Nantucket
Nantucket Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Select one "A" card and one "B" card, and place them with the action buildings side by side. (Use "A*" and "B*" for the first game.) Place the 24 small, Silver $1 coins and 12 large, Copper $2 coins to the side of the town cards to form the bank. [The coins are not simply denominations. In Nantucket, when you are instructed to gain money, it is in Silver, unless specified as Copper coins. Coin quantities are limited.]
Each player takes 3 Silver coins, 1 Copper coin, and their worker token. The player who knows the rules the best is the first Captain. That player is Heads, and takes the ship's wheel token to start. The other player is Tails. The Ship's Wheel is passed back and forth to track who takes the first turn each round.
Action Phase
The round starts with the Captain taking their turn, by placing their worker on one action space and performing its action. Next, the second player places a worker on an action space and uses its action.
The three action spaces on the left show an anchor instead of a price. These are available from the start of the game. They may not be owned by any player, but may be used by both players in a round.
- Warehouse: Take 1 Silver from the supply.
- Town Hall: Build a building. Pay the cost shown. Using one of the coins paid, cover the cost with heads or tails to indicate which player built it. Once built, a building's action spaces become available to be used by either player.
- Dockyard: Launch a ship by stacking up to 4 coins on your side of the town board, if there are not coins there already. These coins are on the ship, and may not be used as resources. You may normally only have a single ship (i.e. stack of coins) at a time. You may not launch a ship with the same number of coins as an opponent's ship.
All other buildings may only be used once per round, and may not be used until built. [See Building Descriptions for more details.] Buildings may not be used if the player cannot complete the action.
Once per turn, before or after taking your action, you may return 1 Copper to the supply and take 2 Silver, and this does not count as an action.
Whaling Phase
After each player has chosen an action, the whaling phase starts. The ship with the most coins starts, followed by ships with fewer coins in decreasing order. To go whaling, toss all of the coins on your ship at once, then compare the results to the chart below to determine what type of whale you catch. Gain the coin(s) indicated for that type of whale and add them to your supply. Then take 1 of the coins used to meet the condition from your ship and return it to your supply. The other coins on your ship remain there for the next whaling phase.
Whaling Chart
| Row | If you have... | Catch... | and Gain... |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 Copper Heads | Sperm Whale | 1 Copper, 2 Silver |
| B | 2 Silver Heads | Bowhead Whale | 1 Copper |
| C | 1 Copper Heads | Bowhead Whale | 1 Copper |
| D | 1 Silver Heads | Right Whale | 1 Silver |
| E | 1 Copper Tails | Right Whale | 1 Silver |
| F | No Heads | Empty Sea | Nothing |
Each lettered row in the table, except the Empty Sea row, can only be selected once per whaling phase. Example: if the first ship catches a Bowhead using 2 Silver heads (Row B), the second ship may catch a Bowhead with 1 Copper head, but not using 2 Silver heads. If you cannot catch a whale, or you choose not to, you must select the Empty Sea. If Empty Sea is selected, you must still take a coin from your ship, but you may choose any coin on the ship.
The round ends after whaling. The other player is the new Captain, and starts the new round.
End of the Game
The end of the game is triggered when the ninth building is built, or when the bank runs out of Copper coins. (The game still ends, even if Copper coins are later returned to the bank.) Players complete the round, including the whaling phase, during which one of these conditions is met. Players should keep track of additional coins earned if the supply is empty. Then, players may take all of the coins remaining on their ships.
Scoring
After the final whaling phase is completed, players compare points:
- 1 point per Copper coin,
- 1 point per building owned,
- plus any points earned from the shaded buildings.
The player with the most points is the winner. Tie breaker is the player with the most money. (Break further ties by playing again.)
Building Descriptions
Town Buildings (Top Row)
- Tavern: In the next whaling phase, you may change a single coin to heads. You must have coins on a ship to use this.
- Harbor Office: Build a building. You may use up to 3 coins that are currently on any of your ships. You may not take a number of coins that would leave your ships with the same number of coins as an opponent's ship.
- Courthouse: Build, take $1. Take the money after you build.
- Mayor's House: Build a building and use it. The new building may still be used in the same round.
- Law Office: Buy a building from the other player. Pay them the original cost using any coins, and then flip the coin on the building to the other side to indicate the new ownership.
- Outfitter: Build a building and launch a ship. You must perform both parts of the action.
- Lumber Mill: Build an action building for free. You pay nothing to build it and need not have any coins. You may not build a bonus building using this.
Resource Buildings (Middle Row)
- Schoolhouse: Take two Silver.
- Town Square: Take $1 for each 2 buildings that have been built in total (owned by either player).
- General Store: Pay two Silver coins, and take one Copper coin. This can be done exactly once per action.
- Almshouse: Take $1 from the other player's supply.
- Cooperage: Take $1 per coin on your ship. If you have two ships, count only one.
- Gambling Hall: Flip a coin; if it is heads take a Copper coin, if it is tails gain nothing.
- Refinery: The other player takes 2 Silver, you take 1 Copper.
Whaling Buildings (Bottom Row)
Evaluate points only at end of game.
- Drydock: Launch a ship as normal, then take $1 from the supply.
- Shipyard: Launch a second ship. You can only launch a second ship using the shipyard, even if you previously had two ships. Your own ships may have the same number of coins. If so, you choose the order they go whaling in.
- Lighthouse: Pay $1 to the supply, then add more coins to a single ship. Your ships must have different numbers of coins than opponent's ships. No more than 4 coins can be on a ship.
- Tryworks: Pay 1 Silver from a ship. Then take 1 Copper from the supply, add it to your supply. You can only do this if it will not leave same number of coins as an opponent's ship has.
- Candleworks: Any Silver on your ship count as Copper in the next whaling phase.
- Captain's House: Take any number of coins from your ship, and take $1 from the supply. You may not take a number of coins that would leave your ships with the same number of coins as an opponent's ship. Count only the coins on one ship.
- Wharf: Launch with up to 5 coins on a ship. You may launch with fewer coins.
Bonus Buildings (Right Column of "B" Cards)
- Factory: 1 point for each 2 Copper in your possession.
- Office: 1 point per 2 buildings you own.
- Church: 3 points.
- Monument: 1 point for each building built with Copper belonging to either player. The Copper must be on the buildings as an ownership marker.
- Mansion: 3 points. Must be built using Copper coins only.
- Salvage Yard: 1 point for each Silver coin on your ship at the end of the game. If you have two ships, count only the coins on one ship.
- Bank: 1 point for each $4 you have, in both Copper and Silver.
- Summer House: 2 points. Skip your next turn after building this building. If bought with the Law Office, the turn is not skipped.
- Row House: 1 point for each row of adjacent action buildings built (e.g. Tavern and Lumber Mill). They may be owned by any player.