Pirates Crossfire ~ A Timberdoodle Review

Fire up your cannons...

and your brains!

Pirates Crossfire is a 1 player puzzle game for ages 7 to adult. The object of the game is to arrange your ships on the board with the given hints. There are two rock formations and the placement of those pieces are always given. Depending on the difficulty level the placement of pirate or navy ships will also be given. There is only one solution to each puzzle. There are a total of 80 challenges. Besides the two rock formations there are 3 pirate ships and 4 Navy ships. There are a total of of 8 game pieces. All 8 game pieces mush be used for all of the challenges. Ships have cannons on their right and left hand sides. They cannot fire from the front or the back. For a ship to fire at the enemy ship there has to be a clear line of sight. They can only fire a distance of 1 to 5 squares in a straight, horizontal, or vertical line. One of the rock formations has a palm tree and a cannon can fire over the tree.  

Pirates Crossfire has four modes of play: 

1. Peace - nobody wins. Place pieces so that Pirate Ships and Navy Ships cannot fire at each other. 
2. Pirates Win - Place the pieces so the Pirate Ships can fire at all the Navy Ships, but none of the Navy Ships can fire at the Pirates.
3. Navy Ships Win - The Navy Ships fire at all the Pirate Ships, but none of the Pirate Ships can fire at any Navy Ships
4. TOTAL WAR - nobody wins. All Ships can be hit by at least one enemy Ship. 

In each mode there are 5 difficulty levels:

1. Starter
2. Junior
3. Expert
4. Master
5. Wizard

The solutions to all of the 80 puzzles are in the play book. 

The game rules as well as helpful hints are located at the beginning 

of the play book. 

My mom was unsure about this game until we sat and read the 

rules and played the first puzzle together. After we solved the 

first puzzle together she was hooked. We tag teamed for awhile and 

then she continued playing while I was working on other things. 

She enjoyed the challenge and was soon playing all of the difficulty levels. 

Pirates Crossfire promotes cognitive skills such as:

• planning
• spatial insight
• problem solving
• concentration
• flexible thinking

The excitement was REAL! After working a puzzle you find yourself

holding your breath as you look at the solution to see if you got it right.  

This is a smile of VICTORY!

A great way to keep ones mind sharp. 

Yup, this would be my 14-year-old daughter playing but not wanting her picture

taken. Typical teenager for you, lol. At least I got two thumbs up. 

My step-dad gets very bored when he comes over. He is used to spending his 

days tinkering in his workshop at home. Whenever he comes over I try 

and bring out the new games that I have received for review. He sat and 

played Pirates Crossfire for a good while. When he gets up to go 

and recline and rest I never put the games away because most 

of the time he will either ask for the game again or get up and see 

if it is still out. He may be 77-years-old but he is quick and 

sharp when it comes to puzzles. 

As I was writing this review I had Pirates Crossfire out and my son 

and his girlfriend came into the den and took the game and started playing. 

Sure did! 

My son is so proud of himself.

Pirates Crossfire is also part of the 2022 Sixth-Grade Curriculum Kit. But as you can see from my review this puzzle game can definitely be enjoyed by the young as well as the golden-aged friends and family members. I will be honest, when I first saw this game offered for review I wasn't 100% sure that it would appeal to anyone in the house. I originally requested the game for review so that my daughter could take the game with her this summer for a 10-year-old boy that she nannies. Well I will have to say that everyone who has played Pirates Crossfire has really liked it.