All Aboard!
All Aboard! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 60 animal cards (one set of 12 cards per player)
- 30 boat cards
- 20 Cupid cards
Setup
Shuffle the boat cards and reveal, in the centre of the table, one boat per player. The number on each boat indicates the weight it can withstand. The remaining cards are used as the boat deck.
Deal each player a set of animal cards in the colour of their choice. Each player shuffles their cards and draws 3; the rest form their draw deck.
Animal Cards
Each animal card shows the animal's weight in the top corners (1) and, along the bottom edge, the victory points it will give you if you manage to get it to set sail on a boat (2). In addition, along the top edge of the card, some animals show a special effect (3) (explained on page 6).
The last player who has seen a monkey goes first.
Game Sequence
The game is played over 4 rounds, each consisting of 2 phases:
- Boarding the boats.
- Setting sail.
1. Boarding the Boats
On your turn, place one of your animals face up on any of the boats (1), bearing in mind that there can be no more than 3 animals on each one. Once you have finished your turn, draw a new card from the deck to replenish your hand.
Then the player to your left does the same, and so on until all players have boarded their first animal and replenished their hand.
On your second turn, place a new animal on any of the available boats, but this time face down (2), and the rest of the players do the same. Finally, on the third turn, place another animal face up on any of the available boats (3).
Remember that after boarding an animal, you must replenish your hand so that you always have 3 cards available (except in the last round, in which you will play with the 3 you have left in your hand).
2. Setting Sail
Once the animals have boarded the boats, the boats set sail. At the start of this phase, all animal cards that were played face down are revealed and, then, starting with the leftmost boat, the following is checked:
- If there are 2 animals of the same species, both animals fall in love and the players who played them each take a Cupid card. Each Cupid card is worth 2 points at the end of the game. If instead of 2 animals of the same species there are 3, they will fight and the boat sinks immediately, sending them all to the discard pile.
- It is checked whether any animal activates its effect, starting with the lightest animal on board the boat (see the effects below).
- Once the animals' effects have been resolved, the total weight of the animals on board the boat is checked. If the total weight of the animals is equal to or less than the weight the boat can withstand, the animals manage to set sail and will score at the end of the game. Each player takes their animals and places them in a pile of saved animals in their play area. On the other hand, if the boat sinks, the animals go to the discard pile.
Once the leftmost boat has been resolved, the next boat is resolved, from left to right, until all the boats in play have been resolved.
Animal Descriptions and Effects
The effects of the animals and when they are activated are described below. Bear in mind that animals in love never activate their effect and are not affected by the effects of other animals.
In the case of the mouse and the peacock, their weight changes if they are in love, as indicated next to the heart.
In the entries below, the bag icon indicates weight and the star icon indicates points.
Mouse
Weight: 0. Points: 1.
Nothing makes a mouse happier than giving an elephant a good fright.
ONLY if a mouse and an elephant are on board the same boat, the elephant gets frightened and makes the boat capsize. Remove the boat card they are on and replace it with another random boat card (which may withstand a different weight).
If there are 2 mice or 2 elephants in love, they have no effect.
If there are 2 mice in love, each one adds 0.5 kg.
Peacock
Weight: -2. Points: 2.
The peacock can fly a little, or rather jump enough to lighten the boat's load, so that it can sail more easily.
If there are 2 peacocks in love, they have no effect and their weight will be 1 kilo each.
Fox
Weight: 2. Points: 2.
The cunning fox always tries to save itself. ONLY if the boat sinks does the fox jump to the next boat on the right (in this case, ignore the limit of three cards per boat). If the fox is on the last boat, instead of jumping, it is discarded.
If there are 2 foxes in love, they have no effect.
Octopus
Weight: 3. Points: 2.
The octopus enjoys being in the water. It ONLY scores if the boat sinks. Likewise, if the boat manages to set sail, the octopus is discarded.
If there are 2 octopuses in love, they have no effect and will not score if the boat sinks; however, if the boat manages to set sail, they do score. If there are 3 octopuses on the same boat, when it sinks, all 3 score!
Monkey
Weight: 4. Points: 3.
The monkey is a bit of a manipulator and teams up with the heaviest animal on board (not counting the monkey itself) to throw the next heaviest animal (not counting the monkey itself) onto the next boat.
If there are 2 monkeys in love, they have no effect.
If the monkey is on board with only one other passenger, or if the other animals have the same weight, it has no effect.
Sloth
Weight: 5. Points: 3.
No effect.
Moose
Weight: 6. Points: 4.
No effect.
Zebra
Weight: 7. Points: 4.
No effect.
Giraffe
Weight: 8. Points: 5.
No effect.
Lion
Weight: 9. Points: 5.
The lion is always hungry and waiting for the moment to eat the next animal lighter than itself. That animal is discarded.
If there are 2 lions in love, they have no effect.
Bear
Weight: 10. Points: 6.
No effect.
Elephant
Weight: 11. Points: 7.
ONLY has an effect if it is on board with a mouse (see "Mouse").
If you are going to play with children, to make the game more accessible to them, you can ignore the animals' effects.
New Round
Remove the boats and reveal a new one per player.
Each player continues playing with the 3 cards from the previous round that they have left in their hand.
The new round is started by the player seated to the left of the player who started the previous round.
End of the Game
The game ends after the fourth round. Each player calculates their final score. To do so, they add up the points given by the animal cards in their play area, plus 2 points for each Cupid card. The player who has scored the most points wins.
In the event of a tie, the player with the most Cupid cards wins; if the tie continues, the player with the most animal cards wins.
End-of-Round Example
Example of a round in a 4-player game.
Boat 1
- It is checked whether there are any animals in love on board. In this case there are none.
- It is checked whether there are any animals with an effect and they are resolved, starting with the lightest. In this case, the mouse frightens the elephant, which makes the boat capsize: the boat with a capacity of 12 is discarded and a new one is drawn, which has a capacity of 16.
- Finally, it is checked whether the new boat can withstand the total weight of the animals on board. It does, so the purple player scores their elephant, and the red player scores their mouse, and they leave them in their play area until the end of the game. The octopus is discarded because it ONLY scores if the boat sinks.
Boat 2
- It is checked whether there are any animals in love. In this case there are none.
- It is checked whether there are any animals with an effect and they are resolved, starting with the lightest. In this case, the monkey's effect is resolved first: it teams up with the lion (the heaviest on the boat, not counting the monkey) to throw the zebra (the next heaviest on the boat, not counting the monkey) onto the next boat.
- Now the monkey and the lion remain on the boat, and the lion resolves its effect and eats the next animal lighter than itself; in this case it is the monkey, which is discarded. The yellow player scores the lion.
Boat 3
- It is checked whether there are any animals in love. In this case there are 2 giraffes, so the two players who played the giraffes each take a Cupid card.
- It is checked whether there are any animals with an effect: in this case, the fox, which will jump to the next boat ONLY if the boat sinks.
- The boat's capacity is 16 and the total weight of the animals on board is 25, so the boat sinks and all those animals are discarded, except the fox, which jumps to the fourth boat.
Boat 4
- It is checked whether there are any animals in love. In this case there are none.
- It is checked whether there are any animals with an effect and they are resolved, starting with the lightest. This would be the fox, which ONLY has an effect if the boat sinks. Then the monkey activates its effect and teams up with the bear to throw the next lightest animal, that is, the lion.
- The boat's capacity is 20 and the total weight of the animals on board is 16, so the boat withstands and sets sail. The fox has no effect (the boat has not sunk), so all the animals that remain on board return to their respective owners so that they score them at the end of the game.