Aargh!
Aargh! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 25 Island cards that contain 5 different treasures
- 4 Skull & Crossbones cards
- 30 Gold Coins that make up the Pirate's Booty
- 1 Aargh! Pirate Ship
Setting up the Game
Shuffle all the Island cards together and take turns drawing cards from the pile until a player draws a Skull & Crossbones card. That person becomes the starting player.
Reshuffle all the cards and lay them out face down in a grid of cards 5 across and 5 down. Keep the 4 remaining cards hidden and place them back into the box.
Playing the Game
The starting player turns over 2 Island cards and then continues his or her turn as follows:
If the Treasures on the two cards match, continue to turn over Island cards until a Treasure is turned over that does not match. When this happens:
- Collect 1 gold coin for EACH matching Treasure that was uncovered.
- Place the Pirate Ship on the face-up card that was turned over last (the non-matching card).
- Turn face down all the remaining face-up Island cards.
- Play passes to the next player in a clockwise direction.
Example: Laura turns over 2 cards which contain matching Crown Treasures and then turns over another card which also is a Crown Treasure! She then continues with her turn and turns over a Goblet Treasure. She collects 3 gold coins, places the Pirate Ship onto the face-up Goblet Treasure card and then turns face-down the three Crown Treasure cards. Her turn is now over.
If the Treasures on the cards do not match, place the Pirate Ship on the face-up card that was drawn last (the non-matching card). Turn face-down all other face-up Treasure cards. Play passes to the next player in a clockwise manner.
If the player is turning over cards and uncovers a Skull & Crossbones card, play immediately stops and the player gives back one of his or her gold coins and puts it back into the Pirate's Booty. They also do not claim any gold for matching Treasures they did find. The Pirate Ship is placed onto the face-up Skull & Crossbones card and any other face-up cards are turned face down.
Important: On the next player's turn, he or she is now looking for Skull & Crossbones cards and receives 1 gold coin for each Skull & Crossbones card they turn over. The player's turn is over when they turn over a Treasure instead of a Skull & Crossbones! Play then proceeds as normal.
Game End
When the Pirate's Booty is depleted, the game is over. The Pirate with the most gold becomes the Captain of Aargh!
Things to Remember
- You receive gold coins for finding matching Skull & Crossbones too, so make sure you know where they are!
- The Pirate Ship is always moved to the face-up card that was turned over last (the non-matching card).
- If a Skull & Crossbones is discovered during your hunt for Treasures, no gold coins are paid for any matching Treasures you might have uncovered.
Show Me How
For more instructions and examples of how to play Aargh!, go to: www.simplyfun.com/showmehow/