Cartagena: Escape Diaries Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• • Components
• First Escape
  • Aim of the Game
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
    • Move 1 pirate FORWARD - play 1 card
    • Move 1 pirate BACKWARD - draw 1 or 2 cards
  • End of the Game
  • Example of a turn
• Second Escape: Follow the Captain
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
    • Move Forward
    • Move Backward
• Third Escape: Risky Rafts
  • Setup
    • Example
  • Gameplay
    • Playing a card with a grey background
    • Crew and Hole Tokens
    • Tokens with an X
    • Example (continued)
    • Boarding a Raft
    • Raft Goes to Sea
    • Raft Sinks
    • End of Game
• Fourth Escape: All Together Now!

Components

• 30 Pirates (6 in each color)
• 6 Board segments
• 2 Rule booklets
• 1 Sloop
• 108 Cards
• 1 Beach tile
• 1 Prison cell
• Second Escape: 5 Captain hats
• Third Escape: 6 Rafts, 40 Tokens, 1 Wharf segment

First Escape

Aim of the Game

Each player controls a group of 6 pirates and tries to get all 6 to escape through the tortuous underground passages connecting Cartagena's fortress to the beach where a sloop is waiting for them.

The winner is the first player to get all 6 of their pirates aboard the sloop!

Setup

Some cards may show a grey background. They count as regular cards for this rulebook.

1. Connect the 6 board segments together to create a continuous path. This represents the passage the pirates must traverse to reach the beach and the waiting sloop. Each space on the path is marked by an icon.
2. Place the prison cell at the beginning of the path and the beach tile with the sloop at the end.
3. Each player takes a set of 6 pirates of the same color and places them on the prison cell.
4. Shuffle the card deck and deal each player 6 cards face down. The players take the cards into their hands hidden from other players.* (*For an expert variant, players keep their cards face up on the table.)
5. Place the deck face down and reveal the first 10 cards in a row to the left of the deck. The row of cards is a card supply. On the right side of the deck, leave space for a discard pile.
6. Place the rest of the components back in the box.
7. The player who has most recently been to the sea is the starting player.

Gameplay

The game starts with the starting player and continues in clockwise order. On their turn, a player may take up to 3 actions, performed in any order and in any combination they choose.

There are 2 possible actions:

Move 1 pirate FORWARD - play 1 card

Play 1 card from your hand to the discard pile. Then select one of your pirates (either one already in the underground passage or still in the prison cell) and advance it through the underground passage to the first unoccupied space matching the icon of the card just played. If there are no unoccupied spaces in the passage matching the card's icon, board your pirate on the sloop.

Move 1 pirate BACKWARD - draw 1 or 2 cards

Select one of your pirates, even one already on the sloop, and move it backward to the closest space occupied by 1 or 2 pirates (no matter their colors). When moving backward, you bypass vacant spaces and spaces occupied by 3 pirates. A space may be occupied by a maximum of 3 pirates.

If your pirate lands on a space occupied by:

• 1 pirate - draw 1 card from the supply;
• 2 pirates - draw 2 cards from the supply.

Players must always draw the leftmost card in the supply row. A card drawn this way can be played in subsequent actions, even on the same turn.

When the row of cards is empty, reveal the next 10 cards to form a new row. If the deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

Note: At the beginning of their turn, a player who has no cards in hand may skip their entire turn to draw the top card of the deck.

End of the Game

The first player to board all 6 of their pirates on the sloop immediately wins the game! All others are left behind.

Example of a turn

For their first action, the RED player plays a Hat to move a pirate forward. Since there are no Hat icons in front of that pirate, it moves directly to the sloop.

For their second action, the RED player moves a pirate backward to the closest occupied space. Since that space is occupied by 2 pirates, the RED player draws 2 cards.

For their third and final action of their turn, the RED player plays the Bottle they just drew and advances a RED pirate to the closest unoccupied Bottle space.

Second Escape: Follow the Captain

There is nothing better than a strong leader to motivate the group. Follow the captain to the exit!

Setup

At the end of step 3 of the base game setup, place a captain's hat on the head of a pirate of each color.

Gameplay

Base rules are the same except the captain has 2 special powers: one for the forward move, and one for the backward move.

Move Forward

You may play any 2 cards (identical or not) to move your captain. Cards played this way become a single joker. You may choose which icon the played cards represent.

Move Backward

When you move your captain backward, for each card you may draw, take the card of your choice from any of those available in the supply.

Third Escape: Risky Rafts

The pirates have discovered a new way to escape from the prison ... rafts! Pirates must now decide whether to take the longer, safer path or to take a chance on a raft. But beware, not all the rafts are seaworthy!

Setup

Place 4 board segments as usual, followed by the Wharf segment and then 2 more board segments. Shuffle the rafts and place them in a facedown pile next to the Wharf segment. Take the top 2 rafts and place them face up docked at the wharf (with their rope connected): one next to the white section and one next to the orange section. Shuffle the 40 tokens face down and create a pool, next to the board.

Example

The RED player plays a Bottle to advance a pirate. RED has three options: continue on the main path or board one of the two rafts. RED decides to board the raft docked at the orange wharf.

Gameplay

Base rules are the same except:

Playing a card with a grey background

Before selecting a pirate to move, take a facedown token from the pool and reveal it. Then place it on a raft or on the board according to the symbol. If there is no unoccupied space available, return that token to the box without taking any replacement.

Crew and Hole Tokens

A revealed Crew or Hole token with a white or orange background is placed on the raft docked at that color. Tokens with both colors (white and orange) can be placed on the raft of your choice.

You always start from the wharf when you place a token:

• A Crew token is placed on the first space without a token or a pirate.
• A Hole token is placed on the first space without a token. If a hole is placed on a space occupied by a pirate, the pirate is removed and put on the wharf (the color of the wharf section does not matter).

Tokens with an X

If the revealed token has an X icon, place it on the first unoccupied space matching the icon, starting from the sloop. The space covered with an X icon is no longer considered when performing movements.

Example (continued)

Later in the game, BLUE plays a card with a grey background and reveals a token from the pool. The revealed crew token is placed on the first unoccupied space of the raft docked at the orange wharf.

Boarding a Raft

When moving forward, pirates that are about to cross the Wharf segment may now board a raft instead of advancing on the second section of the underground passage. They may land on any unoccupied raft-space matching the icon of the card just played. If there is no such space available, that pirate must advance through the underground passage normally.

Raft Goes to Sea

When the total of pirates and crew tokens on board of a single raft reaches 3 (regardless of their colors), move the raft on the sea, close to the sloop. The pirates aboard the raft are considered to have escaped. Draw the top raft of the pile and dock it at the wharf.

Raft Sinks

A raft sinks when a 3rd hole token is put on it. When a raft sinks, put all the pirates that were occupying it on the wharf (the color of the wharf section does not matter). Return the sunken raft and tokens to the box. Draw the top raft of the pile and dock it at the wharf.

Note: A player may move a pirate from the wharf, or from a docked raft, to the underground passage or to board another docked raft. To do so, their owner must play a card to move that pirate forward as per normal movement rules.

End of Game

The first player to board all 6 of their pirates on the sloop and/or rafts gone to sea immediately wins the game. If there is a tie, the player with the highest number of pirates on different vessels wins (e.g.: having pirates on the boat and on at least one raft). If there is still a tie, the player with the highest number of pirates on rafts is the winner. Otherwise, victory is shared.

Fourth Escape: All Together Now!

The rules from "Follow the Captain" and "Risky Rafts" can be combined together for a new escape!