Bermuda Pirates Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set Up
• Object of the Game
• Playing Bermuda Pirates
• Game Turns
  • Pushing a Boat
  • Loading the Boat with Treasures
  • 2 Ways to Collect Treasures
  • Continuing the Voyage
  • Whirlpools
  • Buoys
• Game End
  • How to Win
• Treasure Plunder Variant (Advanced)
  • Object of the Game
  • How to Play
  • Game End

Components

• Gameboard
• 4 Underboards (each contains 5 hidden metal disks)
• 4 Flags
• 12 Buoys
• 24 Treasures
• Center piece
• 4 Magnetic boats

Set Up

1. Place the Center piece in the middle of the table.
2. Insert the 4 Underboards into each pin of the Center piece. NOTE: Shuffle the Underboards for a different game set up each time.
3. Align the Gameboard over the Center piece's pins to cover the 4 Underboards.
4. Attach a Flag to each protruding pin of the Center piece.
5. Place 6 treasures of each color on the center island matching the colored Flags.
6. Each player receives a boat matching the color of their island base.
7. Each player receives a set of Buoys. The number of Buoys decides the chosen difficulty level:
   • Easy - 3 buoys
   • Moderate - 2 buoys
   • Difficult - 1 buoy
   • Very Difficult - No buoys
8. The youngest player starts, and the game proceeds clockwise.

Object of the Game

Be the first player to bring one treasure of each color (4 colors) back to your base.

Playing Bermuda Pirates

Players sail the Bermuda Triangle to collect and bring back treasures to their home base. The gameboard contains spots under which metal disks are concealed. If a boat sails too close, it will be sucked into a whirlpool. If the boat is loaded with treasures, they will fly overboard! To help with follow up trips, players may use one buoy per turn to indicate danger zones.

Game Turns

On their turn, the player performs the following actions in order:

1. Push their boat towards the center island to collect a treasure or towards a treasure lost at sea.
2. Load their boat if they avoided whirlpool traps.
3. Head back to their base to claim the treasure or continue their journey to collect additional treasures.
4. Place, move or remove one of their buoys on the board.

NOTE: A turn always ends with the player's boat back at their base.

Pushing a Boat

The player must use one finger to push or turn their boat from the back only. Boats may not cross obstacles such as other islands or shipwrecks, but can safely pass over marine creatures. Always starting from their base, the player pushes their boat until one of 3 events occur:

1. Their boat gets caught by a hidden whirlpool.
2. Their boat runs aground on an obstacle by sailing over it or their boat falls off the board.
3. Their boat returns safely to the player's home base with 1 or more treasures.

When one of these events occur, the player places their boat at its starting base and their turn ends.

Loading the Boat with Treasures

When the player avoids the whirlpools and reaches a dock on the center island, they load their boat with ONE of the treasures located on that section of the island.

When the player touches a treasure lost at sea, the player may place it onto their boat. The player cannot pick up a treasure of the same color as they have already on their boat or have already brought back to their base.

If a treasure falls off the boat while it is being pushed, the treasure is lost at sea. The player can retrieve this treasure if they touch it with their boat. The lost treasure can be collected by anyone else who can reach it on their turn. If the treasure falls off the board, it is placed back on the center island with its corresponding color.

2 Ways to Collect Treasures

1. Reach a dock on the center island and load one treasure from that section of the island.
2. Touch a treasure lost at sea with your boat.

Continuing the Voyage

Once a player loads their boat with a treasure, they may decide to return to their base to secure it for the rest of the game and end their turn. They can also choose to continue their voyage and collect other treasures before heading back.

Whirlpools

When a player's boat is pulled into a whirlpool, this part of their turn ends. Any treasures floating in the water are lost at sea and any player may collect them on their turn. Treasures that fly off the gameboard, or either land on the center island or other obstacles, are returned to their starting location on the center island. Treasures that remain on a player's boat are also returned.

If a treasure lands on any player's base, that player just got lucky and they keep that treasure as if they had collected it.

Buoys

Once a player has finished moving their boat, they can use one of their matching color buoys. Players can use buoys to mark dangerous whirlpools or they can try to trick their opponents by placing decoy buoys in a safe spot.

Players can place their buoy on any water location on the board with one exception. A buoy cannot be placed in a way that blocks another player's access to a dock or that blocks them leaving their base (bad placements of buoys).

They can also move one of their previously placed buoys to a different spot on the gameboard. Alternatively, they can remove one of their buoys from the gameboard.

NOTES:

• Players may only place, move or remove 1 of their buoys per turn.
• Players may use buoys as a game-leveling feature where young players get to use more buoys than older ones.

Game End

When a player has collected one of each treasure on their home base, the end of the game is triggered. Remaining players finish their turn before the game ends.

How to Win

The player with the complete set of treasures is the winner. If more than one player ends the game with a complete set of treasures, all tied players win.

Treasure Plunder Variant (Advanced)

Object of the Game

Be the first player to reach 8 points. A set of 4 treasures (1 of each color) is worth 6 points. Individual treasures are worth 1 point.

How to Play

Treasures left on a player's base can NOW be stolen by other players if they reach the player's dock!

If a player completes a set of treasures, the 4 colored treasures are removed from the base and placed beside the player. This set cannot be stolen by other players.

When reaching an opponent's base, the active player can steal up to two treasures of different colors.

Any treasures that fly off the board or land on an obstacle are removed from the game.

NOTE: At the end of their turn, players remove their boat from the board to allow other players to steal treasures from their base.

Game End

The end of the game can be triggered in two ways:

• When a player reaches 8 points.
• When there are less than 6 treasures remaining on the center island.

All remaining players finish their turn before the scoring phase. If there is a tie, the player with the highest number of treasure sets wins. If the tie remains, all tied players win.