Potato Pirates Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Getting Started
• How To Win
• Getting Sunk
• Playing A Turn
  • Draw 2 Cards
  • Build OR Attack
  • Buy Ships & Reshuffle Crew
• Anchor & Battle
• Anchor & Battle (Continued)
• Attacking & Reshuffling
• Ship Cards
• Card Types
  • Action Cards
  • Control Cards
  • Bug Cards
  • Surprise Cards
• Advanced War Tactics
  • Basic "For" Loop
  • Nested "For" Loop
  • Basic "While" Loop
  • "While" + "For" Loop
  • Basic "If - Else"
  • "If - Else", cont.
  • "If - Else" + "For"
  • "If - Else" + "While"
• The Frying Dutchpan
• S.S. MEGACHIP

Components

Total Cards: 107

• Fry x 8
• Roast x 12
• Mash x 12
• Hack x 2
• Loot x 4
• Hijack x 4
• Switch x 4
• Deny x 10
• For 2 times x 4
• For 3 times x 4
• For x times x 2
• For y times x 2
• While > 4 x 2
• While > 5 x 2
• While > 6 x 2
• If, else ≤ 5 x 2
• If, else ≤ 4 x 2
• If, else ≤ 3 x 2
• Potato King x 7
• The Frying Dutchpan x 1
• S.S. MEGACHIP x 1
• Ships (Battle/Anchor) x 18
• Small Potato Crew x 70
• Large Potato Crew x 14

Getting Started

Each player begins with the following:

• 2 ship cards (battle/anchor)
• 5 playing cards
• 20 potato crew, 10 on each ship (1 large potato = 5 small potatoes)

The player who last ate french fries starts the game.

How To Win

Hidden within the deck are 7 Potato Kings (Bug cards). A player wins the round once he/she has acquired all 7 Potato King cards, or if all the other players are eliminated from play.

An alternate winning rule for a shorter game dictates that when the deck is exhausted, the player with the most Potato King cards wins.

Getting Sunk

Each ship needs at least 1 potato crew onboard, or it will sink. Any cards onboard the ship go down with it, and are put into the discard pile.

Losing all ships and crew would mean elimination, and any cards in your hand (including revealed Potato King cards) will be surrendered to the person who removed you from play.

Should you still have crew but no ship, you have till the end of your next turn to obtain a ship (purchase, hijack etc.) to remain in-game.

Playing A Turn

The printed turn summary has three parts: Draw 2 cards; Build OR Attack; and Buy Ships & Reshuffle crew.

Draw 2 Cards

If you draw a Bug Card, reveal it immediately.

There is no limit on the number of cards in your hand, but be careful of attacks that take advantage of large hand sizes!

Build OR Attack

For each ship that you own, either build OR run your attacks during a turn.

You cannot perform both actions on the same ship in one turn.

Buy Ships & Reshuffle Crew

Any time during your turn, you can exchange 4 potato crew in return for a ship.

You can also reshuffle your potato crew amongst your anchored ships.

Anchor & Battle

Each ship has two modes: Anchor, and Battle.

Anchored ships cannot attack, but can be equipped with cards and have their crew shuffled.

You can rearrange/remove already equipped cards on them as well. However, this is considered as modifying the ship and you cannot go to "Battle" on that turn.

Battle mode runs the attacks to damage other ships.

Regardless of whether the attack is successful, all cards equipped are discarded after the attack and the ship stays in battle mode until the next turn. Therefore, you cannot add cards on the ship right after an attack.

Anchor & Battle (Continued)

Stack Action/Control cards on an anchored ship to build an attack. Each ship can house a maximum of 3 cards (inclusive of control & action cards).

When attacking, each ship can only attack 1 enemy ship, even if your attack exceeds the number of potatoes on the target ship.

Attacking & Reshuffling

You can attack an enemy ship regardless of whether they are in "Anchor" or "Battle". The enemy ship will lose the corresponding amount of potatoes based on the attack. These potatoes are discarded from the game and the attacker does not take them. Do note that each ship can only attack 1 enemy ship. (unless you use the If-Else card in your attacks, see page 17)

Any time during your turn, you can reshuffle your potato crew among your ships. However, this can only be done among ships that are in "Anchor". Ships in "Battle" cannot have their crew moved around as they're engaged in combat.

Ship Cards

Ships can only be bought during your turn by trading in 4 potato crew members for one new ship. You have to assign at least 1 crew to the new ship. Hence, if you have only 4 potato crew members left, you cannot buy a new ship.

Once bought, ships are non-refundable. You cannot sell your ships or trade them with other players for potato crew members.

However, during desperate times, you can choose to abandon your ships on your turn. The potatoes onboard can be reshuffled to another ship in your fleet.

Card Types

Action Cards

Action cards can only be played on ships that are anchored, and it allows the ship to attack others. Once executed, they must be discarded. These cards can be stacked with one another or with control cards to form more powerful attacks.

When a player is attacked, he must discard potatoes according to the amount of damage the cards deal. Remember, these potatoes are not given to the attacker.

Roast: Attack for 1 potato's worth of damage. Sour cream optional.

Mash: Attack for 2 potatoes' worth of damage. Don't forget the gravy.

Fry: Attack for 3 potatoes' worth of damage. Season with salt.

Control Cards

Control cards boost action cards. They do not do any damage on their own, but when paired with action cards, they can create some serious damage.

For a more detailed explanation on the use of control cards, see section "Advanced War Tactics" on page 25.

If, Else: "If-else" cards are conditionals that execute an attack should the "If" condition be true, or execute a separate attack should the "If" condition be false. It is the only control card that allows you to attack all enemy ships in the game. This will not attack your ships.

You can choose to build an attack on either side or both sides of the card.

"While" Loop: "While" cards are conditional loops that repeat an attack until the condition given is no longer true.

"For" Loop: "For" cards are loops that repeat an attack for the corresponding number of times.

"For x times" Loop: A "For x times" card works similarly to a regular "For" card, but the number of times this card runs is determined by the number of cards in your opponent's hand. Revealed Potato King cards are also considered as part of the opponent's hand.

"For y times" Loop: A "For y times" card works similarly to a regular "For" card, except the number of times this card runs is determined by the number of ships that you own.

How to stack your control and action cards: Control cards are always placed above action cards. "For" and "While" cards stack vertically. The "If, Else" setup is in a pyramid shape.

Bug Cards

Each bug is a clue that brings you closer to finding King Edward. Collect all 7 to win the game! Upon drawing the bug card, reveal immediately. Should it be dealt in your starting hand, reveal on your first turn. All players must shout "POTATO KING!" and salute the finder - the last to do so will have to pay the finder 2 potatoes.

Once revealed, it remains out in the open next to your ships and it is considered to be part of your hand. Bug cards cannot be interrupted or cancelled by Deny cards.

When you loot a Potato King card, you get to use it again. However, if you obtain it by defeating an enemy, you do not play it again since everyone knows that you have it.

Surprise Cards

Surprise cards can be played anytime, even when it is NOT your turn. Hence, SURPRISE!

Hijack: Take over a player's ship and the cards under it. Ships in "Battle" cannot be hijacked. If you do not modify the attack on the hijacked ship, you may flip the ship to "Battle" mode on your turn. The hijacker gets no potato crew as the crew would rather walk the plank. He or she also has to shuffle his crew after hijacking to ensure at least 1 potato is onboard the hijacked ship.

The victim's potatoes need to seek refuge in the nearest ship, and they can only be reshuffled on the victim's turn. If the victim has no ships left after being hijacked, they must wait till their turn to buy a new one.

Switch: The "Switch" card gives you rewards depending on how many ships you have.

• 1 ship: Get a new ship, which comes with 1 potato crew
• 2 ships: You can pick a card from the discard pile secretly
• 3 ships: Draw 3 more cards from the draw pile
• 0 ships, or more than 3 ships: You get nothing

Loot: Steal 2 cards from a player's hand. The player will shuffle in any revealed Potato King cards before letting the looter draw 2 cards at random.

Note: If you loot a Potato King from a player, you get to play it like a normal Potato King card.

Deny: Summon the Kraken to negate everything except bug cards. Denying an attack denies the entire command - a successful deny of the if-else command by one person negates the attack for everybody, so negotiate well. Once denied, the unsuccessful attack will be discarded. Deny cards can be denied by another deny card which can be denied by another deny card, which can be... you probably get it.

Hack: Flip any ship (including enemy ships) to "Battle" mode and you get to use its attacks immediately on any target of your choice. The ship is not considered yours so if the attack is an "If-else" card, you will receive damage as well.

Advanced War Tactics

These are the most tightly guarded secrets from the legendary lost book, "The Art of Potato War".

Basic "For" Loop

Action cards stacked under "For" loop cards will be repeated for the stated number of times. In the example in Figure 1 (a "For 3 times" card stacked over a Roast card), the variable (3) tells us that the instruction (roast) is repeated 3 times, dealing a total damage of 3.

Nested "For" Loop

When a "For" loop is placed under another "For" loop, this is known as a nested loop, which fortifies the multiplier effect. In the attack in Figure 2 (a "for 2 times" card over a "for 3 times" card over a Roast), the first loop ("for 2 times") repeats the instruction under it ("for 3 times") twice. The second loop ("for 3 times") repeats the instruction under it ("roast") thrice. This attack deals a total damage of 6.

Basic "While" Loop

"While" loops allow attacks to repeat as long as the condition stated on the card is true. In Figure 3 (a "While > 4" card over a Fry card), the attack reads as "While target ship has more than 4 potatoes, fry" (deal 3 damage). If the target ship has 14 potatoes, the ship will repeatedly get hit for a damage of 3 until it has 4 or fewer potatoes. In this case, the fry attack will be run on the target ship 4 times (14-3-3-3-3 = 2), stopping only when the number of potatoes onboard the ship is fewer than or equal to 4. Savage.

Due to the mechanics of this game, it may not make sense to stack too many attacks in a "While" card because no matter how strong your attack, the ending condition will be the same.

"While" + "For" Loop

"For" loops can be played within a "While" loop. If the attack in Figure 4 (a "While > 4" card over a "For 3 times" card over a Roast) is played on an enemy ship with 9 potatoes, each time the "While" loop runs, it will roast 3 times, hence the enemy will be left with 3 potatoes (9-3-3 = 3).

It may not be advisable to stack a "While" loop under a "For" loop or a "While" loop in another "While" loop. However, in actual programming, it is not uncommon to do that. Can you explain why?

Basic "If - Else"

In Figure 5 (a Fry card played on the "If ≤ 3" side of an "If ≤ 3 / Else" card), when a "Fry" is played on the "If ≤ 3" side, you get to damage 3 potatoes on all enemy ships that have 3 potatoes or fewer. Ships with 4 or more potatoes get no damage because no action cards were played on the "Else" side.

"If - Else", cont.

Continuing with the previous example, if we stack a "Roast" card on the "Else" condition (as shown in Figure 6), this attack will now be able to damage ships with 4 or more potatoes.

Reshuffling potato crew amongst your ships on your turn will come in handy to avoid such "If-Else" attacks.

Don't forget, you can abandon ships and concentrate your forces on 1 ship as a last resort!

"If - Else" + "For"

The setup shown in Figure 7 (a "For 3 times" card over a Roast card, stacked on the "If ≤ 3" side) allows you to afflict multiple damage to multiple ships by nesting "For" loops in the "If-Else" conditionals. In this case, all ships that have 3 or fewer potatoes are roasted thrice.

"If - Else" + "While"

Figure 8 shows arguably the most powerful setup in the game - a "While" loop inside the "If-Else" card. In Figure 8, a "While > 4" card over a Roast card is stacked on the "Else" side. In this case, all ships that have 4 or more potatoes will be roasted until they have 4 potatoes or fewer.

If you stack 2 cards on one side of the If-Else card, you cannot stack anything else on the other side. Each ship can only be equipped with a maximum of 3 cards.

The Frying Dutchpan

The Frying Dutchpan allows whichever ship it possesses to use its attacks forever. Stacking this ghostly being to any of your ships means the attack does not need to be discarded. However, the possessed ship must still be flipped back to "Anchor" in order to modify its attacks. Beware of "Hijacks" when you do that!

When your ship loses all its potatoes, this card will sink with it and go to the discarded pile. If the ship is hijacked, the hijacker takes the Frying Dutchpan card too, so prepare your Deny cards.

S.S. MEGACHIP

Behold the glory of Potato King Edward's pirate ship. The S.S. MEGACHIP is carbo-loaded with the rarest chip in whole of the Carbboean Sea, a.k.a. Carbridge.

Stack this card on one of your ships and that vessel will be able to house a maximum of 5 action and control cards. More cards, more punch, more destruction! Similarly, when the ship it is attached to is hijacked or sunk, this card follows suit.