# Tiny Epic Pirates: Deluxe Edition ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2021 - **BGG Rating**: 7.1 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 1-4 (Best with: 3) - **Duration**: 30-60 min - **Weight**: 2.80 / 5 - **Designers**: Scott Almes - **Artists**: Chip Cole, Felix Wermke, Ian Rosenthaler, Nikoletta Vaszi - **Publishers**: Gamelyn Games - **Categories**: Dice, Exploration, Nautical, Pirates - **Mechanics**: Dice Rolling, Market, Movement Points, Pick-up and Deliver, Rondel, Solo / Solitaire Game, Variable Set-up ## Verdict If you love pirates, treasure hunting, and fast-paced action in a compact package, Tiny Epic Pirates is a real find! It delivers a fun pirate experience with clever mechanics.Engaging pirate actionStrategic and dynamic rondelGreat solo modePolished production and artModerate language dependencyCan be a bit chaoticInitial learning curveRECOMMENDED ## Description Prepare to set sail on an epic adventure with Tiny Epic Pirates! In this fast-paced, action-packed game for 1 to 4 pirates, you take command of your own ship in pursuit of treasure and riches. The goal? Amass as much gold as possible to bury in secret hideaways before your rivals get their hands on it. Each turn presents a strategic decision: will you navigate your customizable action rondel, choosing between plundering settlements, trading wares on the black market, recruiting new crew members, attacking merchant ships, or searching for lost treasures at sea? Sailing is free with every action, but each choice has consequences. Trade wisely, as the value of your goods can plummet if the timing is off. Boost your crew to enhance combat and unlock special abilities that make your actions even more powerful. Increase your reputation by attacking other ships and become a legend of the seas! The game ends when a pirate buries their third treasure, but ultimate glory goes to the player with the most gold and legendary status. With variable setup and a robust solo mode, Tiny Epic Pirates ensures every game is a new journey filled with danger and opportunity. Oh, and it even comes with the Crimson Silver mini-expansion for that extra touch of adventure! ## How to Play Game Objective In Tiny Epic Pirates: Deluxe Edition, you take command of a notorious pirate ship in the days of yore, seeking fame and fortune on the high seas. The primary objective is to be the first pirate to bury three treasures to declare yourself the most nefarious Dread Pirate of the Seven Seas! Setup Let's set up the game so you can begin your pirate adventure: Set Up the Sea: Shuffle all 16 Map Cards and place them face up in a 4x4 grid. Shuffle the Search Tokens and place 1 face down in the center of each card (unused tokens are returned to the game box without being revealed). Distribute Player Components: Each player receives (unused components are returned to the game box): 1 Legend Mat (placed to the left). 1 Helm Mat (placed to the right). 1 Pirate Ship* 1 Legend Token* and 3 Treasures* 1 Captain* and 4 Deckhands* 5 Order Tokens* 1 random Captain Card. 1 Gold Doubloon. *Components in the player's chosen color. Prepare Each Player's Legend Mat: Place the Legend Token, bloody side down, on the bottom space of the Legend Track on the right side. Place the Gold Doubloon on the "1" space of the Gold Track on the left side. Place the 3 Treasures at the bottom. Place 1 Deckhand on its corresponding icon on the third row of the Legend Track. Prepare Each Player's Helm Mat: Shuffle your 5 Order Tokens face down, then one by one, place them face up on the 5 open spaces ("1-5") clockwise around the Wheel (giving each player a random setup of Order Tokens on their Wheels). Place the Captain on the empty Hide Out space ("0" on the Wheel). Place 3 Deckhands, one on each of the 3 Deck Assignments at the bottom of the mat (not in Repair). Place the Market Mat and Prepare the Booty Bag: Place the Market Mat within reach of all players. Take 1 Booty (cube) of each color and place each randomly on one of the 4 spaces on the left side of the Market Mat. Place all remaining cubes in the Booty Bag. Prepare the 2 Merchant Ships and Ports: Place the 2 Ports on Map Cards in opposite corners of the Sea. Place 1 Merchant Ship on each of the 2 Map Cards with Ports (ship color does not matter). Make sure the front of each ship is pointing diagonally towards the opposite Port. Place 1 randomly drawn Booty Crate on each Merchant Ship. Create the Merchant Card Deck: Separate the Merchant Cards by values 2, 4, 6, and 8 (listed in the top left corner of each card). Stack the value 8 cards face down at the bottom, then the 6s on top of them, then the 4s, and finally the 2s on top. Draw the top 2 Merchant Cards and place 1 face up on each of the 2 spaces at the bottom of the Market Mat. Shuffle the Crew Card Deck (face down) and draw 3 cards face up to form a line. Choose the first player: (the youngest, or select using a method of your choice): The first player then places the Navy Ship on a Map Card in either of the 2 corners that do not have a Merchant. Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses any unoccupied Cove Map Card and places their Pirate Ship in the Cove, to indicate they start the game hidden. Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player selects which side of their Captain Card to use for the start of the game (see Mutiny) and places it to the right of their Helm Mat. Place the 3 Dice and Sure-fire Tokens within reach of all players. Each player starts with 1 Booty from the Booty Bag placed on their Pirate Ship, based on the Booty value on the Market Mat. The first player starts with the type of Booty in the "2 Gold" space, the second player starts with the type of Booty in the "3 Gold" space, and so on, until each player has a cube. Game Flow The game is played in a series of turns, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise until one of the pirates has won the game. Your goal is to be the first to bury 3 treasures. You start with a slow ship, minimal crew, low Status, and little Gold. As you gain experience, your ship gets faster, you gain more crew, fight better, and start collecting enough Gold to be worth burying your treasure. On Your Turn Choose Your Captain's Order and Assign Deckhands: Each turn, you start by advancing your Captain on your Wheel to choose the Captain’s Order for the turn. When advancing your Captain, you may rearrange the Assignments for your Deckhands, moving them to the Wheel or to the 3 Deck Assignments (at the bottom of your Helm Mat). 1a. Choose Your Captain's Order To begin your turn, you advance your Captain (the first turn starting in "Hide Out") clockwise on the Wheel of your Helm Mat to choose the Captain’s Order for this turn. You must always advance your Captain clockwise at least one space; it cannot remain in the same space, nor can it move counter-clockwise. Skipping Spaces with Deckhands: Moving to the next space on the Wheel is always free, but you can skip spaces by placing a Deckhand on each space you wish to skip. These Deckhands are taken from ANY of the 4 Deck Assignments at the bottom of the Helm Mat (Rigging, Cannons, Extort, or Repair). You cannot move to the same space you started on, even if you have enough Deckhands to skip the entire Wheel. There is one exception for skipping: you never need a Deckhand to skip the "0" Hide Out space. From "space 5", you can automatically skip to "space 1". In future turns, spaces that already have a Deckhand from a previous turn can be skipped again. When skipping or moving to spaces with Deckhands from previous rounds, immediately move the skipped or landed Deckhands to any Deck Assignment. You can skip multiple adjacent spaces this way, moving each Deckhand to an Assignment afterward. Deckhands removed from the Wheel and moved to Assignments this way CANNOT be used to skip more spaces in the same turn. 1b. Assign Deckhands Any number of Deckhands can be placed in each Assignment, and for each Deckhand there: Rigging: grants 1 additional movement when sailing your Pirate Ship. Cannons: grants 1 additional damage when battling. Extort: grants 1 Gold if the Captain crosses the Ship Line. Repair: is where Deckhands from the first 3 Assignments are placed when Jostled. While in Repair, they cannot be assigned to the other Assignments unless you use a Reassign Bonus Action or a Hide Out Order while in a Cove. However, Deckhands in Repair CAN be used to skip spaces on the Wheel when choosing a Captain’s Order. Sail Your Pirate Ship: You may sail your Pirate Ship from one Map Card to another. Try to avoid being jostled by Storms! After choosing a Captain’s Order and assigning Deckhands, you may sail your Pirate Ship for as many Map Cards as allowed. The number of Map Cards you can move is determined by: Movement indicated by your Legend Level. 1 movement for each Deckhand in Rigging. Search Tokens that grant additional movement (discard from game when used). You may sail through any number of Map Cards up to your total movement. Your sailing path must be to orthogonally adjacent (not diagonally) Map Cards. Once done, place your Pirate Ship in the center of the final Map Card where sailing ends, not covering any islands. You may freely sail to, from, and stop on Map Cards with other ships without penalty. Storms Sailing your Pirate Ship onto a Map Card with a Storm causes your ship to be Jostled. If this forces you to move a Deckhand out of Rigging, it will reduce your total movement and may prevent you from reaching your destination. If you sail into multiple Storms, you are Jostled by each one. Remaining in a Storm or sailing out of it does not cause your ship to be Jostled further. Getting Jostled When your ship is Jostled, whether by a Storm or by losing movement after an attack, check which penalty you suffer: If there are Deckhands in Rigging, Cannons, or Extort: move 1 Deckhand you choose from any of those 3 to Repair. If there are no Deckhands in those 3 Assignments: move 1 Deckhand you choose from your Wheel to Repair. If ALL your Deckhands are in Repair, you are not Jostled for losing an attack. However, you cannot sail into a Storm if ALL your Deckhands are in Repair. You need to first move at least 1 Deckhand to your Wheel by skipping a Captain’s Order, or Hide Out to reassign your Deckhands. Execute Your Captain's Order: After sailing, you may execute the Captain’s Order, based on the space your Captain is on the Wheel: Plunder, Trade, Crew Up, Search, Attack, or Hide Out. Plunder: If you are on a Map Card with a Settlement, immediately draw Booty Crates (cubes) from the Booty Bag and load them onto your ship. The number of cubes drawn is based on the Settlement icons: (1) or (2). Load these cubes into the spaces on your Pirate Ship, which can hold up to 3 cubes. If there is no space on your Pirate Ship for a cube you draw, you may discard it or discard a cube already on your Pirate Ship and replace it with the new cube. All discarded cubes are returned to the Booty Bag. Trade: Trade Booty from your Pirate Ship at a Market for Gold. While on a Map Card with a Market, note the icon listed next to it. Each Market trades only one type of Booty. You may trade up to 3 of the same Booty in a single trade. Each Booty type has a Gold value determined by its cube's position on the Market. Multiply the number of cubes sold by their current value on the chart and gain that amount of Gold. For example, trading 3 Sugarcane with a value of "4" yields 12 Gold. After trading: Place the traded cubes back into the Booty Bag. On the chart, move the type of Booty you sold to the lowest value space (2 Gold). Move all other cubes up in value until the gap is filled. No Booty will be sold for less than 2 Gold or more than 5 Gold. If the Booty sold is already at the lowest value, it simply remains there and nothing moves. Crew Up: Add to your Crew by taking 1 of the face-up Crew Cards from the line, placing it to the right of your Captain Card. You may have a maximum of 4 Crew Cards (your Captain is not considered "Crew"). Immediately replenish the card line with a new face-up card from the deck. If desired, before choosing a card, you may spend 1 Gold to discard all 3 face-up Crew Cards to the bottom of the deck and draw 3 new Crew Cards, forming a new line. You may do this only once per turn. You are never required to take a Crew Card, even if you paid to create a new line. If you already have a full Crew of 4 cards, you may discard one of your Crew and replace it with a new Crew Card. Place the discarded card at the bottom of the Crew Deck. You can never discard your Captain. Mutiny ONCE PER GAME, when you Crew Up, you may Mutiny, whether you take a new Crew Card or not. Flip your Captain Card to its opposite side. The new side has different dice symbols and a different Bonus Action. Flip your Legend Token to its "bloody" side to show you have performed ## FAQ ### What is the average playtime? A game of Tiny Epic Pirates typically lasts between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on the number of players and familiarity with the rules. ### How many players can play? The game is designed for 1 to 4 players. It works well in both solo mode and with groups. ### Is the game very complex? Tiny Epic Pirates has a medium weight (2.8/5 on BGG). The basic rules are easy to grasp, but the interactions and the rondel offer strategic depth. ### Do I need to know English to play? Yes, the game has moderate language dependency. It's recommended to have the cards and rulebook translated or use a reference sheet. ### Is it a good game for board game beginners? It can be a good game for those with some experience, as the mechanics are interesting. For total beginners, it might be a bit challenging at first, but entirely doable with a good guide. ### What comes in the Deluxe Edition box? The Deluxe Edition typically includes upgraded components and the Crimson Silver mini-expansion, in addition to the base game. ### Is it worth playing solo? Absolutely! The solo mode in Tiny Epic Pirates is very well-crafted and offers a good challenge for those who enjoy playing without company.