Container Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Player Setup
• Player Boards
  • Player Cards
  • Factory District
  • Harbor District
• The Islands
• Playing the Game
• Actions
  • Build Action
  • Produce Action
  • Factory Purchase Action
  • Harbor Purchase Action
  • Reprice Action
  • Sail Action
  • Call Bank Action
• Bank Auctions
• Delivery Auctions
• Bank Loans
• Game End
• Final Scoring
• Classic Game Variant
• Credits

Components

• 5 Final Scoring Cards
• 10 Bank Loans
• 10 Bluff Cards ($0)
• 141 Cash Cards
• 5 Player Ships
• 5 Player Boards
• 5 Player Aids
• 1 Container Island Board (2 pieces)
• 1 Off-Shore Bank Board (2 pieces)
• 20 Factories (4 of each color)
• 100 Containers (20 of each color)
• 20 Warehouses
• 2 Bank Bid Tiles
• 2 Bank Auction Tokens
• 10 Reserve Tokens

Setup

1. Islands Boards: Place Container Island and the Off-Shore Bank in the middle of the table.
2. Bank Components: Place all loan cards, bid tiles, and reserve tokens next to the Off-Shore Bank. Also place the number of auction tokens for your player count (see table).
3. Cash Supply: Organize the cash cards in an easily accessible supply area. Set aside the $0 bluff cards for now.
4. Building & Container Supply: Count out the supply of warehouses, factories, and containers for your player count (see table). Use the container count for your desired game length (short, standard, or extended). Return all unused components to the box.
5. Bank Containers: Take 1 container of each color from the supply. Randomly distribute 2 of them to the "I" space at the top of the Off-Shore Bank board and 1 more to the "II" space. Return the 2 leftover containers to the supply.
6. Bank Cash: In the 3 slots along the bottom of the Off-Shore Bank board, place $1 faceup in slot "I," $2 in slot "II," and $3 in slot "III."

Player Count	3	4	5
Auction Tokens	1	1	2
Warehouses	12	16	20
Factories (each color)	2	3	4
Containers (each color) — Short	9	11	13
Containers (each color) — Standard	11	14	17
Containers (each color) — Extended	12	16	20

Player Setup

7. Player Boards: Each player places a player board and player aid in front of themselves. Note: The back of the player aid, with a star bottom left, is used with the More Containers expansion.
8. Ships: Each player places the ship of their color anywhere in the "ocean" (the empty space around the 2 islands).
9. Starting Warehouses: Each player places 1 warehouse from the supply on the "FREE" warehouse space on the top half of their board.
10. Starting Factories: Take 1 factory of each color and randomly distribute 1 to each player. Return any left over to the supply. Each player places their factory on the "FREE" factory space on the bottom half of their board.
11. Starting Containers: Each player takes 1 container of the same color as their starting factory from the supply and places it in the $2 factory lot on the bottom half of their board.
12. Starting Cash: Each player takes 2 bluff cards and $20 cash from the supply (five $1s, five $2s, and one $5).
13. Scoring Cards: Shuffle the final scoring cards and deal 1 to each player. Each player looks at their card and keeps it secret.
14. First Player: The player who last captained a seagoing vessel goes first. Alternatively, choose a random player.

Player Boards

Your player board is divided into 2 areas: your factory district on the bottom half and your harbor district on the top half. Each district has its own building track, storage lots, and storage limit.

Player Cards

• Final Scoring Card: Your secret final scoring card determines the cash value of your containers on Container Island at the end of the game.
• Player Hand: Your available cash and bluff cards are kept secret in your hand throughout the game. You can make change with the supply at any time.

Factory District

• Factory Buildings: When you produce containers on your turn, each factory you've built produces 1 container of the matching color. The next empty space on your factory track shows the cost to build your next factory. You have space for 4 factories total, but each of your factories must be a different color.
• Storage Lots: When you produce containers, you arrange them in your factory storage lots to set their prices. Opponents can buy these containers by paying you the price of each container (e.g. $2 per container in your $2 lot).
• Storage Limit: The storage limit track next to your factories shows how many containers you can store in total across your 4 factory lots. Each factory you build increases this limit by 2 (e.g. if you have 3 factories, you can store up to 6 containers). You can place any number of containers in each individual lot, as long as the combined total doesn't exceed your limit.

Harbor District

• Warehouse Buildings: Each warehouse you build increases the storage limit for your harbor district by 1. The next empty space shows the cost to build your next warehouse. You have space for 5 warehouses total.
• Storage Lots: When you buy containers from an opponent's factories, you arrange them in your harbor storage lots to set their prices. Opponents who have docked their ships in your harbor can buy these containers by paying you the price of each container.
• Storage Limit: The storage limit track next to your warehouses shows how many containers you can store in total across your 5 harbor lots. As in your factory district, you can place any number of containers in each individual harbor lot, as long as the combined total doesn't exceed your limit.
• Ship Docks: Your opponents can dock their ships here to purchase and load containers from your harbor.

The Islands

There are 2 central islands: Container Island, where players collect containers to score at game end, and the Off-Shore Bank, which provides loans and holds auctions during the game.

• Player Ships: You use your ship to load containers and deliver them to Container Island. You can move it between the ocean, the central islands, and your opponents' harbors, but it can never enter your own harbor.
• The Ocean: The empty space around the islands is the ocean. To move from one game board to another, your ship must first enter the ocean, then move to its destination. See Sail Action.
• Player Scoring Areas: Whenever you deliver containers to Container Island, you auction them off to the highest bidder. The auction winner places the containers in their scoring area to score at the end of the game. See Delivery Auctions.
• Bank Auction Lots: The Off-Shore Bank has 3 container lots and 3 cash lots available to auction off. You can call the Bank on your turn to place a bid on an auction lot; if no one places a higher bid before your next turn, you win that lot. See Bank Auctions.
• Bank Tiles & Tokens: Players use the auction tokens, bid tiles, and reserve tokens when bidding in Off-Shore Bank auctions. These are explained in detail later. See Bank Auctions.
• Bank Holding Area: When you win containers in an Off-Shore Bank auction, they're placed in your holding area on the Bank board. You can then pick them up with your ship and deliver them to Container Island.
• Loan Cards: If you're short on cash, you can take a $10 loan from the Off-Shore Bank. The Bank charges $1 interest per turn for each outstanding loan you have. You can have at most 2 loans at a time. See Bank Loans.

Playing the Game

Players take turns clockwise, starting with the first player. Each turn has 3 steps:

1. Pay Loan Interest: If you have any outstanding loans, pay the Off-Shore Bank $1 for each of them.
2. Win Broker Auction: If you have the highest bid in an Off-Shore Bank auction, you win the auction.
3. Take 2 Actions: Take 2 actions from the list below.

FREE ACTIONS: In addition to your 2 actions, you can take any number of free actions during your turn, such as requesting a loan.

IMPORTANT: The Off-Shore Bank, sometimes referred to as "the Bank," is distinct from the cash supply. Cash paid to the Bank is added to its auction lots, while cash paid to the supply is returned to the supply piles. See Paying the Bank.

Actions

You can take 2 different actions on your turn, or the same action twice. Exception: Actions with a special icon can be taken at most once per turn.

The available actions are: Build, Produce, Factory Purchase, Harbor Purchase, Sail, Reprice, and Call Bank.

Build Action

Use this action to build a new building. Choose 1 of the following:

• Build a factory: Pay the cost in the next space on your factory building track to the supply, then place a new factory there. You may choose any factory color in the supply that you don't already have.
• OR Build a warehouse: Pay the cost in the next space on your warehouse track to the supply, then place a new warehouse there.

IMPORTANT: The cost to build new buildings is always paid to the SUPPLY, not the Off-Shore Bank.

Produce Action

Follow these steps to produce containers from your factories:

1. Pay union wages: Pay $1 to the player on your right. This represents paying your factory workers' union.
2. Produce containers: For each factory you have, take 1 container of the matching color from the supply.
3. Set prices: Arrange the new containers however you like in your factory storage lots. You may also reprice containers you previously produced.

Produce Action Details

• Union wages always cost $1, no matter how many containers you produce. If you can't afford to pay union wages, you can't take a Produce action. For a more light-hearted game, you can require that your "union" hands you the containers you produce from the supply.
• You must produce as many containers as you are able to, up to your factory storage limit. If you would exceed this limit, select which containers you want to produce and leave the rest in the supply. You may not discard stored containers to make room for new ones.
• You may only rearrange containers in your factory storage lots when you take a Produce action or a Reprice action.

Factory Purchase Action

Follow these steps to buy containers from an opponent's factory district and place them in your harbor:

1. Buy containers: Choose any 1 opponent and buy any number of containers from their factory storage lots, paying them the price of each container.
2. Move containers to your harbor: Move the new containers directly to your harbor.
3. Set prices: Arrange the new containers however you like in your harbor storage lots. You may also reprice containers you previously placed in your harbor.

Factory Purchase Details

• The containers you buy are delivered to your harbor by truck. You can always buy from any opponent's factories, and the containers always arrive immediately, no matter how far away that opponent is.
• You can buy any number of containers during a single action, but you can only buy from 1 opponent per action, and you can't exceed your harbor storage limit. You may not discard stored containers to make room for new ones.

Harbor Purchase Action

Your ship must be docked at an opponent's harbor to take this action. Follow the steps below to buy containers from that harbor and load them onto your ship.

IMPORTANT: You can take this action as a free action when you move your ship to an opponent's harbor. See Anchor Actions.

1. Buy containers: Buy any number of containers from the harbor where your ship is docked, paying the harbor's owner the price of each container.
2. Load ship: Place the containers in any empty slots on your ship. It doesn't matter how you arrange them.

Harbor Purchase Details

• Your ship can hold a max of 5 containers. There is no way to increase this limit. You may not discard containers from your ship to make room for new ones.

TIP: Most of the time, you will want to buy containers as a free action when you dock at a new harbor. However, if your ship is already docked at a harbor at the start of your turn, you can use 1 of your 2 actions to buy additional containers from that harbor.

Reprice Action

Choose 1 district on your board. Rearrange any number of your containers in that district to set new prices for them.

TIP: In general, it's more efficient to reprice containers during a Produce action or a Factory Purchase action. However, if you don't have space to produce or buy new containers, you can use a Reprice action instead.

Sail Action

Do 1 of the following, based on your ship's current location:

• Move to the ocean: If your ship is at any island or harbor, move it to the ocean.
• OR Move to an island or harbor: If your ship is in the ocean, move it to any island or opponent's harbor and take an Anchor action there (see below).

TIP: Moving your ship from one game board to another takes a total of 2 actions: 1 action to move to the ocean, then 1 action to move to the destination. You can use both your actions to do this in a single turn.

Anchor Actions

Each location has an Anchor action you can take when you move your ship there. Anchor actions are free actions that do not count toward the 2 actions you take each turn.

• Opponent's Harbor: When you move to an opponent's harbor, you may take a Harbor Purchase action there as a free action.
• Off-Shore Bank: When you move to the Off-Shore Bank, you may load any number of containers from your holding area onto your ship, for free. See Winning a Bank Auction.
• Container Island: When you move to Container Island, you must immediately hold a Delivery auction. After the auction is completed, your turn ends immediately, even if you have not taken 2 actions. See Delivery Auctions.

Call Bank Action

Place a bid in an Off-Shore Bank auction in 1 of the following ways:

• Start a New Auction: If there is a Bank auction token in the supply, you may place it on an auction lot of your choice to start an auction there. Take the corresponding bid tile from the supply and place it in front of you, with your opening bid on top of it (see details below).
• OR Bid in an Active Auction: If there is an auction token on a Bank lot, you may outbid the opponent who currently has the highest bid on that lot. Your opponent returns their bid from the bid tile, then you take the tile and place your bid on it.

IMPORTANT: You can't take a Call Bank action in the same turn that you win a Bank auction or end the game.

Bank Auctions

Bidding Cash for Containers

To bid on a Bank container lot, you must use the cash bid tile to offer cash from your hand. Place your bid faceup on the tile. If an opponent has the tile, you must bid at least $1 more than they did. While you have the cash bid tile, you can't spend any cash you placed on the tile for any purpose (even to pay loan interest). If an opponent outbids you and takes the tile, return the cash on it to your hand.

Bidding Containers for Cash

To bid on a Bank cash lot, you must use the container bid tile to offer containers from your player board. Place any combination of containers from your factory and/or harbor districts on the tile. When placing a container bid, separate containers from your factories on the right side of the tile and containers from your harbor on the left. Then place reserve tokens in your factory and harbor storage lots to mark where each container was taken from.

Only the number of containers you bid matters, not their colors. If an opponent has the bid tile, you must bid at least 1 more container than they did.

If an opponent outbids you and takes the bid tile, return all containers from the tile to the districts where they came from, and reprice them as desired (you do not have to place them in the lots where you placed reserve tokens). Return all reserve tokens on your board to the supply.

Container Bid Example

Blue uses a Call Bank action to make an opening bid of 2 containers on cash lot "III." They place 2 reserve tokens on their board. Purple uses a Call Bank action to outbid Blue with 3 containers. Blue returns their containers to their board and discards their reserve tokens. They decide to lower the price of their yellow container.

Reserve Tokens & Storage Limits

While you have the container bid tile, the containers on top of it still take up storage space in the districts they came from. The reserve tokens you place on your board act as a reminder of this. When checking if you've reached your storage limit in a district, count your reserve tokens in that district together with your other containers.

Example: Blue's factory storage limit is 6. They have 4 containers + 1 reserve token in their factory district, so they can only produce 1 more container.

Bank Auction Limits

• With 3-4 players: the Bank can only hold 1 active auction at a time. When a player starts an auction, they place the auction token on either a cash or container lot and take the appropriate bid tile (the other tile remains in the supply throughout the auction). No one can start a new auction until the active auction is completed.
• With 5 players: the Bank can have 1 active cash auction AND 1 active container auction at a time.
  • While there are NO active auctions, you can use a Call Bank action to start an auction of either type, using either auction token.
  • While there is 1 active auction, you can use a Call Bank action to bid in the active auction OR start an auction of the opposite type.
  • While there are 2 active auctions, you can use a Call Bank action to bid in either active auction, but you can't start a new auction.

REMEMBER: You can only use the Call Bank action once per turn.

Winning a Bank Auction

If you have the highest bid in an active Bank auction at the start of your turn, you win the auction. Follow these steps:

1. Pay Bank: Distribute your bid as evenly as possible among the Bank's cash or container lots. See details below.
2. Collect Winnings: If you won cash, add it to your hand. If you won containers, place them in your holding area on the Bank board.
3. Clean Up: Return the auction token, bid tile, and all reserve tokens on your board to the supply.

Paying the Bank

Whenever the Bank receives cash or containers during the game, distribute the payment among the appropriate auction lots as follows:

• Starting with lot "I" and going left to right, place $1 or 1 container at a time in each lot.
• After you place in lot "III," continue from lot "I."
• If there is an auction token on a Bank lot you are paying, skip over it as you distribute your payment (only pay the other 2 lots).

Bank Auction Details

• Whenever any player takes the bid tile, they must keep it until their next turn to win the auction. This means each new bid "restarts the clock" on the auction.
• If you have outstanding loans, you must pay interest on them before you collect auction winnings. This means you can't use auction winnings to pay interest until your next turn.
• When distributing containers of multiple colors among Bank auction lots, you decide which container to place in each lot (except when resolving default; see Bank Loans).
• While a Bank lot has an auction token on it, no new cash or containers can be added to it, for any reason.

Delivery Auctions

When you move your ship to Container Island, you must immediately auction off the containers it is carrying. Follow these steps to resolve the auction:

1. Opponents Bid: Each of your opponents secretly places any amount of cash from their hand facedown in front of themselves. They may use $0 bluff cards.
2. Determine Winner: All opponents reveal their bids. Everyone except the highest bidder returns their bid to their hand. For ties, see Runoff Auction.
3. Deliver Containers: Collect the highest bid plus an equal amount of cash from the supply, then place all containers on your ship in the highest bidder's scoring area. Alternatively, you may buy out the auction to take the containers yourself; see Auction Buyout.

IMPORTANT: After you move your ship to Container Island and hold a delivery auction, your turn ends immediately. You may not take another action or use any free actions after the auction ends (including repaying Bank loans).

Government Subsidy

When you accept the highest bidder's offer in a delivery auction, the government pays you a cash subsidy matching the highest bid, which you take from the supply. This means you earn double the amount the highest bidder pays.

Auction Buyout

If you do not want to accept the highest bidder's offer, you can instead buy out the delivery auction. To do so, pay an amount equal to the winning bid to the Off-Shore Bank, distributing your payment according to the rules on Paying the Bank. Then place all containers you delivered in your own scoring area. The highest bidder returns their bid to their hand.

Runoff Auction

If 2 or more players tie for the highest bid in a delivery auction, they must hold a secondary auction to decide the winner.

Without returning their initial bid, each tied player bids additional facedown cash from their hand. Each player then reveals their runoff bid and adds it to their initial bid. The player with the highest total bid wins the auction.

If there is still a tie after a runoff auction, the player delivering containers chooses which tied bidder wins. If they buy out the auction, all tied bidders return their bids.

Bluffing

When bidding in a delivery auction, you can use one or both of your $0 bluff cards to disguise how many cards you are bidding. You can choose to play only $0 cards.

After bids are revealed, each player returns their $0 cards to their hand, and can reuse them in any future auction (including an immediately following runoff auction).

Bank Loans

Requesting a Loan

If you're short on cash, you can request a loan from the Off-Shore Bank as a free action at any time during the game. Unlike other free actions, you can do this during other players' turns (even during delivery auctions).

When you request a loan, take $10 from the supply (not the Bank board), then place a Bank loan card near your player board to show you have an outstanding loan.

You can have a maximum of 2 outstanding loans at any time. While you have 2 loans, you can't request another loan until you repay at least 1 of them (see Repaying a Loan, below). You can request 2 loans in the same turn, provided you have 0 loans.

Example: Red starts a delivery auction. Blue takes a loan before bidding.

Paying Interest

At the start of your turn, you must pay $1 interest to the Off-Shore Bank for each outstanding loan you have. Distribute the total interest you pay among the Bank's cash lots, following the rules on Paying the Bank.

You must pay interest before you do anything else on your turn. If you can't afford to pay interest on an outstanding loan, you must immediately request another loan to pay it. If you already have 2 loans, follow the steps to resolve default (see Default below).

Example: Blue pays $2 interest on their 2 outstanding loans. They place $1 in lot I, skip the auction token on lot II, and place $1 in lot III.

Repaying a Loan

You can pay back an outstanding loan as a free action on your turn, at any time after you pay interest. To do so, pay $10 from your hand back to the supply, then return your outstanding loan card to the Bank. You must repay the full $10, regardless of how much interest you have paid on the loan.

After repaying a loan, you can immediately take out another loan. You can repay 2 loans in the same turn.

You cannot repay loans during other players' turns or after you collect cash during a delivery auction on your own turn. You must wait until your next turn, after paying interest.

TIP: If you still have outstanding loans at the end of the game, you must repay each of them in full, plus an extra $1 interest (see Final Scoring).

Default

When you default on your loans, the Off-Shore Bank seizes your containers. For each loan you can't pay interest on, the Bank seizes 1 container from the first location below where you have at least 1 container:

1. Your scoring area on Container Island
2. Your ship
3. Your holding area at the Off-Shore Bank
4. Your harbor district
5. Your factory district

If the Bank must choose between containers in the same location, the player to your right decides which they take. Distribute the seized containers among the Bank's container lots, following the rules on Paying the Bank. If you distribute containers of multiple colors, the player to your right decides which color to place in each lot.

After you default, you keep your loan cards and must continue paying interest on your next turn (or default again). In the rare event you have no containers the Bank can legally seize, the Bank forgives your unpaid interest for the current turn only.

Game End

The game ends when the supply runs out of any 2 colors of containers. When this happens, the active player finishes their turn, then the game ends immediately.

Resolving Bank Auctions

If there are any active Off-Shore Bank auctions when the game ends, the player with the highest bid in each auction immediately wins that auction. Any containers a player wins are placed in their holding area as normal and are worth $3 each in final scoring (see Final Scoring, step 3 below).

IMPORTANT: You can't use a Call Bank action during the same turn that you trigger the end of the game (either to start a new auction or bid in an active auction).

Final Scoring

After the game ends, each player reveals their final scoring card and follows these steps:

1. Discard most common color
2. Score Container Island
3. Score leftover containers
4. Repay loans
5. Determine winner

1. Discard Most Common Color

Before scoring your containers on Container Island, determine which container color is most common in your scoring area. Return all containers of that color from your scoring area to the supply; you earn $0 for each of them. If there is a tie for your most common color, you choose which tied color you discard (unless your two-value container is one of your tied colors; see below).

2. Score Container Island

Use your final scoring card to determine the total cash value of the remaining containers in your scoring area. Take that much cash from the supply.

Two-Value Containers

The second row of your final scoring card shows your two-value container color. Each of your containers of this color are worth $10 if you collected at least 1 container of each color in your scoring area, including the color you discarded in step 1. If you did not collect 1 of each color, your two-value containers are worth $5 each.

If your two-value color is tied for your most common container color, you must discard your two-value color and keep your other colors.

3. Score Leftover Containers

For each of your containers that are not on Container Island, take the amount listed below from the supply, regardless of color:

• $3 per container on your ship and in your holding area at the Off-Shore Bank
• $2 per container in your harbor district
• $0 per container in your factory district

4. Repay Loans

For each outstanding loan you have, you lose $10, plus an additional $1 interest ($11 total).

5. Determine Winner

Each player counts up their total cash, and whoever has the most wins the game. In a tie, the tied player with the most containers left in their factory district wins by the slimmest of margins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share victory!

Final Scoring Example

• Orange Player — Cash in Hand: $8; Container Island: $46; Leftover Containers: $12; Loans: -$11; TOTAL: $55. Orange has a tie for most common color in their scoring area. They discard their $4 blue containers and keep their $10 white ones. They earn $12 for 4 containers on their ship that they were about to deliver when the game ended. They lose $11 for 1 outstanding loan.
• Purple Player — Cash in Hand: $51; Container Island: $5; Leftover Containers: $6; Loans: $0; TOTAL: $62. Purple auctioned off a delivery near the end of the game and has a lot of cash in hand. They miscalculated on Container Island and have to discard both $10 green containers! They earn $6 for 3 containers left in their harbor.
• Blue Player — Cash in Hand: $36; Container Island: $26; Leftover Containers: $9; Loans: $0; TOTAL: $71. Blue has 1 container of each color, so their yellow container is worth $10. They had the highest bid in a Bank auction at the end of the game, winning 3 containers. They earn $9 for the containers in their holding area. Blue has the most cash, so they win!

Classic Game Variant

Use this variant to play Container with the original first edition rules, without the Off-Shore Bank and bluffing cards.

Setup

Follow normal setup, with these exceptions:

• Place the Bank loan cards near the cash supply.
• Do not use the following components:
  • Off-Shore Bank board
  • Auction tokens, bid tiles, and reserve tokens
  • $0 bluff cards

DESIGNER NOTE: Although the Classic Variant has fewer rules to learn, the Off-Shore Bank (originally added in the 10th Anniversary Edition) helps prevent the economy from stalling and makes the game more forgiving of player mistakes. As such, we recommend first-time players use the default rules rather than the Classic Variant.

Rule Changes

• Bank Auctions: There are no Bank auctions in this variant. The Call Bank action is not available, and the Win Bank Auction step of each turn is skipped.
• Bank Loans: You can request a Bank loan at any time, following normal rules. The interest you pay goes to the supply instead of the Bank board. If you default on your loans, the containers the Bank seizes are removed from the game (do not return them to the supply).
• Delivery Auctions: When an opponent holds a delivery auction, you must bid at least $1, unless you have no cash in hand. Government subsidies are paid out of the supply as normal. If you buy out your own delivery, make your payment to the supply instead of the Bank.

Credits

Design: Kevin Nesbitt, Franz-Benno Delonge, & Thomas Ewert Development: Jeff Fraser Illustration: Adam Allsuch Boardman, Snow Conrad Graphic Design: Anca Gavril & Co., Matt Paquette & Co. Rules Editing: Jeff Fraser 3D Artists: Filip Gavril

Thomas Ewert thanks: Sheila A. Rizzato Ewert, Undine Krebs, Ekkehardt Krebs, and all the playtesters.

Kevin Nesbitt thanks: Stephanie Dillon, Jesse Prouty, Jay Prouty, and all the fans of Container over the years.

In memory of Benno