Playa Pirata
Playa Pirata Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
A deck of 88 cards divided as follows:
- 15 Treasure cards (values: 3-3-4-4-5-5-6-6-7-7, four Skull Treasures, and one Treasure with Towel)
- 12 Pirate cards (3 × 4 different colors)
- 48 Beach Towel cards (12 × 4 different colors)
- 10 special cards (to be used only with the game variant)
- 3 summary cards
Also needed: pencil and notepad.
Preparation
Each player chooses a color and takes the 15 matching cards: 3 Pirate cards and 12 Beach Towel cards. Shuffle the 15 Treasures face down and deal to each player:
- 2 players: 5 treasures (5 are left over)
- 3 players: 4 treasures (3 are left over)
- 4 players: 3 treasures (3 are left over)
Take the leftover Treasures (3 or 5), put one face down in the middle of the table, and set the rest aside without anyone looking at them.
Your hand is thus made of Pirate, Treasure, and Beach Towel cards. Since these cards are played in different parts of your turn, you may find it easier to hold the first group (Pirates and Treasures) in your hand during the first phase, then the others (Beach Towels) later, leaving the cards you are not using in a pile face down in front of you.
The Game
The game is played in turns in clockwise order. The last player to visit a beach starts.
The First Turn
The First Turn is special: Each player, beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, must "bury" (i.e., play) one Treasure from his hand. To bury a Treasure, place it face down on the table with the "X" showing and the value hidden. Only you know the value of this Treasure (for now!). Once all players have buried one Treasure, the First Turn ends.
The Following Turns
From now on, all players take regular turns.
On your turn, you must do the following, in order:
- You must play one Treasure or Pirate card;
- You must play one or more Beach Towel cards.
1) Playing a Treasure or Pirate Card
On your turn, you must play one of these cards from your hand. You may choose to play a Treasure or a Pirate.
a. Playing a Treasure
Like the First Turn, when you play a Treasure, you must bury it (i.e., place it on the table face down so the value is not visible).
There are three kinds of Treasures:
- Treasure with a Number: The number in the corner shows how many points the Treasure is worth (from 3 to 7).
- Treasure with Towel: At the end of the game, this Treasure is worth twice the number of Beach Towel cards played on it (regardless of value), up to a maximum of eight points.
- Example: At the end of the game, a Treasure with Towel has 3 Beach Towel cards on it. It's worth 3 × 2 = 6 points. If it had 7 towels on it, it would be worth 8 points (not 7 × 2 = 14).
- Treasure with a Skull: Alone, this Treasure is worth zero points. But, if you have two Skulls at the end of the game, they are worth ten points together. If you have three of them, they are worth 18 points! Four skulls don't give you any more points (they are still worth 18).
Important: Each player is trying to collect the most valuable Treasures, regardless of who buried them!
b. Playing a Pirate
When you play a Pirate card, place it on the discard pile. Each Pirate card allows you to take a special action:
- Pirate with a Telescope: You can peek at one buried Treasure! Then, put it back where it was, face down, along with any Beach Towel cards that were on it (be careful not to change the order of the towels!).
- Pirate with a Map: You may turn one buried Treasure face up! All players will know the value of that Treasure for the rest of the game. Place any Beach Towel cards that were on it slightly offset so the value of the Treasure is still visible.
- Pirate with a Beach Umbrella: You may conquer one buried Treasure! You may only play this card on a Treasure that you already control at the beginning of your turn (i.e., the Beach Towel card on top of the stack is yours). Once a Treasure has a Beach Umbrella on top of it, no one can play any more Beach Towels on it.
- Exception: If, during the last game turn, you only have a Beach Umbrella left to play, and you don't control any Treasures, place your Beach Umbrella in front of you. It will be worth one point at the end of the game.
2) Playing Towel Cards
After you play a Treasure or Pirate card on your turn, you must play one or more of your Beach Towel cards, distributing them as you please on a maximum of two buried Treasures to "control" them.
All Beach Towel cards played on a Treasure must be placed in a stack so only the card on top is visible. You control the Treasure if the card on top is your color.
Each Beach Towel card shows one, two, or three towels – the value of the card. You can play any value of Beach Towel card(s) on top of a Treasure that has no cards on it, but if the Treasure already has towels on it, you must exceed the value of the last card played there (i.e., the single visible card on top of the stack).
You may use one or more Beach Towel cards to exceed the value of the top card. If you use more than one card, you must show them to the other players, then add them to the top of the pile. The top card must the one with the lowest value. Any other player that wants to control this Treasure only has to beat the single card on top of the stack.
Remember: You cannot play Beach Towel cards on a Treasure with a Beach Umbrella on it!
Examples:
This buried Treasure already has a blue Beach Towel card worth 3 towels on top of it. Red wants to take over this Treasure, so he must play cards with a total value of 4 or higher. If he plays a card worth 3 and a card worth 1, he must put the 3-towel card on the stack first, then the 1-towel card on top. Only the 1-towel card will be visible. If green wants to take over this Treasure on her turn, she only needs to play Beach Towel cards with a total value of 2 or more. Even a single 2-towel card is good enough!
You could also exceed a card worth 3 towels by playing two cards worth 2 each, or four cards worth 1, or any other combination that added together totals four or higher. You could even play two cards worth 3 towels each – it would cost you two very valuable cards, but you would be able to play a 3-towel card on top of the stack, making it much harder for another player to take it over!
(The rulebook's example diagrams mark two stacks with "The value is not exceeded!")
If you cannot play any of your Beach Towel cards, you must show your hand to the other players and skip this part of your turn. This could happen if you run out of towels or if all the buried Treasures have a 2- or 3-value card on top and you only have one or two 1-towel cards left.
Once you have played one Treasure or Pirate card and played one or more Beach Towels, your turn is over and play passes to the player on your left.
End of the Game
Once all players have played all of their Treasure and Pirate cards, the game ends (so, eight turns in a two-player game, seven turns in a three-player game, or six turns in a four-player game). At this point, there is a special Final Turn, played only by the player who started the game. That player may only play Beach Towels this turn – as many as he wants, following the normal rules – but only on one Treasure.
Note: Beach Towel cards are not counted when determining if the game ends.
Finally, it is nighttime and the pirates can dig up the Treasures under their towels!
Each player takes all the Treasure cards he controls: the one with his Beach Umbrella and any that have his Beach Towel card on top.
Each Treasure is worth as many points as the number on the card (exception: Skulls or Treasure card with Towel: see above). Add 1 point for each Beach Towel card you did not play (a 2- or 3-towel card is still worth only 1 point). Don't forget to add 1 point if you weren't able to play your Beach Umbrella card by the end of the game.
Example: At the end of the game, the red player controls these 4 Treasures. He also has 4 Beach Towel cards still in hand (values: 1, 2, 2, 3). So, his score is: 0 (Skull) + 3 + 6 + 8 (max) + 4 = 21 points. If he had gained 1 more Skull, he would have scored 10 for them, and thus 31 points total.
Write down the scores on the notepad.
Multiple Hands and Winning
Play as many hands as the number of players, adding the scores from hand to hand. Starting player shifts one place clockwise each hand, so each player starts a hand once during the game.
After all hands are complete, the player with the most points wins and can celebrate with the famous pirate battle cry: "Arrrr!"
If there is a tie, the winner is the tied player who scored the single highest score in any single hand. If they're still tied, the victory is shared.
If you are in the mood for a shorter game, just play one hand or two. If you play two hands, the player with the lowest score in the first hand chooses which position to play in the second hand.
Game Variant: Special Cards
If you are an inveterate pirate looking for an extra challenge, try Playa Pirata with the following variant!
During preparation, shuffle the deck of special cards separately and give a number of cards equal to one more than the number of players to the player sitting to the left of the starting player (so, in a four-player game, give him five cards). Remove the rest of the special cards from the game.
That player looks at the special cards and picks one card to add to his hand. Then, he passes the remaining cards face down to the player on his left, who also picks one card to keep and passes the rest. Continue until the starting player receives the last two special cards. He keeps one and removes the last one from play without revealing it.
Each special card has a specific effect and a way that it must be played. Some are played during the game (discarding them or keeping them in front of you), others held until the end of the game.
Important: Playing your special card is in addition to your normal actions on your turn.
Special Card Effects
- Sand Castle (worth 3): Each 3-towel card you have left in your hand at the end of the game is worth 3 points instead of 1.
- Skeleton (worth 3): If you have at least one Skull at the end of the game, this card is worth 3 points. Otherwise, it's worth 0. If you have two or more Skulls, it's still only worth 3 points.
- Wave (worth 3): This card is worth 3 points at the end of the game if you have two Treasures with the exact same value (Skulls do not count).
- King Size Beach Towel: Play this card next to a buried Treasure. Any Beach Towels played on this Treasure must exceed the value of the top card by at least two towels instead of only one.
- Jolly Roger: Play this card next to a Treasure when you bury it. Other special cards and Pirate cards played on that Treasure have no effect.
- Beach Bucket: When you play this card, peek at one buried Treasure that has a 3-towel card on top of its stack.
- Lifeguard: You may play this card at the start of the game or during your turn. You can look at all the Treasure cards in any one player's hand.
- Flip-Flops: When you play this card, you can move your Beach Umbrella to any other Treasure that you control. Your Beach Umbrella must already be in play for you to use this card.
- Piggybank: When you play this card, take one of your played Beach Towel cards back into your hand. You can only take back a card worth two towels or less, but you can take it even if it is not on the top of its stack.
- The Parrot: When you play this card, for the rest of that turn, you may play Beach Towel cards on top of a Treasure by matching the value of the top card, instead of having to exceed it.