Objective of the Game

Welcome aboard, deep-sea explorers! In The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, you're not just playing cards; you're embarking on a cooperative, trick-taking adventure beneath the waves. Your ultimate goal is to work together, without revealing your hand, to ensure the right players win the right tricks to complete specific Task cards. If you successfully complete all assigned tasks, you'll conquer the mission and emerge victorious!

Preparation (Setup)

Getting ready for your underwater expedition is straightforward. Here’s how to set up your game:

1. Choose a Mission: Select a mission from the logbook to determine your objective.
2. Deal the Large Cards: Shuffle the deck of 40 large cards (36 colored cards in four suits, numbered 1-9, plus 4 Submarine cards). Deal them out to all players. In a three-player game, one player will receive an extra card, which will remain unplayed at the end of the mission.
3. Assign the Captain: The player holding the Submarine card with the value of 4 receives the Captain token.
4. Distribute Player Tokens: Each player gets a Sonar token (green side up) and a gray Reminder card.
5. Place the Distress Signal: Put the Distress Signal token face down on the table.
6. Prepare Task Cards: Shuffle the deck of 96 small Task cards.
7. Draw Mission Tasks: Draw Task cards until their total difficulty value (indicated by the lifesaver symbol) matches the mission's difficulty. Discard any cards that exceed the mission's difficulty. If playing multiple missions, don't reshuffle the Task deck until it's exhausted.
8. Display Tasks: Place the drawn Task cards face up in the center of the table.
9. Select Tasks: Starting with the Captain and moving clockwise, each player selects one Task card to place in front of them until all tasks are claimed. If there are fewer Task cards than players, a player may pass, but all tasks must be selected before the turn returns to the Captain.
10. Verify Task Feasibility:
    • If a combination of tasks is impossible (e.g., "I win the first trick" and "I win the first two tricks" assigned to different players), discard the most recent Task card and replace it with another of the same difficulty.
    • If tasks cannot be completed because one player holds all necessary cards (e.g., all Submarine cards and the specific colored card needed for a task), re-shuffle and re-deal the 40 large cards.
11. Optional Distress Signal: Players can collectively decide to send a Distress Signal by flipping its token to the active (buoy) side. If they do, each player must pass one card to their neighbor in a direction chosen by the players.

The Turn of Play

The heart of The Crew: Mission Deep Sea lies in its trick-taking gameplay. Here’s how a round unfolds:

1. Starting a Trick: The Captain leads the very first trick. After that, the player who won the previous trick leads the next one.
2. Playing Cards: When it's your turn, you must follow suit (play a card of the same Color or Submarine suit) as the card led at the start of the trick.
3. No Follow Suit: If you don't have a card of the led suit, you can play any other card from your hand.
4. Winning a Trick: The highest card of the led suit wins the trick. However, Submarine cards are trump cards and will always win against any colored suit. If multiple Submarine cards are played, the highest Submarine card wins.
5. Collecting Tricks: Place each completed trick face down next to the player who won it.
6. Completing Tasks: A Task card is completed when its conditions are met by the player who selected it. Flip the completed Task card face down. A player can complete multiple tasks with a single trick.

Communication (and Lack Thereof!)

A crucial element of The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is limited communication. You absolutely cannot show, tell, or hint at the cards you hold. However, you have one special tool:

• Sonar Token: Once per mission, after tasks are selected and before any trick is played, you can use your Sonar token.
  1. Take a Color card (not a Submarine card) from your hand and place it face up in front of you.
  2. Place your Sonar token (green side up) on the card to indicate:
     • At the top: It's your highest card of that color.
     • In the middle: It's your only card of that color.
     • At the bottom: It's your lowest card of that color.
  3. The Sonar token cannot be repositioned.
  4. Place your Reminder card into your hand to remember the card on the table is still part of your hand. When you play that card, discard the Reminder card and turn the Sonar token to its red side.

Specific Task Card Interpretations

Some tasks have specific rules:

• "Exactly" or "At least" a number of cards are determined at the end of the mission.
• "Total value less than" or "whose card values are all greater than" tricks cannot include any Submarine cards.
• Winning a trick with "as many" of certain colors as others or "as many" of one color as another requires winning at least one of each specific color.
• Winning "more" of one color than another allows for zero cards of the smaller color.
• Winning a trick with "just odd-numbered cards" or "just even-numbered cards" cannot include any Submarine cards.

Mission Symbols and Specific Missions

The game features various mission symbols that alter gameplay:

• Currents (Red Question Mark): Communication is disrupted. You can still place a Color card (not a Submarine card) face up to indicate highest, only, or lowest, but place your Sonar token to the side (red side up) instead of on the card.
• Rapture of the Deep (Red -2): Communication is disrupted. Instead of individual Sonar tokens, place a number of tokens equal to players minus two in the middle. Any player can use one normally without discussion. A player can use multiple tokens, but once used, they are gone for the mission.
• Unfamiliar Terrain (Three Sonar Symbols 1-9): Draw a random Color card (re-drawing any Submarines) before dealing to determine the communication level. Then reshuffle all cards before dealing.
• Free Selection of Tasks (Purple Octopus): Players can openly discuss how to distribute Task cards (but still not their hand cards). Tasks don't have to be evenly allocated.
• Real-Time Missions (Clock Symbol): Players can opt to play in real-time. The number in the symbol is the difficulty. Track time, and lose if it runs out before mission completion.
• Missions 14, 15, 16: One player must get all tasks. The Captain asks for volunteers clockwise. The Captain must volunteer if others pass.
• Mission 26: Two players must get all tasks. The Captain asks for volunteers clockwise. The Captain must volunteer if only one other player has volunteered. The two players can divide tasks as they wish.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends in one of two ways:

• Victory! If all players successfully complete their assigned Task cards, you have collectively triumphed over the mission!
• Defeat! If players fail to complete one or more Task cards, the mission is lost. Don't despair! You can try the mission again with the same Task cards or draw new ones for a fresh challenge. There is no traditional "scoring" in The Crew; it's all about successful mission completion.

Tips for Winning

To help you navigate the depths of The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, here are a few tactical pointers:

• Communicate Wisely with Sonar: Your single Sonar token is a precious resource. Use it strategically to convey critical information about a specific colored card – whether it's your highest, lowest, or only card of that suit. This can be vital for setting up future tricks or preventing a teammate from playing a card that would ruin a task.
• Observe and Deduce: Pay close attention to what cards your teammates play, especially when they don't follow suit. This can give you clues about what cards they *don't* have, helping you deduce their hand and plan your own plays without direct communication.
• Prioritize Tasks: Before the first trick, collectively (but silently, unless a "Free Selection of Tasks" mission) think about the order in which tasks might need to be completed. Some tasks might be time-sensitive (e.g., "win the first trick"), while others can be achieved later.