Game Goal

The Captain has mysteriously vanished! In Sea of Lies, you are a pirate competing to take command of the ship. To do this, you must gather the support of the crew by telling tall tales—some true, some complete lies. Your goal is to be the first player to get the support of fifteen (15) crew members to immediately win the game and become the new captain.

Setup

1. Tale Cards: Shuffle all Tale Cards and place them face down in the middle of the table to form the Draw Pile.
2. Excluded Pile: Without looking, remove the top card of the Draw Pile and set it aside as the Excluded Pile; this card will not be used in the match.
3. Discard Piles: Draw the top 5 cards from the Draw Pile and place them face up. Eventually, you should have four Discard Piles, one for each kind of Tale Card.
4. Character Cards: Randomly deal one Character Card to each player (or choose them). Remaining cards are returned to the box. Note: For 3-player games, it is not recommended to use Balik (the Quartermaster), Skully, or Sirena (the Siren).
5. Crew Tokens: Place all crew tokens in a General Stock. Deal two crew members to the first player and three crew members to all other players. These tokens must remain visible to everyone.
6. Main Deck: Place the Main Deck near the Draw Pile and add one crew member to it.
7. Starting Hand: Deal one Tale Card from the Draw Pile to each player. Keep these secret.
8. Turn Order: The winner of the last match plays last. If it is the first match, choose the first player randomly. Play proceeds in clockwise order.

Game Flow

The game progresses in turns. Each player's turn follows this specific sequence:

1. Draw: Draw a Tale Card from the Draw Pile (you will have two cards in hand).
2. Play: Choose a card, play it face down, and declare out loud the kind of tale and its effects (and targets, if applicable).
3. Contest: Check if any other player wants to contest the tale.
4. Reveal: Reveal the played card.
5. Discard: Place the card into the appropriate Discard Pile.
6. Main Deck Resolution: Resolve the Main Deck rules based on whether you told the truth or lied.
7. Effect Resolution: Resolve the effect of the declared tale according to your Character Card.

Actions and How to Play

Telling a Tale

When playing a card face down, you must declare which kind of tale you are telling. You can tell the truth (the card matches your declaration) or lie. There are four types of Tale Cards:

• Great Feat, Foul Rumor, and Creepy Secret: These have specific effects based on your character.
• Hogwash: This card has no effect. If you play this card, you must lie and declare a different kind of tale.

The Main Deck Rules

The Main Deck can hold a maximum of 5 crew members.

• If you told the truth (and weren't contested): Add 1 crew member from the General Stock to the Main Deck.
• If you lied (and weren't contested): You take all crew members currently on the Main Deck and add them to your collection.

Contesting a Tale

Any player who is not the current player may contest a tale by accusing the player of lying. To contest, you must have at least 2 crew members in your support.

• Contested a Truth: The current player steals two crew members from the contestant and continues their turn normally.
• Contested a Lie: The contestant steals two crew members from the liar. The current player loses their action and their turn ends immediately.

Only one player can contest a tale; if multiple players try, the first one to speak/shout gets the right to contest.

Character Effects

Effects are found at the bottom of your Character Card and generally fall into these categories:

• Gain: Take crew members from the General Stock.
• Steal: Take crew members from another pirate. If the target has insufficient tokens, take all they have. If the effect mentions the Main Deck, take from there instead.
• Creepy Secret: These effects are explained individually on each Character Card.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends immediately when a player reaches the support of fifteen (15) crew members. That player is declared the winner and becomes the ship's new captain.

Special Victory Conditions:

• The Quartermaster: If their effect causes two characters to reach 15+ crew members, the player who is not the Quartermaster wins.
• The Siren: If her effect causes two characters to reach 15+ crew members, the player who is not the Siren wins.

Tips for Winning

• Risk vs. Reward: Lying is high-risk but high-reward, as it allows you to take all crew members from the Main Deck, whereas telling the truth is safer but grants less support.
• Card Counting: Keep track of the Discard Piles. Since there are only 10 of each Tale Card (and one is excluded), you can deduce if a player is lying based on how many cards of that type have already been played.
• Contest Wisely: Remember that you cannot contest if you have fewer than 2 crew members, as you must be "respected by the crew" to make an accusation.