Ghostly Galleon Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Object of the Game
• Assembly of the Ghost Ship
• Game Setup
• Game Overview
• 1. Movement
• 2. The Caves
• 3. The Ghost Ship
• 4. The Ghost of Captain Flint
  • 4.1 Spreading Terror
  • 4.2 Firing a Cannon
• 5. The Captain's Cabin
• 6. The Treasure Chests
• 7. The Parrot
• 8. Duel
• End of the Game
• Summary (Kurzfassung)
  • Object of the Game
  • Game Setup
  • Game Turn
  • The Caves
  • The Ghost Ship
  • The Ghost of Captain Flint
  • The Treasure Chests
  • The Parrot
  • Duels
  • End of the Game

Game Components

• 1 game board (Spielplan)
• 4 playing pieces (pirates)
• 1 ghost of Captain Flint
• 6 treasure chests with lids
• 2 dice
• 18 tiles (Plättchen):
  • 4 sabres
  • 2 pistols
  • 5 gold treasures (with values 1 to 5)
  • 1 bottle
  • 1 parrot
  • 5 keys
• 1 sheet of stickers:
  • 4 x 2 pirates
  • 2 pirate flags
  • 6 keys
  • 5 open hatches (with cannons)
  • 5 closed hatches
• 1 ghost ship:
  • 3 hull parts
  • 2 masts with yardarms
  • 4 cannons
  • 1 steering wheel
  • 1 plank
  • 1 flag
  • 3 deck parts
  • 4 torn sails

Object of the Game

The first player to bring treasures worth at least 5 points into their hideout wins the game.

Assembly of the Ghost Ship

1. Before you play for the first time, stick the stickers onto the designated places:

   • Place one of the 6 key stickers on the underside of each treasure chest (one chest receives the blank sticker without a print).
   • Stick the two pirate flags on both sides of the plastic flag.
   • Stick the 10 hatch stickers (with or without cannons) in any arrangement onto the spaces provided for them (five on each side of the hull).

   Finally, stick two pirate stickers of the same colour each onto the front and back of a playing piece.

2. Before every game, assemble the ship:

   • First assemble the three plastic hull parts.
   • Then insert the three cardboard deck parts into the hull.
   • Now insert the masts and the flag into the holes provided, and attach the plank, the cannons and the steering wheel.
   • Finally, mount the yardarms on the masts and hang the sails.

Game Setup

• Place the fully assembled ghost ship on the marked spot of the game board.
• Place the tiles with the gold treasures and the bottle into the treasure chests, one tile in each chest. Then close the chests with their lids, mix them well and distribute them on board the ship, one chest into each cabin. No treasure chest is placed in the captain's cabin (the cabin with the steering wheel).
• Place the ghost of Captain Flint in the captain's cabin. Incidentally: if you hold it under a lamp for long enough, it glows in the dark!
• Each player receives one sabre tile, which they place face down in front of themselves on the table. With fewer than 4 players, the remaining sabres are placed face down into the large cave in front of the bow of the ship.
• All remaining tiles (keys, parrot and pistols) are mixed and placed face down as a stack next to Captain Flint in the captain's cabin.
• Each player takes a pirate and places it in the hideout of their colour on the game board.
• Now roll the dice to decide who begins. The other players then follow in clockwise order.

Game Overview

In each round you roll the dice to find out how far your pirate may move. You must climb aboard the ship and open the treasure chests in the cabins to claim the treasures. To open the treasure chests, however, you need the matching keys. Which key that is, you find out when you look under the chest. The keys lie in the captain's cabin. Pistols and the parrot can also be found there; both give you advantages.

Whenever a 6 is shown on a die, the ghost of Captain Flint moves. It may throw pirates overboard or fire the cannons.

Pirates may also duel with each other, since each one tries to take the loot from the others.

1. Movement

Whoever is on turn rolls both dice and moves their pirate the corresponding number of spaces in any direction. On the way you may change direction as often as you like, but you may not enter the same space twice in one turn. The number rolled on the dice must be used in full. The remaining points of the dice are forfeited only if you enter a cabin, the captain's cabin or your own hideout, or if you challenge a fellow player to a duel.

You may move only over free spaces; other pirates and the ghost of Captain Flint may not be jumped over. Only one piece may stand on each space. If the way is blocked, you must stop in front of the obstacle or take another route.

No pirate may enter another player's hideout.

If a pirate cannot move, because

• it is standing in a cabin and the space in front of the door is occupied by the ghost or another pirate,
• it is in its own hideout and the space in front of it is occupied by another pirate,
• it is blocked on both sides of its path by other pirates,

it must remain standing in this round. The dice are still rolled, however, so that the ghost of Captain Flint can possibly be moved (see section 4, "The Ghost of Captain Flint"). If the pirate is still blocked on its next turn, it may exceptionally move past the other piece.

2. The Caves

The bay is traversed by a system of caves, which can be reached by land through four entrances. Whoever enters the caves through one entrance may leave them through any of the other entrances. The step from one entrance to another costs only one dice point.

Traversing the caves with a dice total of "5".

If tiles lie in the large cave (which cannot be entered!) in front of the bow of the ghost ship, you may take one face-down tile lying there when you leave any cave. Look at it, then place it face down with the other tiles in front of you on the table.

Each time you visit the caves you may take only one tile. For each further tile you want to collect, you must first leave the caves again.

Game tip: Always shuffle the tiles lying in front of you on the table well, so that the other players do not know where the gold treasures, keys, weapons or the parrot are when they are allowed to take a tile from you.

3. The Ghost Ship

You may only enter and leave the ship on the spaces with the black arrow. The path from an arrow space on land to an arrow space on deck costs 1 dice point.

Cannons may not be jumped over; the space with the plank counts as a normal space.

You reach the higher decks on board only via the stairs marked on the deck and on the hull. The stairs do not count as a space and therefore cost no dice point.

Movement of a pirate with a "3" over the stairs.

You may enter the cabins and the captain's cabin only through the open doors. This also costs 1 dice point. To enter a cabin you do not need to roll the exact number. However, you may not leave a cabin again in the same turn if you still have dice points left.

You may not visit a cabin (including the captain's cabin) in which the ghost or another pirate currently is.

4. The Ghost of Captain Flint

Every time one of the dice (or both) shows a "6", the ghost of Captain Flint must be moved instead of your own pirate. It moves like a pirate, but it may never leave the ship, and it may jump over pirates. It is moved only according to the number of pips on one of the two dice, i.e. by at most 6 spaces forward.

The ghost does not have to move the full number of the die. At any time it may move into an occupied cabin, or stop on deck next to another pirate to give it a terrible fright. It may also stand directly behind a cannon in order to fire it.

4.1 Spreading Terror

Each time the ghost of Captain Flint stops on a space next to another pirate, or appears in a cabin or the captain's cabin in which a pirate currently is, that pirate receives such a terrible fright that it goes overboard.

The player whose turn it is immediately lets the frightened pirate fall into the water via the plank and places it on one of the four whirlpool spaces (A).

When the pirate that fell into the water is next in turn again and has recovered from its shock, it does not roll the dice. Instead, it climbs ashore (B): the player places it on the rock space directly next to the whirlpool. In the following round it may move on normally from the neighbouring arrow space (C).

Pulling a pirate that has fallen into the water.

When it falls into the water, the player to whom the pirate belongs loses one of the tiles lying in front of them. The player who moved the ghost takes a face-down tile from that soaked pirate's owner. This tile is placed face down in the large cave and mixed with all the tiles lying there.

A pirate that stops next to the ghost of Captain Flint during its own turn suffers the same fate. In this case the player who is next in turn decides on which whirlpool space the pirate surfaces from the water, and which tile is placed into the cave.

Captain Flint may frighten several pirates at the same time in one turn.

4.2 Firing a Cannon

The cannons of the ghost ship are aimed at the shore. Each cannon aims exactly at the quarter of the game board in front of it, and reaches all the spaces there.

If the ghost of Captain Flint stops exactly behind a cannon, it fires the cannon. Every pirate standing on a land space in that quarter of the game board must take cover: its playing piece is turned over. When the player is next on turn, they stand their pirate up again. In the following round it may move on normally.

The ghost fires each cannon only once. Only after it has made another move in between may it return to this cannon and fire it again.

5. The Captain's Cabin

Whoever enters the captain's cabin takes the top tile from the stack and looks at it. If it is a key or a pistol, place the tile face down in front of you without showing it to the other players.

• With the matching key you can open the treasure chests in the cabins (see section 6, "The Treasure Chests").
• The pistol helps you in a duel (see section "Duel").
• If a parrot is shown on the tile, read further below under "The Parrot" what happens.

On your next turn you must leave the captain's cabin again.

6. The Treasure Chests

Each time your pirate enters a cabin with a treasure chest, you may look at the underside of the chest (not into the chest!) to find out with which key it can be opened. A chest without a key picture can be opened at once. A broken key is worthless and cannot open any chest. For the other treasure chests you need the matching key tile.

Example: a key with two teeth on its beard can therefore open only a chest that shows a corresponding key on its underside.

If you have the matching key lying in front of you while your pirate stands in a cabin with the corresponding chest, show the other players the key tile and the underside of the treasure chest as proof. Then open the chest, take out the tile, and place it face down in front of you together with the key tile. With the same key tile you can open further chests that match that key. Then close the chest again and return it to its place.

If there was a gold treasure in the chest, you may rejoice. But do not let the other players notice, or they will chase the treasure away from you. If you were unlucky and found only a worthless bottle, lay this tile in front of you as well, to bluff your fellow players.

Whoever has treasure tiles worth at least 5 points lying in front of them may set off on the way to their hideout.

Important: individual treasure tiles may not be brought back into the hideout during the course of the game, in order to secure them from the other players!

7. The Parrot

A tile in the captain's cabin shows a parrot. Whoever gets it may immediately do one of the following:

• either take any tile from another player and place it in front of themselves,
• or take the top tile from the captain's cabin (even if the ghost is standing there),
• or look under any treasure chest to find out with which key it can be opened.

The parrot tile is then placed face down in front of you.

The parrot stays with the player only as long as that player remains on the ghost ship. As soon as the player leaves the ship, the parrot flies back to the captain's cabin: it is then placed face down on the stack again. This also applies if the ghost of Captain Flint knocks the pirate into the water (in addition to the tile the player loses in the fall into the water).

Whoever is caught cheating because they did not put the parrot back must miss a turn as soon as the other players notice.

Whoever wins the parrot from another player in a duel may also carry out one of the three actions immediately.

8. Duel

Whoever stops directly next to another foreign pirate may challenge it to a duel. In doing so, the challenger does not need to move the full dice number (the remaining dice points are forfeited). As the winner of a duel, you may take tiles from your fellow players.

Pirate C may fight only with pirate B, not with pirate A!

Both players must first decide with which of their weapons (sabre or pistol) they want to fight. They need not use weapons if they do not want to or cannot.

The corresponding weapon tile must be turned face up. Each player may use only one weapon, even if they own several. The weapon determines how often one may roll one die:

1. without a weapon: once
2. with a sabre: up to twice
3. with a pistol: up to three times

The attacker rolls first. If the attacker has used a pistol or a sabre, they may decide after a roll whether the number rolled is enough for them, or whether they want to try with a further roll to achieve a better result. Of course, they may also be unlucky in doing so, because only the number rolled last counts! The individual rolls are therefore not added together.

After the attacker, the challenged player rolls under the same rules. Whoever achieves the higher result wins the duel. If the result is a tie, the duel is repeated with the same weapons until there is a winner.

The face-up weapon tiles are turned face down again and mixed with the other tiles that each player has lying in front of them. Then the winner of the duel takes any face-down tile from the loser. In addition, the winner may decide whether their pirate swaps places with the defeated pirate.

Caution: pirates that are in a cabin, in the captain's cabin, in a cave, or in their own hideout cannot be challenged to a duel!

Whoever begins their turn next to another pirate may not fight straight away; they must first roll the dice and move at least one space.

End of the Game

The player who has brought treasure tiles worth at least 5 points into their hideout has won the game.

Summary (Kurzfassung)

The printed rulebook closes with a summary of the rules. It is reproduced here in full.

Object of the Game

Be the first pirate to reach your own hideout with treasures worth 5 points.

Game Setup

• Assemble the ghost ship and place it on the game board.
• Fill the treasure chests with the gold treasure tiles and the bottle, close them, and place them in the cabins.
• Place the ghost in the captain's cabin.
• Give each player a sabre; place the remaining sabres in the large cave.
• Mix the tiles with keys, pistols and the parrot, and place them face down as a stack in the captain's cabin.
• Place the pirates in their hideouts.

Game Turn

Whoever is on turn rolls both dice and moves their pirate accordingly:

• only over free spaces,
• never twice over the same space.

Only one playing piece may stand on each space.

The dice total must be used in full, except when entering a cabin, the captain's cabin, your own hideout, or when challenging a fellow player to a duel.

The Caves

Moving from one entrance to another costs 1 dice point. A face-down tile from the large cave may be taken along.

The Ghost Ship

• It may be entered only via the arrow spaces.
• The stairs cost no dice point.
• Cabins in which the ghost or a pirate stands may not be entered.

The Ghost of Captain Flint

The ghost moves whenever one of the dice shows a 6. It moves according to the pips on one die; it need not move the full number, and it may jump over other pieces.

• If it stops next to a pirate, it frightens the pirate: the pirate goes overboard and surfaces on any whirlpool space. In doing so it loses a tile, which is placed in the large cave. On its next turn the pirate climbs ashore without rolling, onto the next rock in the water. In the turn after that it may continue moving normally from the neighbouring arrow space.
• If the ghost stops directly behind a cannon, it fires into the corresponding quarter of the game board. A pirate standing on land in that quarter must take cover (its piece is turned over). When the player is next on turn, they stand the pirate up again, and it may move on in the following turn.

The Treasure Chests

Chests can be opened only with the matching key. When entering the cabin you may look under the chest to find out which key fits. A chest without a key picture can be opened at once. For the others, the key must be fetched from the captain's cabin. The tile (gold or bottle) from the chest is placed face down in front of the player.

The Parrot

Whoever gets it may immediately:

• either take a tile from another player,
• or take the top tile from the captain's cabin,
• or look under a chest.

Whoever leaves the ship loses the parrot and puts it back in the captain's cabin.

Duels

Duels take place when a player stops next to another pirate. Each chooses a weapon. Without a weapon the dice may be rolled once, with the sabre up to twice, and with the pistol up to three times. Only the number rolled last counts. The higher number wins. In case of a tie, the duel is repeated. The winner receives a tile from the loser; the winner's pirate may, if desired, swap places with the loser.

End of the Game

Whoever has collected treasures worth 5 points and thereby reaches their hideout wins.