My kids love this game. It’s more of a fun activity game than a real competitive affair though. Especially as the Long John player you’re more there to provide a fun challenge for the other players than you are to win, because the odds are heavily stacked against you.
Considering the numerous complaints about the markers, I thought I better test mine out before trying to play my copy of the game with someone. Well, the complaints are justified for sure. My black marker came dried out and was entirely unusable. The other colours don’t show up that great on the board. I had to shell out some additional cash on new markers just to play this.
There is a washed out sepia side of the map which makes it easier to see the markings and after a couple games on the colourful side I’ll be using the sepia side. It’s just too difficult to see some of the markings otherwise. The sepia side is, unfortunately, a lot less attractive. Entirely different and simpler artwork on the sepia side would have helped a lot.
The pace of the game is great as Long John and you have lots of decisions and moves to make. The game is unbalanced against you as Long John - in our games the LJS player has lost every time. So if you don’t mind having the odds against you, being Long John is a lot of fun. Being a pirate is fine too, but there can be a bit of down time.