How to Play Dead Man's Doubloons

Game Objective

In Dead Man's Doubloons, players take on the roles of pirate ship captains in a race for buried treasure. The goal is to plunder map fragments, doubloons, and gems while facing rivals. When the treasure is unearthed, captains return to their ships for a final battle at sea. The game ends when a captain triggers the endgame (by advancing on the captain track), and the pirate with the most points wins!

Setup

Follow these steps to set up the game:

• Place the standard board in the center of the table (side with a single beach area face up).
• Separate the doubloons into a pile beside the board. Each player starts with 2.
• Place 2 loot tokens per player next to the board (discard the rest).
• Shuffle all the gems into the velvet bag and place it near the board.
• Separate the captain cards and shuffle the remaining action cards.
• Shuffle the landmark tiles by color and form separate stacks.
• Place a random water tile in each water region, following the manual's table for player count.
• The player who says "Ahoy Matey!" most convincingly gets the initiative token and picks their captain first.
• Each player receives a ship board, 6 colored markers, 2 pirate ships (one normal and one ghost), and places their markers as indicated.
• Set up the map tiles stack based on player count and distribute 1 random fragment per player.

Game Flow

Each round has 4 phases:

1. Start of Round (simultaneous):
   • Place doubloons on the island (2 for 2 players, 3 for 3-4, 4 for 5-6).
   • All players draw cards up to their hand limit (5 at the start).
   • Players secretly choose 3 cards from their hand and place them in order, revealing the first simultaneously.
2. Action Phase (in initiative order):
   • Players resolve movement and the action of the revealed card, one at a time.
   • Repeat until all 3 cards for each player are resolved.
3. Loot Phase (simultaneous):
   • Players take doubloons from the island based on their acquired loot tokens.
4. End of Round (simultaneous):
   • Check if the treasure has been unearthed (if any captain reached Mount Zotètmon).
   • Check for ghost ship redemption (if they have 5 doubloons).
   • Discard used cards, pass the initiative token, and start the next round.

Actions and How to Play

Movement

Cards have movement icons (sail or turn). Solid icons are mandatory; dashed ones are optional. Resolve in any order:

• Sail (straight arrow): Move the ship to the next water region in the current direction. Resolve "Upon Entering" effects if any.
• Turn (curved arrow): Reverse the ship's direction.

Actions

After moving, choose one of the two actions on the card:

• Loot (chest icon): Gain 1 loot token (+1 if the card has "+1").
• Attack: Broadside (1 cannon): Deal 1 damage to enemy ships in the next region. Roll the attack die.
• Attack: Ramming (2 cannons): Deal 2 damage to ships in the same region. Roll the attack die.
• Hunt (map icon):
  • If you have fewer than 2 map fragments: Draw 1 map tile and resolve its effect.
  • If you have 2+ fragments: Advance (before treasure is unearthed) or Explore (after).
• Repair (hammer icon): Recover 1 hull (+1 if no ships are in the region).
• Board (hook icon): Can only target damaged ships in the same region. Effects vary (steal fragments, doubloons, crew, etc.).

Ghost Ships

If a ship reaches 0 hull, it becomes a ghost ship:

• Cannot turn, repair, or take damage.
• Their treasures are worth -1 point at the end.
• Can redeem themselves by spending 5 doubloons in the end-of-round phase.

Endgame and Scoring

The game ends when a captain reaches the end of the track (by playing captain cards). Count points:

• 5 points per diamond, 4 per ruby, 3 per emerald.
• 2 points per map fragment.
• 1 point per doubloon and per crew member.
• Points from the reputation track.
• -1 point per item above if it's a ghost ship.

The pirate with the most points wins! In case of a tie, whoever has more doubloons wins. If still tied, the "smelliest" pirate wins.

Tips to Win

• Focus on map fragments to advance your captain and unearth the treasure first.
• Use Board actions to steal resources from damaged ships and hinder rivals.
• Avoid becoming a ghost ship — your treasures are worth less, and you lose movement control.