Walk the Plank: Deluxe Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
• Cards
  • Shove Left + Shove Right
  • Shove Anyone
  • Extend the Plank + Retract the Plank
  • Drag to Sea + Pull to Ship
  • Run Around
  • I Don't Wan'a Die!
  • Charge!
• Ghost Pirate

Components

• 50 cards (5 sets of 10 cards, in 5 colors)
• 1 Captain's Token
• 15 Pirates (3 of each color)
• 1 Ghost Pirate
• 1 Ship
• 1 Kraken
• 3 Plank pieces
• Rulebook

Setup

1. Start with the ship piece and line up the 3 plank pieces from the edge of the ship to form the plank. Place the Kraken piece at the end of the plank, as shown in the picture below.
2. Each player chooses a color, takes the cards and pirates of that color, and places all of their pirates onto the ship.
3. Randomly determine the starting player and give them the Captain's Token (they will be the starting player of the round).

How to Play

A game is divided into rounds. At the start of each round, all players choose three cards and place them face down, in the order they wish to play them.

Once everyone has chosen their cards, the player with the Captain's Token reveals their first card and performs the action for that card; they must perform that card's action if possible. Then the next player, clockwise (to the left) of the starting player, reveals and uses their first card, and so on. Once everyone has revealed and used their first card in this way, the process is repeated for the second and third cards.

When all cards have been revealed, players return their cards to their hands, except cards with the Skull symbol, which can't be played in two rounds in a row. Leave these cards face up during the next round and return them to your hand once that round ends. Finally, the player with the Captain's Token passes it counter-clockwise to the player on their right, starting the next round. This means the player who played last in the previous round will be first to play in the next round. Remember that the order of play will still go clockwise, to the left.

Players who have no living pirates left are eliminated from the game. After losing their last pirate, they play no more cards in the current round or in any future round. Shove Left/Right cards ignore eliminated players and affect the next surviving player in order. The game continues until only two (or fewer) pirates remain, or until only pirates of a single color remain.

Once one of these conditions has been met, all remaining players' face-down cards are played to finish out the current round. At the end of the final round, those players with surviving pirates win the game, and may finally rejoin the ship's crew. A player can be the sole winner if only pirates of a single color survive to tell the tale. Two players can win together if each has one surviving pirate left. If no one has any surviving pirates, you truly are the worst pirates in the fleet — nobody wins!

Some cards have the "Skull" symbol; these cards can't be played in two consecutive rounds. At the end of a round in which one or more players use one of these cards, they set them aside face up, so the other players know which cards can't be used in the next round. They are set aside even if they produced no effect. Cards that were set aside in the previous round are returned to your hand.

Moving a "space" means moving to one of the three plank pieces or to the ship itself. Any pirate that moves from the last plank piece to the Kraken piece is considered dead and is out of the game for the rest of the match. One or more pirates may be on a single plank piece or on the ship piece.

You must always perform the actions of the cards you play, even if they don't benefit you at that moment. Remember, you are the stupidest pirates in the crew — you might even accidentally shove a friend, or run yourself off the plank!

Cards

Shove Left + Shove Right

One of your pirates shoves another pirate belonging to the player sitting to your left or to your right (depending on the card). The shoved pirate moves one space towards the Kraken.

You must have one of your pirates on the same piece as the pirate you want to shove. If there are multiple pieces where both you and the player to your left/right have pirates, you may choose which pirate to shove. If no piece contains both a pirate of yours and one of the affected player's, this card has no effect. These cards ignore eliminated players; this means that if only two players remain, then Shove Left and Shove Right have the same effect. They never affect the player who played the card.

Shove Anyone

Similar to Shove Left and Shove Right (see above), this card lets you shove any pirate on your piece, moving it one space towards the Kraken. If the only pirate you can shove is one of your own, you must shove it! (For example, this can happen when all of your pirates are on the same piece with no opposing pirate.) This card has no effect if your pirate is alone on the plank piece.

Extend the Plank + Retract the Plank

These cards change the number of plank pieces in play. Extend the Plank adds a plank piece between the last plank piece and the Kraken. There can be a maximum of three plank pieces. This card has no effect if there are already three plank pieces in play. Retract the Plank removes the last plank piece (the one closest to the Kraken), and any pirates in that space fall into the ocean and die immediately. When you use the Retract the Plank card, flip the piece over to show the sea image. There's no need to remove the piece from the game table. If you use the Extend the Plank card, flip the piece back over to show the wooden side.

There must always be at least one plank piece in play, so the card has no effect if only one plank piece remains.

Drag to Sea + Pull to Ship

Drag lets you move one of your pirates, together with any other pirate (even your own) on the same piece, one space towards the Kraken piece. Pull to Ship has the opposite effect: move your pirate and one more (even your own) one space towards the ship. To use these cards, there must be another pirate on the space where you intend to perform these actions. In other words, these actions can't be used by a pirate that is alone on a space.

Run Around

Move one of your pirates one space towards the ship or towards the Kraken. If all of your pirates are on the ship, one of them must climb onto the plank.

I Don't Wan'a Die!

Move one of your pirates one or two spaces towards the ship. Unlike Run Around, this card has no effect if all of your pirates are already on the ship.

Charge!

One of your pirates moves one space towards the Kraken, and then shoves a pirate on the new piece it just arrived at one additional space towards the Kraken. If there is no one to shove, ignore this second part of the card. If the only pirates on that space are your own, you must shove one of them! You may also simply run off the end of the plank with this card because, well, you're stupid.

Note the symbol at the bottom of the card: you may only play this card as your second or third card of the turn. Charge has no effect if it is the first card played during the turn.

Ghost Pirate

The first player eliminated may play the Ghost Pirate. Although the Ghost can't force another player's pirate all the way to the Kraken, it can cause confusion by shoving the remaining pirates from the ship onto the first plank piece.

1. The Ghost Pirate enters play on the ship piece and cannot leave it.
2. The player with the Ghost Pirate discards all of their cards except Shove Left, Shove Right, and Shove Anyone.
3. At the start of each round, the player with the Ghost Pirate chooses a "Shove" card and places it face down as normal. Before the round's first card is revealed, the Ghost Pirate's player declares when the Ghost's card will be played — during the regular turn order on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd card — allowing the Ghost Pirate's player only one card per round.

Example: John, Mary, Anna, and Joe are playing. Mary was eliminated first and she is the Ghost Pirate's player. Mary places Shove Left face down in front of her, while the rest of the players place three cards in front of themselves. Mary declares "2nd card." John has the Captain's Token and plays his first card. Mary is skipped, since her card will only be played once the second cards are resolved. Anna plays, followed by Joe. John plays his second card, and now Mary plays her card. Mary does not play a card when the third cards are resolved.

4. The Shove Anyone card has the Skull Icon, so it is set aside face up at the end of the round when played, and returned on the next round.
5. In a 5-player game, the second player eliminated may also play as the Ghost Pirate, allowing two players to control the Ghost Pirate and each play one card.