7th Sea is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) first designed by Dan Verssen and published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) from 1999 to 2002.

[1][2] Its theme is swashbuckling nautical adventure found in classic stories like Treasure Island.

It is set in the world of Théah shared with the 7th Sea tabletop role-playing game.

In the 7th Sea CCG, players take the role of naval captains in the fantasy-Restoration world of Théah.

The game attempted to capture the feeling of a Hollywood pirate battle, complete with huge galleys, cannon-shot exchanges, and daring sea boardings.

As with most of the games of AEG, 7th Sea had a complex storyline that affected and was influenced by the RPG setting.

The game had many interesting concepts, including multiple winning conditions and a unique swashbuckling-themed combat system.

Most CCGs use some kind of card type to produce resources that they subsequently use to gain other items.

Usually this was balanced out with different benefits, like stronger special abilities and lower sailing costs.

Crew with sailing or swashbuckling were always useful due to their innate use on movement and damage soak, however players also focused on more than one or two of the other three skills, Cannon, Adventuring, and Influence so as to be able to use specific cards more easily.

Decks which focused on many skills together were the most difficult to build, however a good player then had a much greater versatility.

They usually worked to provide some unexpected effect, such as a combined cannon attack or an unstoppable boarding.

They signified various global changes in the world of Théah in the form of popular songs used by the populace.

Ships with a large crew maximum tended to be more powerful in the late game, but more vulnerable at the start.

The advantage of a small ship was the fact that it could fill fast and press the offensive quickly.

Seas had no specific abilities other than forming a game space for ships to move and for being the target of cards.

For example, a boarding deck might use only the captain to deal damage while the rest of the crew absorbed hits, or it might use small attacks with pistols and weak characters or it could just have a nice spread.

Players typically chose a crew with high Influence statistics to start a game, although speed decks often preferred Sailing, Swashbuckling, and Cannon.

The innate actions all players can perform in 7th Sea are: Boarding is considered the most interesting phase of the game.

Once begun, the involved ships lock together with their crews engaged in "cinematic mêlée battle".

Because of this, a player may choose to avoid starting a boarding attack by passing or by playing a react (e.g. firing a musket or getting drunk).

When a ship suffers hits, the crew is responsible for fixing it by tacking or sinking (getting killed).

You could either sink all enemy ships, or perform a control victory (play several expensive cards, one in each sea).

Its factions had ties to specific RPG elements and rivalries and alliances occurred between them as the story progressed.

Notable events include the rivalry between the Sea Dogs and the Crimson Rogers, which climaxed with the apparent death of Captain Reis at the hands of the Sea Dogs second captain; Bloody Bonnie McGee.

There was also the appearance of the Black Freighter and its later defeat at the hands of Phillip Gosse by the sacrifice of his whole faction.

The second story arc did not have enough time to be fully fleshed out but it started with the Montaigne Revolution and the capture of their former emperor.

They were either easily avoidable or common blunders that have been known to end the life of many collectible card games.

An inaugural tournament was held over two days at Gen Con in 2022 using pre-release starter decks.

Sixty fine players attended the event and the finalists were Stephen Skilton and Hayes Hunter.