Piratas! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Deck Preparation
• Objective
• Setup
• The Player's Turn
• Winning the Game
• Additional Rules
• The Cards
  • Treasure Cards
  • Duel Cards
  • Crew Cards
  • Immediate Resolution Cards
  • Ship Cards
• The Parrot
• Credits

Components

• 6 individual ships/playmats
• 110 Game cards

Deck Preparation

Before the game begins, prepare the deck according to the number of players. Remove cards according to the table below.

Number of players	Remove the cards marked...
2	+3, +4, +5, 6
3	+4, +5, 6
4	+5, 6
5	6
6	Remove nothing

Objective

In Piratas!, the player's goal is to start their turn with 5 or more treasures in hand. If this happens, without taking any other action, the player must show their treasures to the other players. They are then declared the Legend of the 7 Seas.

Setup

Prepare the deck according to the table above. Then deal one playmat to each player; these represent the players' ships. Shuffle the deck and deal 5 cards to each player. Leave the remaining cards face down in the center of the table, within reach of all players, forming a draw deck.

The player who most recently was aboard a seagoing vessel is the one who starts the game.

The Player's Turn

On their turn, a player MUST take two actions. These two actions can be any combination of the ones described below.

Draw a card: the player draws the top card of the deck into their hand.

Note: if, at the end of their turn, a player has more than 7 cards in hand, they must discard cards of their choice until they have only 7 cards.

Play a card: the player plays a card from their hand, following the rules for doing so. See below.

• Treasure cards – Treasure cards cannot be played or discarded by players, but they are the cards that secure victory in the game. By starting one of their turns with 5 or more treasures, the player is declared the winner.

• Immediate resolution cards – Immediate resolution cards are played straight to the discard pile. Their text is resolved the moment the card is played.

• Crew cards – Crew cards are played onto the ship (the playmat), in the spaces set aside for them on the individual playmat. These cards have an effect for as long as they remain on a player's ship. They can be played onto any player's ship.

  Note: each player has room for two crew cards on their ship.

• Ship cards – Ship cards, like crew cards, are played onto a player's ship (playmat). Each ship has a special effect that will help the player reach the game's objective.

  Ship cards have hit points. Every time a player loses a duel, their ship loses ONE hit point. When a ship has lost THREE hit points and the X symbol becomes visible on the playmat, it must be discarded. All cards underneath it return to their owner's hand once combat has fully resolved.

  Note: each player may have only ONE ship card on their playmat.

  Note 2: whenever they wish, a player may swap the ship on their playmat for a new one from their hand, spending an action to do so.

• Duel cards – Using at least ONE duel card, a player may start an attack against another player. The WINNER of a duel looks at the defeated opponent's cards and chooses one card from there to add to their hand.

  A duel proceeds as follows:

  1. The player whose turn it is (the attacking player) names an opponent as the target of their attack.
  2. The attacking player places their cannon card face down on the table in front of them.
  3. If they wish, the attacking player may, as their second action of the turn, add a second duel card to their attack, also face down. To do this, they must not have taken any action before starting the duel, and may not take any action after starting the duel.
  4. The player chosen for the duel (the defender) MAY place up to two duel cards, face down, in front of them on the table.
  5. Both players turn their cannons face up and resolve the duel. The duel is won by whoever has the higher number of shots on the table (remember to add or subtract bonuses from any Crew and Ship cards involved). In case of a tie, the defender wins.
  6. The player defeated in the duel discards their crew and takes one point of damage to their ship.
  7. Both players discard the cannons, parrots, and helmsmen used in the combat.
  8. The winner looks at the defeated player's hand, chooses any card found there, and takes it for themselves.

Winning the Game

If, at the start of one of their turns, a player has 5 or more treasures in hand — before taking any action of the turn — they are declared the winner of the game. To do this, they simply show their treasures to the other players.

Additional Rules

Has the deck run out? Shuffle the cards in the discard pile and form a new central deck.

Bluffing in a duel? When starting a duel, a player may not bluff by placing a card face down that is not a cannon and/or a parrot. Helmsmen cannot start duels.

Do I have to defend myself? No. If, when attacked, you don't want to or can't defend yourself, you simply declare that you won't defend, and the attacking player is considered the winner of that duel.

Parrot in a duel? The Parrot can be used in duels. To do this, the player using the Parrot must have another cannon to copy. In this case, the Parrot gives the same number of shots as the other card played alongside it. If a player has taken their first action of the turn and started a duel using only one cannon card, they may, as their second action, use a parrot to declare a new duel against any player at the table. In this case, the Parrot is placed on the table face down, just as in a normal duel.

Hey, you're counting my cards! Pirates are not honest, so they keep no loyalty to one another and, therefore, have no need to keep secrets. It is up to the players to convince each other of what their opponents hold in their hands. However, it is not allowed to show the cards in your hand to your opponents.

Can I start a duel using only the Pirate card? No. The Pirate, like all cards that add or subtract shots, only has an effect when the player already has at least one shot coming from a cannon card. Note that the minimum number of shots is 0.

The Cards

Treasure Cards

Treasure – This card is worth 1 or 2 treasures. Start a turn with 5 or more treasures in hand to win the game.

• Treasure cards marked 4+ are only included in games with 4 or more players.
• Treasure cards marked 5+ are only included in games with 5 or more players.
• Treasure cards marked 6 are only included in games with 6 players.

Duel Cards

Cannon – This card is worth 1, 2, or 3 shots.

Helmsman – Flee from a duel. When an opponent declares an attack against you, instead of playing cannons to defend yourself, you may play a Helmsman face down and, when the cards are revealed, the duel is voided. No player is declared the winner, no crew is discarded, and no card is stolen. The cards used in the duel are discarded.

Crew Cards

Pirate – Adds 1 shot to your shot total in any duel. If your shot total is ZERO, the Pirate has no effect.

Ghost Pirate – Has no effect. While on a ship, it cannot be discarded by any means, whether by losing duels or through the "Man Overboard" card.

• Cards marked 3+ are only included in games with 3 or more players.

Cursed Pirate – Subtracts 1 shot from your shot total in any duel. If your shot total is ZERO, the Cursed Pirate has no effect.

If, in a duel, you use only 1 shot and have a Cursed Pirate on your ship, but your opponent uses no cannon card to defend, you win the duel. Your opponent was unable to defend themselves, even against a weak attack.

• Cards marked 3+ are only included in games with 3 or more players.

Immediate Resolution Cards

Plunder – Choose an opponent. Then take a random card from their hand.

Man Overboard – Drown (discard) a crew card from any ship in play.

Summon Crew – Place a Crew card from the discard pile onto your ship. If you already have 2 crew cards on your ship and/or there is no crew card in the discard pile, this card cannot be played.

Rum – Draw 2 (two) cards from the central deck.

Spyglass – Choose an opponent. Look at their hand and then you MAY discard any one card from it, except you may not discard Treasure cards.

Treasure Map – Look at the top 4 cards of the central deck. Choose one and add it to your hand, then return the rest to the bottom of the deck in any order you wish.

Ship Cards

Servant of Poseidon – Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, take a card of your choice from the discard pile.

• This card is only included in games with 4 or more players.

Your Highness – Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, take a random card from a player of your choice, provided that player has 5 or more cards in hand.

• This card is only included in games with 4 or more players.

Cyclops Eye – Before taking your two actions for the turn, as an extra action, you may look at the hand of an opponent of your choice.

Steel Hull – Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, place any one card underneath this ship. This card is protected from plundering and duels. There is no limit to the number of cards that can be protected by the Steel Hull, but you may only place ONE card there per turn.

When the Steel Hull is discarded, the cards it protected return to their owner's hand.

Flying Dutchman – You win the game with 4 treasures or more.

If the owner of this ship starts one of their turns with 4 or more treasures in hand, they must show their hand to their opponents and are declared the winner of the game.

Tortuga Merchant – Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, draw a card from the central deck.

Wheel of Fortune – Before taking your two actions for the turn, you may, as an extra action, look at the top two cards of the central deck and place them, in any order you wish, on the top and/or bottom of the deck.

Sea Urchin – Adds 3 shots to your shot total in any duel. If your shot total is ZERO, the Sea Urchin has no effect.

Naval Guerrilla – Adds 2 shots to each cannon card you use in a duel.

The Parrot

The Parrot is a card that can be used in duels, copying a cannon card, or as a normal action, copying an immediate resolution card.

In duels, it can copy a cannon card played at the same time as it, whether defending against an attack or attacking with two cards. It can also be used to start a duel on the player's own turn, provided that, as their first action, the player has already started a duel using only one cannon card. In this case, the Parrot copies the card previously played by this player, but the second attack does NOT need to have the same target as the first.

When copying a Cannon, the Parrot is considered a cannon for all effects in the game.

Credits

• Game Design: Pedro Sales and Renato Simões
• Illustrations: Alex Mamedes
• Graphic Design: Luis Francisco and Vinicius Teixeira
• Publisher: Geeks N' Orcs