the players’ total doubloons are tallied and the next round begins. Whichever player has the most doubloons by the end of the game is named the winner.

Stonemaier Games is a publisher that’s best known for releasing the aforementioned Scythe, as well as the popular beginner board game Wingspan and Viticulture - a board game about managing a vineyard business.

Dicebreaker has reached out to Stegmaier for comment.

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Libertalia

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Alex Meehan avatar

Alex Meehan

Senior Staff Writer

After writing for Kotaku UK, Waypoint and Official Xbox Magazine, Alex became a member of the Dicebreaker editorial family. Having been producing news, features, previews and opinion pieces for Dicebreaker for the past three years, Alex has had plenty of opportunity to indulge in her love of meaty strategy board games and gothic RPGS. Besides writing, Alex appears in Dicebreaker’s D&D actual play series Storybreakers and haunts the occasional stream on the Dicebreaker YouTube channel.

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