Whale Riders: The Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Contents
Setting Up the Game
Playing the Game
Game End
- Example
Simplified Scoring Variant
Longer Game Variants
Advanced Rules
- The Different Port Cards
Credits

Game Contents

65 goods cards

These cards show one of five different goods and supplies (shells, kelp, meat, pottery and pearls). For each type there is also one snow storm card and one "bonus" card depicting two goods.
12 port cards

These cards should be put aside unless players are using the advanced rules (explained at the end of the rule book).

Setting Up the Game

Randomly choose a dealer who shuffles the 65 goods cards before dealing six cards to each player. A player's hand should remain secret throughout the game.
Form a face down draw pile with the remaining goods cards, and place this in the centre of the table. The player to the left of the dealer will play first.

Playing the Game

On a player's turn...

First, a player must play one card from their hand face up on the table in front of themselves. (Cards of the same type should be grouped together.) With these cards, players are putting forward the goods they want to be a part of the consignment to be purchased from the current port.
Then, the player must draw a card from the deck.

Play then continues clockwise around the table to the next player, continuing in this manner until the game ends (see below).

Purchasing a Consignment of Goods

Players purchase goods cards when as many copies of a particular type of good as the number printed on the cards have been played face up among all the players. (For example: 3 shells, but 7 pearls are needed for a sale to occur.)

Immediately after the required number of goods have been played, all players win the face up cards of this good that are in front of themselves and place them aside in a face down score pile. All other face up cards on the table (that do not match the type of good being sold) are discarded and removed from play. (In other words, after players collect their purchased goods from a port, all other goods that were being considered part of the sale are cleared.) After goods are purchased the current player must remember to draw a new card before play will continue with the next player. They will then play what will be the first face up card at the start of a new round.

Bonus Goods Cards

Cards with two goods depicted on them count as two cards for that type of good. (In other words, a sale may be initiated with the value 4 kelp cards using two regular kelp cards and the bonus kelp card.)

Snow Storm Cards

If a player plays the snow storm card of a good type, then the card is discarded immediately, along with all face up cards of that type of good. All other cards remain where they are, and the play continues normally.

Game End

If a player draws the last card of the draw pile, the game continues (without players drawing a card at the end of their turn) until one final purchase of goods occurs. This purchase scores normally and then the game ends. Any remaining cards in players' hands are discarded and have no effect. Note: If players have played all the cards they can and no sale has occured, the game ends anyway.

All players then score the face value for all of the cards they had placed in their score piles during the game. (Shell cards are worth 3 points each, pearl cards are worth 7 points each, etc.) Bonus cards score the same number of points as any other card (i.e. its score is not doubled). The winner has the most points!

Example

In the example, David has just played his second blue pottery card. Pottery will now be sold as 6 pottery icons are on cards played to the table (including Chris's double card). Chris and David will each earn 2 pottery cards to score at the end of the game, while Philip will earn only 1. Sadly, all the other cards on the table will be discarded from the game!

After placing their pottery cards in their personal score piles and discarding all the other cards, David will draw a new card to his hand to end his turn. Then, Philip will take a turn, playing a card to the now empty table.

Simplified Scoring Variant

An easier way to score (especially when playing with younger players) is to count each card as 1 point, instead of its printed value.

Longer Game Variants

Players may agree to play 3 games in succession, comparing their total scores at the end, or to play a succession of games until one player reaches a total score of 100+ (20+ when using the simplified scoring variant).

Advanced Rules

To play the full game of Whale Riders: The Card Game, the port cards also need to be shuffled and placed in their own face down draw deck before the start of play.

Each playing round represents the events in a different port, ending with the sale of one specific consignment. The corresponding cards are won by the whale riders and all the other cards are discarded – all as usual.

However, at the start of each round (either at the start of the game or after a consignment is sold), the whale riders have entered a new port and so a new port card is revealed onto a face up stack next to the deck of port cards. The drawn card indicates the particular trading customs of this port. Until the next sale of goods, the rules of the game are slightly changed depending on what the customs of the current port is.

Once a sale has taken place and all face up cards are either collected to be scored or discarded from the game, a new port card is drawn to replace the previous one and play continues as normal.

If the deck of port cards is ever exhausted, shuffle them together to continue.

The Different Port Cards

Swordfish Port: Shell (3) cards may not be played.
Swordfish Port: Kelp (4) cards may not be played.

The Swordfish Port often bans certain goods. While at port, certain cards are not able to be played. In the rare case that the player on turn has a hand full of banned goods, the player should show their hand, shuffle it into the deck and draw a new hand before playing a card. If there is no draw deck, the game ends.
Ray Port: Shell (3) cards are instantly won. The round continues until a consignment is sold.
Ray Port: Kelp (4) cards are instantly won. The round continues until a consignment is sold.

At Ray Port, some cards are played directly into score piles. This means a consignment without either shell or kelp cards must be purchased to leave this port.
Urchin Port: No bonus cards may be played.
Urchin Port: No snow storm cards may be played.

The Urchin Port is a place where nothing out of the ordinary occurs. In the rare case that the player on turn has a hand full of banned cards, the player should show their hand, shuffle it into the deck and draw a new hand before playing a card. If there is no draw deck, the game ends.
Seagull Port: Cards remain in play until after two sets of different cards qualify to be sold.
Seagull Port: After a consignment is sold, players earn every card in front of them.

The Seagull Port is famous for its generosity. When the top Seagull Port is active, any cards played to make a set of goods larger than the required number are still won.
Seahorse Port: For a consignment to be sold, it requires one extra card.
Seahorse Port: For a consignment to be sold, it requires two extra cards.

The Seahorse Port is a greedy place!
Coral Port: For a consignment to be sold, it requires exactly five goods.
Coral Port: For a consignment to be sold, it requires exactly six goods.

The Coral Port has different prices compared to other ports. Shells, for example, cost more than elsewhere, while pearls will cost less.

Credits

Reiner Knizia thanks all the playtesters who have contributed to the development of the game, in particular Iain Adams, Sebastian Bleasdale, Drak, Gavin Hamilton, Ross Inglis, Kevin Jacklin, and Dave Spring.

Warning: Choking hazard! Keep away from children under the age of 3. Please keep this information for future reference.