Plunder (2013)
Plunder (2013) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Each Captain chooses a pirate, takes as many Crew cards as there are players in the game and takes the corresponding Solution Grid for their pirate. Place your Crew cards in a stack in front of you so all players can see which Pirate Captain you are during the game. Place the Treasure Chest in the center of the table and remove the lid so the Chest sits open.
Deal an Island, Marker and Trap Map card face down to each player. These cards indicate where each pirate's treasure is hidden. There are no duplicate cards, which means the Island, Marker and Trap Cards that you were dealt cannot be held by any other pirate. Put the rest of the Map Cards back in the box, face down, without looking at them.
Separate the Clue cards by color into three face down decks in the middle of the playing area.
Select one of you scurvy dogs to go first by any means you choose.
How to Play
The player whose turn it is flips face up the top card of each of the three Clue decks. This player then has the option to flip an additional single Clue card face up off the top of one of the decks to try to change one of the three Clue cards revealed. Once the player has changed one Clue card or opted to stay with the first three cards, the player announces the three cards revealed.
Each other player in turn order, clockwise around the table, must now say one of the following:
"Aye!" If that player has one or more secret Map cards that match the revealed Clue cards.
"Nay!" If that player has no secret Map cards that match the revealed Clue cards.
NOTE: the player whose turn it is DOES NOT state Aye or Nay. Once everyone else has answered, the current player's turn ends and the turn passes to the next player on their left.
Using the Solution Grids
Each turn is a day on the left side grid. Once the three Clue cards are revealed, each player should mark them down on their left grid under Island, Marker and Trap. Then mark a Y or N under each Pirate to note their answer.
The grids on the right side should be used to keep track of cards you think a pirate has or doesn't have. For example, if you think Sneaky Pete cannot have his treasure on Whale island or Starfish island, then place an X in those boxes. If you think he might have hidden it on Parrot island, place an O there.
The player who lost their treasure adjusts the points on their My Treasure row on their Solutions Grid each time someone steals their treasure by first crossing out the 6, then the 3 and finally the 1.
Digging Up Treasure
At any time, when you think you have figured out the location of another pirate's treasure, take one of your Crew cards. Circle the Island, Marker and Trap you believe to be correct. Then toss your Crew Card with the answer side face down into the Treasure Chest. Keep in mind, once you send your Crewmember to dig, they cannot come back from the Treasure Chest. And if you happen to use a Crew card to send a Crewmember to the exact same location more than once, only the first one can recover treasure. Only your first correct guess scores for any particular treasure.
Game End and Scoring
After everyone has used up all of their Crew Cards, or 15 days have elapsed, the game ends. Use the Score chart above your left grid to total your score. Each pirate's treasure is worth 6 Treasure points if no other pirate captain finds it, so you begin with six points as indicated by the 6 in the My Treasure scoring row.
Now flip the Treasure Chest over so the cards inside form a deck showing the answers face up. Announce the first answers on the top card of this deck. If no pirate has a matching set, then start a discard pile and flip the next card. This creates a deck at the end of the game containing all of the answers in the correct order they were played (which will come in handy if the game ends in a tie).
If the answers are correct and match a pirate's secret location, then that Pirate must reveal their three Map cards. The player who sent the Crew Card there first steals 3 Treasure points and notes this above the corresponding pirate in the Stolen Treasure row. The second player to get this location correct receives 2 Treasure points and the third receives 1 Treasure point. All others receive zero, there is no plunder for them.
After all of the Crew cards have been revealed, players add up all points from treasures they stole plus whatever treasure they had remaining. Whoever has the most total points wins the game. If there is a tie, whichever one of those pirates found treasure first wins.