Welcome, Captain!
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If you’ve never played Captain’s Gambit before, it can be a little intimidating at first. After all, there’s a lot to wrap your head around, especially if you haven’t played a Social Deception game before. But fear not, because I’ve got your back! Based on the many games I’ve run and the patterns that I’ve noticed, I’ve come up with my personal top 5 tips to get you started in Captain’s Gambit. While these tips are specifically meant for new players, they can still be useful even if you’ve played the game dozens of times.
Note: These tips are my own tips, and the other designers may or may not agree with me on all of them. But I tend to win a lot of our games, so you should totally listen to me. 😉
Tip #1: Focus On Your Own Objective
As a new player, it can be overwhelming to keep track of all the different captains in the game. Depending on how many players are at your table, there can be up to 12 unique captains, each with their own win condition. You might be feeling like you need to always consider everyone else before acting, or that you need to strategize around every possible captain combination. So how should you keep track of it all? Well…by ignoring most of it!
Don’t get me wrong, learning the win conditions and strategies of the other captains is essential in the long run. Your skill and win rate will increase dramatically once you know them all inside and out. But, since this is your first time playing, just focus on what you personally need to do to win. For example, if you’re an Assassin like Hamlet or Brutus, just worry about killing your target. If you’re an Ascender like Prospero or Lady Macbeth, just focus on getting ready to survive your reveal.
Once you feel comfortable knowing what you are supposed to do, then you can start considering what the other players are trying to do. Depending on who you are, you might feel comfortable after a few rounds. Or, you might not feel comfortable until you’ve played a few games. However long it takes, go at your own pace. You don’t need to rush to learn all 19 captains, just start with yours and go from there.
Tip #2: When In Doubt, Gather Energy
There are 10 different actions you can take on your turn. That might seem like a lot, and it’s very easy to suffer from decision paralysis. But if you ask me, there’s a good safe action you can always take: Charge!
All captains need energy in order to achieve their objectives. This means that regardless of who you are playing as, Charge is always going to be useful. Sure, it’s not always going to be the “perfect” move (for example, if you’re playing as Iago or Titus, you might want to prioritize striking/barraging instead). But Charge is always a safe, reliable action that you can take regardless of what permits you have in hand. So whenever you don’t know what to do, I suggest just taking energy and passing the turn.
Tip #3: Make Friends <3
“I love whoever I gave a loyalty token to at the start of the game according to my bond; no more nor less.” -Cordelia (probably)
Because it is possible to have multiple winners in Captain’s Gambit, there are quite a few captains that can work together. After all, it can be a lot easier to achieve your goals if you know someone has got your back. Some of the pairings in the game are very obvious. For example, both Cordelia and King Lear must help another captain in order to win. If you know one of them is on your side, consider telling them what they can do to help you achieve your goal (e.g. heal you, attack other players, call bluffs for you, etc.). Romeo & Juliet are another obvious power couple. If you are playing as one of them, it can be effective to have one of you focus on killing off players at the table while the other focuses on keeping you both alive.
But there are many other captains that can combo together. Here are a few less obvious alliances you can consider forming:
Imogen can team up with almost any captain in the game except Dominators (i.e. Romeo & Juliet, Titus, Richard). You just need to wait for them to gather energy and reveal first.
Iago can also win with any captain except Dominators, with the exception of Portia (since Portia will need to kill Iago to win). Because Iago needs to gather blood, they can be an especially useful ally for damaging your foes.
Rosalind can win before round 8 by helping an Assassin kill their target (i.e. Hamlet, Portia, Brutus, Othello, Tybalt & Mercutio), or by helping Prospero or Lady Macbeth with their ascension.
Puck can work with anyone except Dominators and Rosalind, so long as they are willing to wait for Round 12.
You can also consider forming temporary alliances for short-term gains, even if you have incompatible objectives (such as Richard and Hamlet). But keep in mind that one of you will have to betray the other in order to win, so don’t get too trusting.
Tip #4: Lie!
Seriously, always bluff this.
I know that this tip isn’t going to be hard for everyone, but I’ve noticed that many new players are very hesitant to bluff. But trust me, lying is an essential skill if you want to get ahead in Captain’s Gambit. My suggestion is to start early and with something low risk. From my experience, bluffs on Turn 1 are less likely to be called out than any other turn of the game. The Network, Fortify, and Overcharge permit actions are also way less likely to be called than Shield, Barrage, or Drain.
My suggestion is to start the game out with a Turn 1 Overcharge or Network. You’re likely to get away with it, and both are strong opening moves for any captain. As a bonus, once you get away with it once, it’s much easier to bluff the same permit again on a future turn.
Tip #5: Beware of Prospero…
Move over, Richard. This is the true villain of Captain’s Gambit!
Once you feel comfortable learning about the other captains, I would recommend starting with Prospero. In a game with new players, Prospero tends to have the highest win rate out of all the captains. This is because new players aren’t good at spotting the warning signs that there’s a Prospero in the game and are often caught off-guard by their reveal. When you’re ready to shift your focus to other players, pay close attention to anyone that is quietly hoarding energy. If you notice anyone getting close to 8 energy, make sure you have a plan for how you can take them out.