Candy Islands Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Cabin Boys Rules
  • Setup
  • Game Turn
  • Phase 1: Preparing the Battle
  • Phase 2: Resolving the Battles
  • Ties
  • End of Turn
  • End of Game
• Old Sea Wolves Rules
  • Setup (Old Sea Wolves)
  • Battle Resolution (Old Sea Wolves)
  • End of Game and Scoring (Old Sea Wolves)
  • Treasures
  • Candy Jars
• Mercenaries
  • Cabin Boys Mercenaries
  • Old Sea Wolves Mercenaries

Components

• 4 screens (paravents), one in each colour
• 48 Candy Cannonballs (12 in each colour)
• 20 Mercenary tokens: 4 of each type: Lollipop (Sucette), Chewing-gum, Bear (Ourson), Candy Cane (Canne à sucre) and Wrapped Candy (Papillote)
• 1 Kraken token
• 40 Island cards, in 4 decks of 10 cards each, made up of:
  • 5 Wanted cards, 2 of which have an anchor symbol
  • 5 Treasure cards, 2 of which have an anchor symbol

The colours of the Island cards are different from the players' colours.

Goal of the Game

Collect the most Chocolate Coins by facing your neighbours in battles of Candy Cannonballs, and become the most Gourmand Pirate of all the seas of the Candy Islands!

Cabin Boys Rules

The following rules apply for your first games. You can then move on to the advanced Old Sea Wolves mode, page 6 of the rulebook (see the Old Sea Wolves section below).

Setup

1. Each player takes a screen and places in their Hold (behind their screen) the 12 Candy Cannonballs of their colour.
2. Take as many Island card decks as there are players. For each deck:
   • set aside the 4 cards that have the anchor symbol in the bottom left;
   • shuffle the 3 Treasure cards;
   • shuffle the 3 Wanted cards and place them on top of the Treasure cards;
   • place each deck between two players.
3. Among the cards set aside, give one Big Candy Jar card to each player, which they place face up in front of their screen. Remove the remaining cards from the game.
4. Place in the centre of the table as many Bear tokens, Chewing-gum tokens and Lollipop tokens as there are players (for example, with 3 players: 3 Bear tokens, 3 Chewing-gum tokens and 3 Lollipop tokens).

Game Turn

A game is played over 6 turns (the number of cards in each deck). On each turn, a player fights two battles at the same time, one against each of their two neighbours, in order to win the Island cards to their right and to their left.

Phase 1: Preparing the Battle

Step 1: Island in sight!

Turn over the first Island card of each deck.

When a Wanted card is revealed, take from the centre of the table the Mercenary token shown on the card and place it on that card.

Step 2: Load the cannons!

A Charge is the contents of one player's hand for each battle.

Each player takes Candy Cannonballs and Mercenary tokens from their Hold to secretly prepare two Charges: one, which they place in their right hand for the battle with their right-hand neighbour, and one in their left hand for the battle with their left-hand neighbour.

The only requirement is that each Charge always contains at least one Candy Cannonball.

Then the player places both hands firmly on the table on each side of their screen, waiting for everyone to be ready.

Step 3: Boarding!

When all players are ready, they shout "Boarding!" ("À l'abordage !") and release their Charges from both hands onto the table at the same time, taking care to stay between their screen and the Island card deck, so as not to mix their Charges with their opponents'.

Phase 2: Resolving the Battles

Step 1: Who is the strongest?

The power of each Charge is equal to the number of Candy Cannonballs it contains, modified by any Mercenaries (see the effects on page 8). The player whose Charge is the most powerful wins the battle.

Step 2: Get to work, sailors!

Any Mercenary tokens used are removed from the game, except Chewing-gums, which return to each player's Hold.

The winner of a battle takes the Island card concerned and places it face up in front of their screen. If the reward is a Wanted card, the player takes the matching Mercenary token and places it in their Hold.

Then the players exchange the Candy Cannonballs used in each battle. Each player takes the Candy Cannonballs from the two opposing Charges (from the players to their left and right) and places them in their Hold. The Candy Cannonballs they played therefore go to their opponents!

Ties

If there is a tie in a battle, the Island card is moved to the side and will be added to the Island card of the next turn. They can be won together.

As long as there is a tie, the cards keep being added to the next turn's card. On the last turn of the game, if there is a tie, nobody wins the card(s).

Example (as printed on the page):

• A: The pink player's Charge has a power of 4: 3 Candy Cannonballs and a Chewing-Gum (+1, see page 8).
• B: The yellow player's Charge has a power of 5: 2 Candy Cannonballs and a Bear (+3, see page 8).
• A: The yellow player wins the battle and the Island card, along with the corresponding token.
• B: The Bear token is removed from the game.
• C: The Chewing-Gum token returns to the pink player (see page 8).
• D: The yellow player takes the 3 Candy Cannonballs of the pink player.
• E: The pink player takes the 2 Candy Cannonballs of the yellow player.

Eight-player variant: you can include up to 8 buccaneers in the game by mixing two game boxes! In this case, make sure that no two players of the same colour sit next to each other!

End of Turn

When all players have collected the Candy Cannonballs of their opponents, a new turn begins with Phase 1. Unless there are no Island cards left to reveal, in which case the game ends.

Following the power of a Lollipop or a Wrapped Candy (see page 8), it may happen in very rare cases that, after the battles are resolved, a player is left with fewer than 2 Candy Cannonballs. In that case, they reveal their Hold, and each player who has at least 4 Candy Cannonballs of the player's original colour must give them one, or even two if that is not enough for them to have 2 Candy Cannonballs again.

End of Game

Each player takes from their Hold the Candy Cannonballs of the colour most present in their Hold and places them on their Big Candy Jar card (if there is a tie, they take only one colour). The Candy Cannonballs placed in this way are magically transformed into Chocolate Coins.

Each player adds up:

• the Chocolate Coins on the Wanted and Treasure cards they have won;
• the Candy Cannonballs transformed into Chocolate Coins thanks to the Candy Jars.

At the end of this count, the player with the most Chocolate Coins is declared the Most Gourmand Pirate of all the Seas of the Candy Islands.

Old Sea Wolves Rules

Here are some adjustments that allow for longer and more tactical games, for experienced buccaneers.

A game of Old Sea Wolves is played over 10 turns.

Setup (Old Sea Wolves)

• Take all 10 cards to make up the Island card decks. The 5 Wanted cards are placed on top of each deck.
• The Big Candy Jars are now part of the deck, so you will have to win them!
• Also take the Candy Cane and Wrapped Candy tokens and place them in the centre of the table.

Battle Resolution (Old Sea Wolves)

Before resolving, apply the effects of any Lollipops, then of any Candy Canes. Then, the players who have played a Wrapped Candy in one of their Charges must shout "I summon the Kraken!" ("J'invoque le Kraken !") and apply its effect.

End of Game and Scoring (Old Sea Wolves)

Each player who has a Small Candy Jar takes from their Hold the Candy Cannonballs of the colour least present in their Hold and places them on that card.

Some players may have several Candy Jars. Well played! In this case, you score points for each Candy Jar you own.

If a player has only one colour of Candy Cannonball at the end of the game, they count both for their Big and their Small Candy Jars.

Treasures

• Small dark chocolate chest: contains 2 Chocolate Coins.
• Medium milk chocolate chest: contains 4 Chocolate Coins.
• Large white chocolate chest: contains 6 Chocolate Coins.

Candy Jars

Candy Jars magically transform Candy Cannonballs into Chocolate Coins! If a player owns several Candy Jars, their effects add up.

• Big Candy Jar: at the end of the game, it is worth as many Chocolate Coins as the greatest number of Candy Cannonballs the player has in a single colour.
• Small Candy Jar: at the end of the game, it is worth as many Chocolate Coins as the smallest number of Candy Cannonballs the player has in a single colour.

Example: at the end of the game, Jérôme owns the following Island cards: 2 Big Candy Jars, one Small Candy Jar, 3 Mercenary cards and 1 chest worth 4 Coins.

He also has the following Candy Cannonballs: 5 pink, 3 black, 2 blue and 2 yellow.

He earns 5 Coins for each of his 2 Big Candy Jars, 2 Coins for the Small Candy Jar, 4 Coins for the Medium milk chocolate chest, and 3 for the other cards, for a total of 19 Chocolate Coins.

Mercenaries

Cabin Boys Mercenaries

Bear (Ourson): "The Chief Gunner" Increase the power of the Charge in which you play it by 3.

Lollipop (Sucette): "The Pillager" When the Charges are revealed, and before resolving a battle, if one of the two opponents has played a Lollipop, they steal one element (a Candy Cannonball or a Mercenary token) from the Charge of the other and immediately add it to one of their two Charges.

If both opponents have a Lollipop in their Charge, nobody steals anything, but both Lollipops are still removed from the game.

Chewing-gum: "The Apprentice Bandit" Increase the power of the Charge in which you play it by 1.

Chewing-gum is the only Mercenary token that is not removed from the game at the end of the battle in which it is played. Return it to your Hold and you may play it again in future turns.

The only way to lose it is to have it stolen by a Lollipop.

Old Sea Wolves Mercenaries

Candy Cane (Canne à sucre): "The Defender" When the Charges are revealed, and before resolving a battle, name one colour of Candy Cannonball present in your opponent's Charge. These Candy Cannonballs do not count for the resolution of the battle (they are worth 0).

Wrapped Candy (Papillote): "The Summoner of the Kraken" If one or more players have placed a Wrapped Candy in a Charge, they shout: "I summon the Kraken!" ("J'invoque le Kraken !").

Move the Kraken token to the battle in which the highest Charge was played (not necessarily a battle in which a Wrapped Candy was played). That battle is resolved normally, but the exchange of Candy Cannonballs for that battle is cancelled (both players keep their Candy Cannonballs). If there is a tie between 2 Charges, the Kraken has no effect.

Wrapped Candies are discarded.

Order of application: apply the power of the Lollipops, then that of the Candy Canes, and finally that of the Wrapped Candies.