Haze Islands Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Goal
• Titles
• Icons
• Game Modes
• Components
• Card Anatomy
• Card Uses
• Setup
• Turn Order
  • First Player
  • Next Player
  • Solo
  • Short Game
• Actions
  • Scout
  • Sail
  • Create a Location
  • Cursed and Dead End Cards
  • Plunder
  • Steal
  • Deploy
  • Trade
• Reveal Your Fate
• Return Pirates
  • Complete
• Spend
• Captain's Log
• Special Actions
• Attack
  • Attack The Doom
  • Take Damage
  • Castaway
  • Hijack
• Round End
  • 1. Night Falls
  • 2. The Doom Moves
  • 3. New Dawn
• Ghost Ship
  • Revive
• Game End

Summary

Scout distant islands and Sail out to them. Plunder, Steal, or Deploy pirates, to get your hands on powerful spells, loot and crew. Then, use them to Complete tale worthy adventures. Shipwreck your opponents or Attack The Doom before it turns you into a Ghost Ship. But beware! The Doom grows stronger each round, and attacks the nearest player at the end of each round.

Goal

Defeat The Doom or survive for 6 rounds. The surviving player with the most icons on their adventure cards wins. See Game End for tie breakers. Surviving players earn Titles based on the total number of icons they have.

Capitalised words in the rulebook, such as Attack or Sail, are player Actions. Where the rulebook marks a term with an arrow icon, it refers to a section further on in the rulebook.

Titles

• Less than 10 icons: Captain Daisy. Like a wilting flower, your name will be soon forgotten.
• 10+ icons: Captain Silverbell. What's the worth of being a pirate if you don't take risks.
• 15+ icons: Captain Black Rose. Respected across the seven seas, by all but one.
• 20+ icons: Captain Corpse. Your name alone casts terror into the eyes of all great pirates.

Icons

There are 9 types of icons: 2 Crew, 3 Spells, and 4 Loot.

Game Modes

• Solo: Defeat The Doom and score a minimum of 15 icons.
• Cooperative: All players must survive and defeat The Doom. See Trade.
• Friendly: Players may not Attack each other.
• Competitive: Players may Attack each other.

Components

• 1 Handy Dandy Rulebook
• 3 Player Aid cards
• 3 Doom cards
• 18 Adventure cards
• 30 Map cards, comprised of: 18 Island cards, 9 Dead End cards, 3 Cursed cards

You will need:

• 1 six-sided Doom die
• 1 Ship token per player
• 3 Pirate tokens per player

Card Anatomy

Map cards: Icon, Diamonds, Number, Skull of Fate, Island.

Adventure cards: Double Icons, Adventures, Single Icon, Special Action.

Card Uses

• Reveal your Fate and see if it's kind.
• Create a Location with both cards. So get out your telescope and Scout.
• Gather your hand of spells, loot and crew. Spend these later to Complete adventures.
• Track your score in your Captain's Log.

Setup

Due to the way cards are used, HAZE ISLANDS is best played on a cloth, felt surface, or game mat. Card racks are also recommended.

1. Choose a Game Mode.
   • If you are playing a 3 player game with new players, consider a Short Game.
2. Discard the 3 Cursed cards and the 9 Dead End cards, facedown, forming the discard pile.
   • The map deck has a total of 3 of each crew and loot icon and 4 of each spell icon. However, it has less icons in the first round. Make good progress on the first round before the Cursed and Dead End cards are added to the deck in the next round.
3. Roll a die. The player with the highest roll is the first player.
4. Shuffle the map deck and place it facedown by the first player.
5. The first player discards 1 map deck card per other player, forming a facedown map deck for each of the other player(s) to use.
6. Shuffle the adventure deck and place it facedown off to the side.
7. Create a Location. If you draw a Cursed card, try again.
8. In turn, take 1 ship token and 3 pirate tokens of the same colour.
9. Place your ship on the island card at the starting location.
10. Place the pirate tokens in front of you; this is your Supply.
11. Place The Doom die on the island card at the starting location, indicating 1.
12. Secretly shuffle and flip over all The Doom cards, and place them off to the side in a stack revealing the top card only.

Setup example: the 3 player setup on a 2 foot wide table. Players' hands are dealt depending on player count.

Turn Order

The game consists of 6 rounds. In each round, starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, players use cards to take their turn. This continues until all the cards have been used or discarded, and the Round End is resolved.

Do not shuffle the map decks during a round. Discard cards in order, always placing the cards on top of the map deck or the discard pile, as described in the rules.

First Player

On your turn, you must take 1 Action or discard 1 card from your map deck. As you discard map cards, place them facedown to create a map deck by the next player for them to draw from.

Once your map deck is depleted, you may have to wait for the other player(s) to conclude the round.

As the first player, you may not pass. Think quick. Everyone is waiting.

Next Player

On your turn you must take 1 Action, pass, or discard 1 card from your map deck. As you discard map cards, place them facedown to create either a map deck by the next player for them to draw from, or a discard pile if you are the last player.

At the beginning of the round, you may have to pass a few times due to a lack of cards.

The partial knowledge of the cards used might help you decide what to do next, especially if you are not the first player.

Solo

Discard map cards facedown in a discard pile nearby.

Short Game

3 players can play 3 rounds instead of 6. The only difference is that The Doom increases by 2 instead of 1 at the Round End.

Actions

Always state your action before drawing a card from your map deck.

You may only take an action if there are enough cards in your map deck to take that action.

Don't get stranded! Fan out the cards in any map deck to see how many cards are left.

Scout

Decide which way to scout. Then, Create a Location in that direction. Orient the new location so that the bottom of the new map card is placed next to your current location.

You may Scout, from your current location, in any direction bearing a gold triangle, towards an unexplored location.

Do not move your ship.

Withholding cards from the next player by Scouting (or Plundering) is a mean strategy. The more you Scout, the harder it will be to Complete all the adventures.

Sail

Without looking at the other side, discard 1 card from your map deck for every diamond between your current location and the location you are moving to. Then, move your ship to that location.

You may sail in any direction bearing gold diamonds, to an orthogonally adjacent location.

Orthogonally adjacent means next to but not diagonally next to.

Example: there are 2 diamonds between two locations. Discard 2 cards to Sail across.

Create a Location

Draw 1 adventure deck card and 1 card from your map deck. Place the map card, face up. Place the adventure card, face up, underneath the map card, showing the double icon adventure.

You may not Create a Location if the adventure deck has run out.

You may not look at adventure cards once they have been placed and covered.

Cursed and Dead End Cards

While at Cursed or Dead End map cards, you may not Plunder, Steal, or Deploy pirates, and you may not Scout or Sail towards the red diamond part. The Doom, however, may move through these red and gold diamonds as normal.

Example: without the right icons needed to Complete the adventure or to Attack The Doom, Yob's only option is to Sail back East. Rob is 3 diamonds away from The Doom. Bob is 2 diamonds away from The Doom.

Plunder

Draw cards from your map deck equal to the number on your current location. Add 1 of these cards to your hand, and discard the others. Discard down to 3 cards.

Choosing which cards you discard, especially Cursed cards, will benefit or hinder other players.

Steal

Without looking at the other side, discard 1 card from your map deck. Then, look through your map deck to reveal and take any 1 card matching the icon on your location to your hand. Discard down to 3 cards and reshuffle your map deck. If not found, your turn ends immediately.

This (often overlooked) action gives good results on your first turn as the first player.

Deploy

Reveal Your Fate. If successful, place 1 pirate token from your supply on the island card's icon at your current location.

You may Deploy if your current location does not have one of your pirate tokens. See Return Pirates.

The more pirates you Deploy, the less pirates you will have to "defend" your ship.

Trade

Cooperative Game Mode Only. Players with ships in the same location may swap 1 card from their hands with each other.

The more cards in hand and the more you Scout, the shorter the rounds will be.

Reveal Your Fate

Without looking, draw the top card from your map deck, choose a corner, and reveal that corner on the other side of the card. If the Skull of Fate is revealed you are unsuccessful, your turn ends immediately. Otherwise you are successful and may complete the action. Either way discard this map card as normal.

Cursed cards will always fail you. Always. Better have them in hand than in the deck.

Return Pirates

Return previously deployed pirate tokens, from anywhere on the board, back to your supply, to immediately Spend the icon on the pirate's location.

You may only return pirate tokens that match the icons you require, and only 1 pirate token per matching icon you require.

Example: Yob, on Titan Island, states that he wants to try to Complete the adventure. His Fate reveals a success. He can now return the two pirate tokens from two other islands and Spend the icons on those island cards to take the adventure card.

Complete

Reveal Your Fate. If successful, Spend spells, loot and crew that match the icons on the adventure card at your current location. Then, take the adventure card and add it to your Captain's Log.

You may only Complete your current location's adventure card.

Spend

You may provide the spells, loot and crew required to complete actions by 1) discarding cards from your hand, 2) returning pirates, or 3) a combination of both.

Always reveal the cards you spend.

You may only discard 1 card (that matches the icons you require) per icon you require.

As mentioned already: you may only return 1 pirate (that matches the icons you require) per icon you require.

The order in which you discard cards, especially Cursed or Dead End cards, will benefit or hinder other players.

Captain's Log

Place your completed adventure cards and Doom cards in front of you, forming a column. Place new cards at the bottom of the column, covering the bottom part of the previous card. Do not cover the Special Action under the double icon adventures you completed.

Example: this player's current score is 10 icons. Doom cards score between 3 and 4 icons, but do not grant you a Special Action.

Special Actions

Each completed double icon adventure in your Captain's Log grants you 1 Special Action (shown under the adventure):

• Draw 1 card from an opponent's hand.
• Look at and reorder your draw deck.
• Play cards from your hand as map cards.
• Move your ship to any location.
• Move 1 deployed pirate to any location.
• Return 1 deployed pirate back to your supply.
• Return 1 discarded pirate back to your supply.
• Rotate 1 adventure card at any location.
• Flip over 1 adventure card at any location.
• Stop 1 adventure card from activating.
• Become invisible to The Doom this turn.
• Stop The Doom from moving this turn.
• Reduce The Doom dice (and round) by 1.
• 1 of your Hurricane icons count as 2.
• 1 of your Fireballs icons counts as 2.
• 1 of your Whirlpool icons counts as 2.
• Keep your spells if you fail an Attack.
• Ignore the Skull of Fate after revealing it.

Use a Special Action at any time before an action is stated or after an action is completed, on any player's turn, or during the Round End. Then, flip over that card to show a single X icon.

Attack

Spend either 2 Whirlpools, or 2 Fireballs, or 2 Hurricanes. Then Reveal Your Fate. If successful, the target must Take 1 Damage.

You may only Attack a player's ship in your current location. You may also Attack The Doom.

When Attacking, you must Spend the spells first, then Reveal Your Fate. Whether your Attack was successful or unsuccessful, you lose those spells.

The spell icons are Hurricane, Fireballs and Whirlpool. One icon type on the cards represents any of the three spell icons.

Attack The Doom

Doom cards represent The Doom's health. The cards show which combination of icons are needed to Attack The Doom. The game immediately ends when the last Doom card is taken... and The Doom has met its doom.

Spend the icons on the top Doom card. Then Reveal Your Fate. If you succeed, take the Doom card and add it to your Captain's Log.

You may only Attack The Doom if in your current location.

Take Damage

Your ship and pirates represent your health.

Permanently discard 1 pirate token from your supply to the box, for each point of damage. If you have no pirate tokens in your supply to discard you are Sunk:

• 2 or 3 Player Game: If you are Sunk by a player, you become a Castaway. If you are Sunk by The Doom, you become a Ghost Ship.
• Solo Game: If you are Sunk you lose.

Attack example: Yob states that he is going to Attack Rob. He Returns a pirate and discards a card. He draws a map card and Reveals his Fate. Since no Skull appeared, the Attack is successful. Rob takes 1 damage. Rob has 3 pirate tokens. He discards 1 to represent the damage taken. Rob is now likely to search, to find the Fireballs, and perhaps return the favour.

Castaway

Give all the cards in your hand to the player that sunk you (they must discard down to 3 cards). Place any 1 pirate token of your colour at your location, representing you and your crew. Remove your ship token and all other pirate tokens of your colour from the game.

As well as all other actions, you may also Hijack a ship.

Hijack

While in the same location as another player, Reveal Your Fate. If successful, Spend any 2 Crew icons. Your opponent becomes a Castaway. Place your ship at your current location and discard your pirate token to the box.

Round End

A round ends when all the map cards in all the map draw decks have been used or discarded to the discard pile. At the end of each round, complete the following three steps in order.

1. Night Falls

Flip over all the adventure cards showing a single icon adventure and place them underneath the map card, showing a sea without any icons.

Adventure cards that have been flipped will allow players to Scout or Sail in one more direction (North). But beware, flipped cards might connect to other locations reducing the distance between the players and The Doom.

2. The Doom Moves

The Doom's power is represented by the value shown on The Doom die.

1. Increase The Doom's power by 1. On the 6th and final round The Doom's power will count as 7.

2. Establish which player's ship (not Castaway) is the easiest for The Doom to reach. This is based on the lowest number of diamonds possible between the player's location and The Doom's location.

   If the player ships are equally close to The Doom, choose the player with the most icons in their Captain's Log. If still tied, flip a doblon (coin) or roll a die.

   The Doom forces players to end their turn as far away as possible. The less you Scout, or the more locations connect to each other, the closer The Doom will be.

3. Counting every diamond that The Doom passes, move The Doom die along its route towards the nearest player. Do this 1) while The Doom has enough power to move, or 2) until The Doom has reached a player's ship.

   The Doom cannot move across a total number of diamonds that exceeds The Doom's power.

   Do not reduce the value of The Doom die as you move.

4. The Doom attacks all players with a ship in The Doom's current location, in turn order. All players Take Damage equal to The Doom's power after movement. In other words, the die value minus 1 for every diamond crossed.

3. New Dawn

1. Rotate all the adventure cards showing a double icon adventure 180 degrees to show the single icon adventure.

   Single icon adventures are easier to complete but score less. However, if these are not completed by the end of the round, the location will no longer show adventures.

2. For each location without an adventure card, draw 1 adventure deck card and add it to the location. Place them so that the double icon adventure is showing.

   Decide in advance in which order to add the adventure cards before drawing them.

3. The second player becomes the first player. Shuffle the map discard pile and place it facedown by the first player creating their map deck. The (new) first player discards 1 map deck card per other player, forming a facedown map deck for each of the other player(s) to use. And the new round begins.

Ghost Ship

The Doom turns your wreckage into a Ghost Ship and hires your soul. Your only chance is to help The Doom sink the other ship so you can Revive your crew.

Discard all the cards in your hand. Place your ship on its side. Discard all your pirate tokens.

You may no longer take Actions on your turn. Instead, you must 1) look through your map deck and discard all the map cards in any order, and 2) rotate any 1 location (both the map and adventure card) 90, 180, or 270 degrees.

Immediately after The Doom has sunk another player's ship (even on the last round), you may attempt to Revive your crew.

Revive

Draw a random card from the discard pile and use it to Reveal Your Fate. If successful, place your ship upright. You are back from the dead! You are a survivor.

Game End

The game ends either 1) at the end of round 6 right after The Doom Moves, 2) after the last Doom card is taken, or 3) if there are no surviving player ships in play.

The surviving player (or Castaway) with the greatest number of icons in their Captain's Log wins.

If tied, the surviving player with the most Doom cards wins. If still tied, the player with the most surviving pirates wins (deployed or in supply). If still tied, the ugliest player wins. Y'all decide.

As the winner... you may hold others hostage as you retell your tale using all the current adventures in your Captain's Log, and your best swashbuckling pirate voice, in 1 minutes or less.