Martinique Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Goal
• Preparation
• Playing the Game
• I - Sunrise
  • 1. Placing a Pirate
  • 2. Moving a Pirate
    • A. Moving
    • B. Collecting
    • C. End of Movement Action
    • D. Loading into the Hold
• II - Sunset
  • 1. Digging for the Treasure
  • 2. Revealing the Location of the Lost Treasure
  • 3. Victory Points
• Game Variations
  • The Lost Treasure
  • Number of Pirates a Player Is Obliged to Place

Contents

• 1 game board
• 8 pirates (4 red and 4 black)
• 1 linen bag
• 96 souvenir tiles
• 16 map tiles (8 letters and 8 numbers)
• 3 joker tiles
• 2 counters (1 red and 1 black)

The game board features the following:

1. The island of Martinique
2. Coordinates
3. 'The Hook' bar
4. A hold for each player
5. A scoring track for each player
6. The three Small Treasures
7. The Lost Treasure
8. Bar stools

Goal

Each player is the captain of a pirate ship heading for Martinique to find the Lost Treasure. The player who manages to dig up the Lost Treasure is the winner and his name is added to the illustrious list of great pirates.

If the Lost Treasure is not found, the player with the most victory points wins and the legend lives on...

Preparation

Place the game board in the middle of the table with a hold in front of each player.

Divide the map tiles into two face-down piles: one with letters and one with numbers. Shuffle each pile, remove one tile from each pile without looking and place it face down on the Lost Treasure on the game board. These two tiles form the coordinates of the Lost Treasure.

Remove another tile from each pile and place both tiles face down in the 'The Hook' bar.

Place the three joker tiles face up in the 'The Hook' bar.

Shuffle all remaining map tiles and place them without looking and face down on the game board on the fields with a treasure map.

Put all souvenir tiles in the linen bag. Shuffle the tiles. Then draw souvenir tiles from the bag and place them at random and face up on the empty fields of the island with the exception of the fields of the 'The Hook' bar, no souvenir tiles are placed here.

Draw souvenir tiles from the bag for the Small Treasures. The number of tiles to be placed on each Small Treasure equals the size of the treasure. This means 2 tiles on the smallest treasure, 3 on the next and 4 on the largest.

Place the bag with the remaining tiles next to the game board. These tiles will be used later on to fill up the Small Treasures.

Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding four pirates and counter. The player with the black game pieces begins the game.

Playing the Game

The game consists of two stages:

I - Sunrise — The pirates move across the island to find information about the treasure and load souvenirs into the hold.

II - Sunset — The pirates dig for the treasure.

I - Sunrise

Each player plays in turn.

In his turn the player chooses one of the following actions:

1. Placing a pirate, or
2. Moving a pirate

1. Placing a Pirate

The player places a pirate on the beach, i.e. any field at the edge of the island.

The other player then takes turn.

2. Moving a Pirate

Note: a player may only move a pirate if he has at least three pirates on the game board! The last pirate can be placed on the island in any later turn.

A. Moving

The player moves one of his pirates on the game board over the island. The number of steps to be taken is indicated by the number on the tile on which the pirate stands before being moved. The pirate needs to take the exact number of steps indicated on the tile and may not pass the same tile twice in the same turn.

Rules for moving pirates:

• the pirate may only be moved horizontally and/or vertically.
• the pirate may be moved through empty fields. Each field represents one step.
• the pirate may be moved through the 'The Hook' bar. Each field represents one step.
• the pirate may not end its turn on a field occupied by another pirate.
• the pirate may nevertheless move through a field occupied by another pirate. If this pirate belongs to your opponent, you may turn one of his face down map tiles face up (provided he has any in front of him). This tile remains face up for the rest of the game.

B. Collecting

The player takes the souvenir or map tile on which his pirate stood before being moved and places this tile in front of him (in his personal supply).

• The souvenir tiles are placed face up in the personal supply of the player. These tiles are used to collect Small Treasures.
• The map tiles provide information about the location of the Lost Treasure. Each player places these tiles face down in front of him so that the opponent cannot see this important information. Players may at any time look at the secret information on the map tiles in their personal supply.

Note: All numbers and letters of the coordinates appear only once on the map tiles. By collecting the information on the tiles on the game board the players can find out which tiles are not on the game board and thus determine the coordinates of the Lost Treasure.

C. End of Movement Action

If a pirate ends his movement action on a field with a souvenir or map tile, the pirate remains on this tile.

If a pirate ends his movement on an empty field (without a tile), the pirate is placed on the first empty stool at the bar.

If a pirate ends his movement in 'The Hook', the pirate is placed on the first empty stool at the bar. He also takes one bonus tile from 'The Hook' (if any left):

• one joker tile, which the player can use for any souvenir with the action "Loading into the hold"; or
• one map tile, which gives the player more information about the location of the Lost Treasure. He places this tile face down in front of him.

D. Loading into the Hold

At the end of his movement action the player checks whether he can load Small Treasures into his hold. If one player has the same combination as the souvenir tiles on one of the three Small Treasures, he must perform the following steps:

1. The player removes the souvenir tiles in question from his personal supply and places them next to the game board.
2. He takes the tiles from the Small Treasure and places them face down in a pile in his own hold. Each Small Treasure constitutes a new pile.
3. The same number of souvenir tiles is drawn from the linen bag to fill up the Small Treasure again.

Important:

• Only the symbols on the souvenir tiles matter when loading a Small Treasure into the hold. The number on the tile does not play any role.
• If a player can choose between two Small Treasures to load into the hold, he may choose which treasure he wants to load into his hold. A player can only take one Small Treasure each turn.
• A joker tile can be used at any time during the game. This tile therefore does not need to be used immediately.
• The number of loads (piles) in the hold is unlimited.

The other player then takes turn.

Stage I - Sunrise ends as soon as all pirates are sitting at the bar and is immediately followed by Stage II - Sunset.

II - Sunset

This stage begins as soon as all 8 pirates are sitting on a stool at the bar. All tiles remaining on the island are removed. Take care that the information on the map tiles is not revealed!

This stage consists of the following steps:

1. Digging for the Treasure

The order of play is determined by the position of the pirates on the stools at the bar. The pirate on the 1st stool goes first, followed by the pirate on the 2nd stool etc.

The active player places his pirate on an empty field where he assumes the Lost Treasure is located. This step ends when all 8 pirates have been placed on the island.

Note: It is possible that one player takes a turn several times in a row.

Important: A player can determine the coordinates of the Lost Treasure based on all information collected during the game: his own collection of map tiles, his opponent's map tiles turned face up, as well as the location where his opponent has placed his pirates.

2. Revealing the Location of the Lost Treasure

When all pirates have been placed on the island, the coordinates of the Lost Treasure are revealed by turning the map tiles on the Lost Treasure on the board face up.

The player who placed one of his pirates on the correct field wins the game! His name will be added to the illustrious list of great pirates and rulers of the seven seas and the world will just have to show consideration!

If neither player has a pirate on the coordinates of the treasure, the player with the most victory points wins the game.

3. Victory Points

Skip this step if the treasure has been found. The winner is already known!

Victory points are awarded as follows:

• The player with the highest number of loads (piles) in the hold gets 2 points;
• For every souvenir tile loaded into the hold the players get the number of victory points indicated on the tile;
• For every set of two identical souvenir tiles in their personal supply the players get 2 points. The numbers on the tiles do not matter.

Mark the score of each player with the counter on their scoring track.

If both players have the same number of victory points, the player with the highest number of loads in his hold wins. If the number of loads is also the same, neither player wins.

Game Variations

The Lost Treasure

In a standard game, the player who discovers the Lost Treasure automatically wins the game, irrespective of the number of victory points collected.

Players may also decide to award 20 victory points for the discovery of the Lost Treasure. In this case, the player with the most victory points wins the game. If there is a tie, the player with the highest number of loads (piles) in his hold wins. If this number is also the same, neither player wins.

Number of Pirates a Player Is Obliged to Place

In a standard game, a player first has to place 3 pirates on the island before pirates may be moved over the island. This number can also be adjusted. The level of difficulty increases with the number of pirates a player is obliged to place.