Key Largo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• The Day
• The Action Cards
  • Diving on a Wreck
  • Drawing Wreck Cards
  • Using a Weight
  • The Mermaid's Bar
  • Dolphin Cove
  • The Old Sea Dog Shop
  • The Market of Finds
• End of the Game
• Example of a Turn
• Optional Rule
  • The Encounter Cards
• Acknowledgements
• Rules Summary

Components

• A game board in five parts, depicting the island.
• 130 cards:
  • 80 wreck cards, of which:
    • 20 "shallow depth" cards.
    • 30 "medium depth" cards.
    • 30 "great depth" cards.
  • 5 sets of 5 action cards, one per player.
  • 24 "encounter" cards (used only with the optional rule).
  • 1 "first player" card.
• 15 diver tokens.
• 40 "diving equipment" tokens: 20 hoses, 10 tridents, 10 weights.
• 1 "buoy" token showing the day of the game.
• 5 boats, one per player.
• Banknotes, in various denominations from $10 to $500.

Goal of the Game

Your goal is to be the richest player at the end of the ten days of play. To do this, you recruit divers whom you send to explore sunken ships to bring back treasures, which you will then try to resell at the best price to wealthy tourists.

Setup

• The game board is assembled and placed at the center of the table. The buoy is placed, in Dolphin Cove, on the first Friday, and it is advanced one space at the end of each day.
• Each player takes a boat and 5 action cards of the same color. Unused boats and cards are removed from the game.
• Each player receives $100. The remaining banknotes are sorted to form the bank, placed near the playing surface.
• Each player receives one diver, which they place face up in front of them. The remaining divers are placed in a pile near the bank.
• The diving equipment tokens are placed in a pile next to the bank, in the equipment reserve.
• The first player is chosen at random, and takes the "First Player" card.
• Sort the wreck cards by depth. Shuffle them within each depth, then arrange them into piles of 5 cards face down around the island: these are the wrecks. The number of wrecks depends on the number of players:

Wrecks	3 players	4 players	5 players
Shallow depth	3	4	4
Medium depth	4	5	6
Great depth	4	5	6

With 3 or 4 players, the unused cards are removed from the game without looking at them.

The game can then begin. A game of Key Largo consists of ten days and ends after the second Sunday.

The Day

Each player carries out two actions per day: one in the morning, one in the afternoon. To do this, they use the action cards that correspond to the 5 places they can visit.

• Each player plans their actions for the day. To do this, they choose two of their action cards, which they place face down in front of them, the first (morning) on top and the second (afternoon) underneath.
• All players reveal their first card, the morning card, at the same time. Then, starting with the first player and moving clockwise, each player places their boat on the island, at the corresponding harbor (see the action card details further on).
• Next, again starting with the first player and moving clockwise, each player carries out their morning action.
• After all players have played their first card, they reveal the second: the afternoon card. Boats are repositioned, then actions are carried out, in the same way as for the morning.
• After all players have played their second card, the day is over. The first player passes the "First Player" card to the player on their left, and the "Buoy" token is advanced to the next day.

The Action Cards

Diving on a Wreck

A player who chooses the "Dive" action places their boat on a wreck of their choice, provided they have at least one diver able to dive deep enough. Only one boat may be on each wreck.

A diver with no extra hose can only dive to shallow depth. A diver with one extra length of hose can dive to shallow or medium depth. A diver with two lengths of hose can dive on any wreck.

All of a player's divers must search the same wreck. If some of them cannot, those with enough hose dive and the others do nothing, staying on the boat while they wait for their companion(s).

Example: a player with two divers, one with two lengths of hose and one with a single length, may either send both divers to a shallow- or medium-depth wreck, or send just the one diver to a great-depth wreck.

Each diver diving on a wreck lets the player draw a card from the pile of cards making up that wreck. The player takes the cards one at a time.

Drawing Wreck Cards

There are two types of wreck cards: treasures (gold, goods, antiques, or diamonds) and monsters.

Drawing a Treasure card

If the wreck card is a treasure, the player takes it into their hand, without revealing it to the other players.

Drawing a Monster card

If the wreck card is a monster, there are two possible cases:

• The diver has no trident: they flee, terrified, and give up diving in these hostile waters for good! The diver token and all of its equipment are permanently removed from the game.

If other divers belonging to the same player have dived on this same wreck and have not yet drawn their card, they may do so, or decide to surface immediately. Only afterward is the monster card returned to the other remaining cards of the wreck, which are then reshuffled (if the monster is the only card remaining, it is placed back alone, face down).

• If the diver has a trident: they use it to kill the monster. The trident and the monster card are permanently removed from the game.

The diver then continues their dive by drawing another treasure card in place of the monster card. The trident used may belong to the diver who encountered the monster, or to any other diver of the same player present at the wreck, i.e. one able to dive to that depth.

Using a Weight

A player who has just drawn a treasure card may use a weight to let one of their divers present at the wreck draw an additional wreck card.

If this second card is a monster, the diver still keeps the first treasure drawn. Of course, a trident lets the player kill the monster and draw a replacement card in the same way.

A weight that is used is permanently removed from the game.

The Mermaid's Bar

A player who chooses the "Bar" action docks their boat in front of the Mermaid's Bar. They may then carry out one or several of the following actions: recruit a diver, hire a pickpocket, and buy a round. The player is not required to do each of these actions, but they may only do each of them once.

The costs of recruiting divers and pickpockets depend on the number of players present at the bar, and are shown on the action card and on the island board.

Recruiting a Diver

A player may only recruit a single diver per visit to the bar.

To recruit a diver, a player pays the bank the price shown on the action card. This depends on the number of players present with them at the bar at the same time. The more players who have gone to the bar, the higher the price to recruit a diver (this remains true even if some of the players present at the bar do not wish to recruit one).

The player takes a diver token from the equipment reserve and places it in front of them, in their team.

Note: a player may never have more than three divers in their team, and a player who already has three divers cannot recruit a fourth, but may still go to the bar to buy a round or hire a pickpocket.

Hiring a Pickpocket

A player may only hire a single pickpocket per visit to the bar. The pickpocket lets the player steal a treasure card from one of their rivals. The player pays the bank the price shown on the action card, which depends on the number of players present at the bar with them at the same time. They then take a treasure card from the player of their choice (whether or not that player is present at the bar).

The player who is robbed presents their cards face down, fanned out, so that the thief can see the color of the backs, but not the exact nature of the card.

Buying a Round

A player may only buy a single round per visit to the bar.

By buying a round for the old sailors at the bar, the player learns the true nature of the sunken treasures. They pay $20 to the bank, and look at the cards of two wrecks of their choice. They then reshuffle the cards of each of the wrecks before putting them back in place.

Dolphin Cove

A player who chooses the "Dolphins" action places their boat in Dolphin Cove. The player spends half a day taking tourists out on their boat to see the dolphins in the bay. They receive from the bank the amount shown for the corresponding day.

Tourists are more numerous, and more generous, on weekends!

The Old Sea Dog Shop

A player who chooses the "Shop" action docks their boat in front of the Old Sea Dog's shop.

A visit to the Old Sea Dog lets a player equip their divers.

A player may only buy one or two pieces of equipment per visit. The price of the various pieces of equipment is shown on the action card and on the island board, and depends on the number of players present with them at the shop at the same time, regardless of what each of them is buying.

If a piece of equipment is no longer available in the reserve, it can no longer be bought.

Equipment bought must be assigned immediately to one or more divers, and a player therefore cannot buy a piece of equipment that they cannot assign to one of their divers. Each diver may be equipped with at most two lengths of hose, one trident, and one weight.

Hose: a length of hose lets a diver go deeper. A diver with no hose can only go to shallow depth; a diver with one length of hose to shallow or medium depth; a diver with two lengths of hose to any depth.

Trident: the trident is used to kill sea monsters. If, while searching a wreck, a player draws a monster card, they use a trident (even one assigned to another of their divers, provided that diver is able to dive to the depth of the wreck). This lets them draw another wreck card in place of the monster card. A trident that is used is permanently removed from the game.

Weight: After drawing a treasure card, a diver may use a weight to draw an additional wreck card. The weight is then removed from the game.

The Market of Finds

A player who chooses the "Market" action docks their boat in front of the Key Largo market.

It is at the market that players sell the treasures they have recovered from the wrecks.

On a visit to the market, a player may sell only one type of treasure (gold, antiques, or goods). However, they may choose how many treasure cards of that same type to sell. They are, however, required to sell at least one card.

The selling price of the different types of treasure is shown on the action cards and on the island board. It depends on the number of players present with them at the market at the same time, regardless of whether or not they are selling the same type of treasure.

Value of Treasure Cards

A treasure card carries two values: its unit value (shown in the upper corner) and its end-of-game value (shown at the bottom).

The value of a treasure card sold at the market equals its unit value multiplied by the current rate for that type of treasure. The rate depends on the number of players present at the market at the same time (see example below). Diamond cards are an exception, and can never be sold at the market.

Goods: the fewer sellers there are at the market, the higher the selling price of goods — that's the law of the market! So the selling price is $40 per unit if a player is alone at the market, $30 if there are two, and only $20 if there are three or more players.

Example: the card shown here (value 5) earns the seller $200, $150, or $100 depending on the number of players present at the market. It earns only $100 at the end of the game if it has not been sold before then.

Antiques: unlike goods, the price of antiques is higher the more sellers there are, as the rumor draws in customers. If a player is alone at the market, it is $20 per unit; if there are two, it is $30; if there are three or more players, it is $40.

Gold: the rate for gold is fixed, always $30 per unit when sold at the market. So a gold card of value 2 sells for $60. However, at the end of the game, that same unsold card is worth only $20 per unit, or $40.

Diamonds are never sold at the market (except with the "Jeweler" card, see optional rule), and are worth the price shown on the card only at the end of the game.

End of the Game

The game ends after the second Sunday.

Each player tallies their fortune in banknotes. To it, they add the value of their unsold treasure cards and their diamond cards, all counted at the value printed at the bottom of the card.

The richest player is then declared the winner.

Example of a Turn

First turn of the game with 4 players (in order: Red, Green, Yellow, Purple).

Step 1: the players choose their cards for the morning and the afternoon.

Step 2: the players simultaneously reveal their morning cards. Red goes to the bar, Green and Yellow go to Dolphin Cove, Purple to the shop. Each places their boat facing the corresponding location.

Red pays $100 to recruit a diver and buy a round. He takes a diver and places it next to the one he already has, looks at the five cards of one wreck, which he reshuffles, then does the same with a second wreck.

Green and Yellow each receive $40 from the bank, since it is Friday.

Purple buys a length of hose and a trident at the shop for a total of $50, paid to the bank. He places the hose and trident on his diver.

Step 3: the players reveal their afternoon cards. Red and Purple dive, Green and Yellow go to the bar.

Red places his boat on a shallow-depth wreck, since his divers have no hose.

Green and Yellow dock their boat in front of the bar.

Purple, whose diver has a length of hose, places his boat on a medium-depth wreck.

Red, who has two divers, draws the first two cards of the wreck where his boat is located and takes them into his hand.

Green pays $120 to recruit a diver and buy a round. He takes a diver, and looks at the cards of two wrecks one after another, reshuffling the cards of each wreck after seeing them.

Yellow pays $100 to recruit a diver, but chooses not to buy a round.

Purple takes the first card of the wreck where his diver is. Unlucky — it's a monster! He kills it with his trident. The monster and the trident are permanently removed from the game, and Purple draws the next card as a replacement. If Purple had had no trident, he would have lost the diver and its equipment, and the wreck's cards, including the monster, would have been reshuffled.

Step 4: the game moves to the next turn. The buoy is advanced one day, and the "First Player" card passes to Green, seated to Red's left.

Optional Rule

Players who know the game a little may enrich it by using the "encounter" cards.

These are shuffled and placed face down, at the start of the game, near Dolphin Cove. Each card represents a person met while taking tourists out to sea.

A player who chooses the "Dolphins" action receives their usual payment from the bank and also draws an encounter card, which they keep in hand without revealing it.

To play an encounter card, the player must be at the location shown by the pictogram in the upper corner of the card. A player may only play a single encounter card per half-day. They may never hold more than two encounter cards in hand, even if some of them are simple tourists.

Tourist cards, although they have no effect, may only be discarded at the location shown on the card.

The Encounter Cards

Cards that may be played while the player is diving.

• Volunteer Helper: draw an additional wreck card if you are diving at shallow depth.
• Eager Buyer: immediately sell, at the best price, a card you have just drawn from a wreck.
• Regular: play this card when you draw a monster. Reshuffle the wreck's cards, including the monster, and try your luck again.
• Saboteur: prevent one (and only one) opposing diver from making their dive.
• Attentive Diver: if only a single card remains in a wreck after you have dived, your last diver also draws that card, as though playing a weight.

Cards that may be played while the player is at the Mermaid's Bar.

• Tourist: card with no effect.
• Drunkard: look at the cards of the wreck of your choice, without paying. Then reshuffle the cards and place them back face down.
• Beginner Diver: if you recruit a diver, they cost you only $60.
• Expert Diver: if you recruit a diver, they arrive already equipped with one length of hose.
• Pickpocket: if you hire a pickpocket, they cost you only $30.
• Inseparable Brothers: you may recruit two divers or two pickpockets instead of just one, paying for each at the price shown.

Cards that may be played while the player is at Dolphin Cove.

• Tourist: card with no effect. You cannot play this card on the turn you draw it.
• Family: receive double the normal price for the tourists you take to see the dolphins. You cannot play this card on the turn you draw it.

Cards that may be played while the player is at the Old Sea Dog shop.

• Tourist: card with no effect.
• Hose Vendor: this card lets you buy one extra length of hose, in addition to the two purchases normally allowed.
• Trident Vendor: this card lets you buy one extra trident, in addition to the two purchases normally allowed.
• Weight Vendor: this card lets you buy one extra weight, in addition to the two purchases normally allowed.
• Liquidator: if you buy two identical pieces of equipment, this card lets you buy a third of the same type at a $20 discount.
• Good Friend: make all your purchases at the lowest price (as though you were alone at the shop).

Cards that may be played while the player is at the Market of Finds.

• Tourist: card with no effect.
• Pigeon: change the nature of one of the cards you are selling (for example, sell a goods card as though it were an antiques card).
• Smuggler: in addition to your normal sale, sell up to five more cards of your choice, even of different types, at a price of $30 per unit.
• Jeweler: in addition to your normal sale, sell one diamond for the value shown on the card.
• Gold Digger: if you sell gold, you sell it at $40 per unit.

Acknowledgements

Nicolas Anton, Tyler Bielman, Maud Bissonnet, Guillaume Bouilleux, Brandon Bozzi, Bruno Cathala, Charlie Catino, Robin Clairefond, Alan Comer, Cyrille Daujean, James Ernest, Evon Fuerst, Georges Gil, Falko Goettsch, Jef Gontier, Mark Gottlieb, Robert Gutschera, Eric Hautemont, Laurent Hyé, Didier Jacobée, Tom Kingsley, Jessica Kristine, Marc, Brigitte et Rémy Laumonnier, Pierre Lemoigne, Brian E. Lewis, Scott Larabee, Ed Liming, Hervé Marly, Elizabeth Marshall, Christian Martinez, Adrien Martinot, Bill McQuillan, Rei Nakazawa, Serge Olivier, Stéphane Pantin, Carine Rampal, Tim Randles, Bill Rose, Aneta Skulska, Daniel Stahl, Bill Slavicsek, Matt Stevens, Brian Tinsman, Jay Tummelson, Rob Watkins, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Warren Wyman, and especially Katty Pepermans.

KEY LARGO was published by:

Parc de l'Événement, 1 allée d'Effiat, 91165 Longjumeau Cedex, France.

Authors: Mike Selinker, Bruno Faidutti, from an original idea by Paul Randles. Testing and development: TILSIT Team. Illustrations: David Cochard. Sculptures: Johann Aumaître. Layout: TILSIT Studio. Made in France. © TILSIT 2005.

Rules Summary

A Day

1. Choosing action cards: Each player secretly chooses their two action cards for the morning and the afternoon.
2. Revealing the morning cards: Each player reveals their first card, the morning one, and places their boat at the corresponding location.
3. Morning actions: Starting with the first player, each player carries out the action matching their card, namely:
   • Dive on a wreck: Draw one wreck card per diver present at the location. Using a weight lets you draw an additional card. Using a trident lets you kill a sea monster.
   • At the Mermaid's Bar: Recruit a diver, buy a round, hire a pickpocket.
   • At Dolphin Cove: Take tourists out to see the dolphins. (Optional rule: draw an encounter card.)
   • At the Old Sea Dog shop: Buy one or two pieces of equipment for your divers.
   • At the Market of Finds: Sell antiques, gold, or goods cards.
4. Revealing the afternoon cards: Each player reveals their second card, the afternoon one, and places their boat at the corresponding location.
5. Afternoon actions: Starting with the first player, each player carries out the action matching their card.
6. Sunset on the ocean: The "First Player" card passes clockwise to the next player. The buoy is advanced one day.

End of the Game

Each player counts their fortune in banknotes, plus the value of their diamonds and their unsold cards. The richest player wins.