Porto Carthago

Porto Carthago Rulebook

Table of Contents

Description and Goal of the Game

Players in the game take on the roles of senators who, with the help of their servants, attempt to increase their wealth and improve their position in the palace.

During 5 decades, each a game round, players use their servants to earn income or position them to obtain goods and load the goods onto incoming merchant ships - or even take the risk of chartering a private vessel - all with the goal of growing influence in the palace. Influence in the harbor can also determine where the best ships will dock, and the path of intrigue can provide yet another way into the palace courts. Only the player who develops the best business - through any means necessary - will end the game as the most influential senator.

Game Components

Game Board
30 Ship Cards
6 Action Cards
5 Storehouse Cards
5 Overview Cards
Starting Player/Action Round Card
2 Cloth Bags
Money in different denominations (Talents, the currency of Carthage)
5 Trading Point Markers
30 Goods (flat wooden discs, 6 each in 5 colors)
Decade Marker and Action Round Marker (white wooden discs)
90 Servants (Figures, 18 each in 5 colors)
Rulebook

Game Board

Harbor with 12 docks where the Ships are moved. Each Ship from another civilization has two possible docks in the harbor. Each dock can hold one Good until it is loaded onto a Ship.
Track for the 5 decades (game rounds).
Spaces for the 6 Action Cards.
Ship Cards are placed in two rows (number of players + 1).
Trading House: Trading Points are recorded here for loading foreign Ships with Goods and shipping Goods through charter ships.
5 Charter Ships (according to the number of players).
Lighthouse: Players place their Servants here in order to influence where the Ships will dock.
Temple of Baal: Servants are placed here to offer prayers to ensure safe passage for a charter ship.
Path of Intrigue: Players can gain further influence in the palace here.
Market: Goods available for purchase are placed here.
Palace: The heart of Porto Carthago, as the ultimate goal is to get the most influence here.
Decade- and Action Round Marker.

Ship Card

Each Ship Card depicts a ship from one of six different civilizations that trade with Carthage. A Ship Card shows: which Good the ship desires; the income from the contract; the danger number (1 - 6), which is important when chartering a ship (distribution of danger numbers: 7x1, 6x2, 6x3, 5x4, 4x5 and 2x6); and a Privilege.

Preparation

The Game Board is placed in the middle of the table.
The Money is sorted and placed as a bank next to the board.
The Goods are placed in the cloth bag and 6 Goods are drawn and placed on the 6 spaces of the market (with 3 players, however, only 4 Goods are placed in the market).
The Ship Cards are shuffled and as many drawn as the number of players plus one. These are placed in a row along the right edge of the game board. Then the same number of cards is drawn and placed in another row alongside the first. The remaining cards form the Ship Card draw deck.
The Decade Marker is placed onto the first space of the decade track.

Each player:

chooses a color, receives the 18 Servants in that color and places them in his reserve,
receives a Storehouse Card and places it in front of him,
places two Servants from his reserve onto 2 of the 4 storage spaces on his Storehouse Card,
places the Trading Point Marker in his color on the "0" space of the trading point track.

The last player to have travelled by ship is the starting player, places the Starting Player Card in front of him, and places the Action Round Marker on the "1" space on this card.

Starting with the starting player and continuing in a clockwise direction, each player may claim an unoccupied dock by placing two Servants from his reserve on the two double-circle spaces of that dock.

Afterwards, beginning with the last player and continuing in a counter-clockwise direction, each player must claim a dock and take any one Good from the market. The Good is placed on one of the free spaces on his Storehouse Card.

Now every player has one or two docks occupied by his Servants and one Good in his Storehouse.

The starting player begins the game.

Game Round Overview

Bring Ships into the harbor
Shuffle and place the Action Cards
Determine the starting player
Earn income
Fill the market
Take actions

Bring Ships into the Harbor

The first row (closest to the board) of Ships are brought into the harbor by the player(s) who control the lighthouse, and the cards of the second row are moved next to the edge of the board. A new second row of Ship Cards are drawn from the deck (equal to the number of players plus 1), and placed as a second row.

First, the player with the most Servants in the lighthouse chooses two Ships to allow into the harbor and decides where to place each (there are two possible docks for each) or he chooses one Ship to keep from entering the harbor and places that card under the Ship Card deck.

Next the player with the second-most Servants in the lighthouse chooses two Ships and decides where to place each.

Then the player with the third-most Servants chooses and places one Ship (if there is still one available) and every other player with Servants in the lighthouse does the same until each has placed a Ship or there are no more Ships from the row to place.

Ground rules when placing a Ship

A Ship must always be placed at an unoccupied dock matching that Ship's civilization.
If both matching docks are unoccupied, the player placing the Ship decides which dock will take the Ship.
If both matching docks are occupied, the Ship leaves the harbor. The Ship Card is placed under the deck.
If two or more players have the same number of Servants in the lighthouse, the starting player or player closest to the starting player in a clockwise direction chooses first.
A player may not choose Ships to enter the harbor without having Servants in the lighthouse.

If there are no Servants in the lighthouse (as is the case at the beginning of the game!) or if there are still Ships in the first row that no player has brought into the harbor (as is the case if only one player has Servants in the lighthouse), the remaining Ships are automatically brought into the harbor in this way: Ships come into the harbor one after the other from the top card in the row to the bottom. They fill unoccupied dock spaces matching their respective civilizations in order of the number on the docks ("I" first, then "II"). If both matching docks for a Ship are occupied, the Ship leaves the harbor and the card is placed under the deck.

After all Ships have been brought into the harbor, players check to see if there are one or more Ships placed at docks with the Goods they desire. If this is the case, then the Goods are immediately loaded onto the corresponding Ships (Load Goods).

Shuffle and Place the Action Cards

The 6 Action Cards are shuffled and placed face-up from left to right on the Action Card spaces on the board. Servants that were placed on the Action Cards in the previous round are returned to their players' reserves.

Determine the Starting Player

The player with the most Servants in his reserve becomes the new starting player and places the Starting Player Card in front of him. He places the Action Round Marker on the "1" space on the card. If there is a tie for the most Servants in a player's reserve, the new starting player is the player closest to the previous starting player in a clockwise direction.

Note: The first starting player remains so during the entire first decade (round) of the game.

Earn Income

Each player receives 1 Talent for each Servant he has in his reserve. Servants remaining on the game board or on a player's Storehouse Card do not count towards that player's income. Each player takes his income in money from the bank and holds them in his hand, hidden from his opponents.

Fill the Market

The starting player draws Goods from the cloth bag and places them in the market until all 6 spaces are filled (but only 4 spaces in a 3-player game).

Take Actions

There are 5 action rounds during each decade in the game. In every round, each player takes one action, beginning with the starting player and continuing in a clockwise direction. The actions phase is over after the last player has taken his fifth action.

Depending on the location of the Action Card on the board, each action requires 0, 1, 2 or 3 Servants. If Servants are required to perform an action, the player takes that number of Servants from his reserve and places them on the Action Card. An Action Card may be used multiple times by any number of players.

Instead of using an Action Card, a player can either earn 3 Talents in additional income or clear and refill the market, placing all remaining Goods from the market back in the bag and drawing 6 (or 4) new Goods. In addition, the player who refills the market is allowed to buy one of the new Goods available at a cost of 6 Talents.

Below some of the 6 action spaces on the board are Bonus Actions that players can take in addition to those on the Action Cards. Each Bonus Action can only be taken by a player who chooses the corresponding Action Card.

Note: it is, however, allowed for a player to choose an Action Card and only take the Bonus Action associated with that card.

Overview of the Action Cards

Captain The Captain allows a player to charter one ship. The player places one of his Servants on an unoccupied charter ship space on the board. The number of charter ships corresponds with the number of players. Note: a player may have Servants at more than one charter ship.

Carrier The Carrier transports a Good from one location to another (in any direction between a player's Storehouse, docks, and a charter ship). Note: transporting from one dock to another is also allowed, as long as the player has Servants at both.

Aristocrat The Aristocrat allows a player to move up to 5 of his Servants in any combination between the lighthouse, Baal temple and his reserve. Lighthouse and Baal temple give place for an endless number of Servants. Note: with this action, up to 5 Servants can simply be returned to a player's reserve from the lighthouse and/or Baal temple.

Loadmaster The Loadmaster claims a dock for a player using 2 Servants from that player's reserve or allows 2 of that player's Servants to switch to an unoccupied dock or allows that player to return his 2 Servants from a dock to his reserve. Note: if Servants are removed from a dock with a Ship, the Ship remains at that dock. However, if Servants are removed from a dock where a Good is stored, that Good is removed and returned to the bag.

Merchant The Merchant allows a player to purchase one Good from the market. Purchased Goods are always placed immediately onto the player's Storehouse Card. If there are no unoccupied spaces on a player's Storehouse Card, he may not buy Goods from the market. The first Good bought from the market (by any player) each round costs 4 Talents, the second costs 3, and every other Good costs 2 Talents. Note: the prices are "reset" if the Market is refilled by a player during the round.

Bonus Actions

Whenever a player chooses an Action Card that is on a space showing a bonus action, he may perform the bonus action in addition to the action on the card. The bonus action must always be performed after the action on the card.

The two different bonus actions are:

Free up one space on a player's Storehouse Card at a cost of 6 Talents. The player takes one of the Servants from his card and places it in his reserve. There are a maximum of 4 storage spaces on a player's Storehouse Card, one space for each Good that can be stored there.

Buy influence in the palace. The player pays for the least expensive unoccupied space in the palace and places one of his Servants from his reserve onto that space. The cost of the space is paid to the bank using that player's Money.

Note: a player may not perform this action if he does not have any Servants remaining in his reserve.

In addition, a player must also have a minimum number of 2 - 6 Trading Points for each space in the palace. These are red printed directly under each palace space. Any number of Servants can be placed on the last, largest space in the palace, each costing 20 Talents and requiring 6 Trading Points.

Note: with the aid of the Action Card actions, a player can load and ship Goods to earn income and Trading Points, which can then be used in the same turn to perform that card's corresponding bonus action.

Once all players have taken one action, the starting player adjusts the Action Round Marker on his card to the next number. After every player has taken his fifth action, the decade ends.

New Decade

When the action phase has ended and none of the game ending conditions have been met, the Decade Marker is moved to the next decade number, and a new decade begins.

Shipping Goods

There is a difference in the game between shipping and loading Goods. Shipping means that a Good is sent out on a charter ship.

In order to ship a Good, a player must have a Servant on at least one of the charter ship spaces (of which there are as many available as the number of players) and he must have at least one Servant in the Baal temple.

As soon as a Good is transported to a chartered ship using the Carrier action, that Good is immediately shipped and sold in another civilization. The top Ship Card is drawn from the deck to determine where the charter ship is headed. In this case, it is not necessary that the Good being transported matches the Good desired by the Ship Card. Then the danger number is compared to the number of that player's Servants in the Baal temple. There are two possible outcomes:

1) The number of that player's Servants in the Baal temple is at least as many as the danger number on the Ship Card: the Ship survives the journey and delivers the Good.

The player earns 2 Trading Points and moves his Trading Point Marker 2 spaces on the trading house track.
In addition, the player receives the number of Talents shown on the card from the bank. For each Servant in the temple, however, he must pay one Talent back to the bank as an offering.
The Ship Card is placed under the deck, and the Good is placed back in the bag.
The Servant from the chartered ship and one of that player's Servants from the Baal temple is returned to his reserve.

2) The number of that player's Servants in the Baal temple is less than the danger number on the Ship Card: the journey fails and the ship does not deliver the Good.

The player receives 1 Trading Point and moves his Trading Point Marker one space on the trading house track.
The player also receives from the bank half of the Talents (rounded up) shown on the Ship Card as compensation.
The Ship Card is placed under the deck, and the Good is placed back in the bag.
The Servant placed on the chartered ship and one of that player's Servants from the Baal temple is returned to his reserve.

Loading Goods

Loading a Good takes place whenever a Ship is at a dock with a Good that the Ship desires. This takes place either when the Good is transported by the Carrier from a player's Storehouse to the dock with the Ship, or when a Ship is placed next to a dock that already has that Good.

The player receives the Talents shown on the Ship Card from the bank and 1 Trading Point. He then takes the Ship Card from the board and places it in front of him. This allows that player to use the Privilege shown on the card. Both Servants at the dock are moved back to that player's reserve.

Privilege

On each Ship Card, a particular privilege is shown. When a player loads a Good onto a Ship, he takes that Ship Card and may use the privilege on the card one time during his turn. A player may use privileges from more than one Ship Card in the same turn. Some privileges must be used immediately. After a privilege has been used from a Ship Card, that card is placed back under the deck.

Note: a player may choose not to use a privilege (especially to prolong the game by avoiding a Trading Point or to avoid helping another player on the path of intrigue).

Overview of the Privileges

+ 3 Talents bonus contract: After loading a Good, the player receives 3 Talents more from the bank. (Immediately!)
Look and sort the top 3 Ship Cards: The player draws the top 3 Ship Cards from the deck, looks at them without showing them to the other players, and places them in any order face-down on top of the deck.
Load any Good: The player may load any Good onto the Ship at a dock occupied with his Servants. Note: this also applies to a dock that already has a Ship and the "wrong" Good.
Move up to 3 Servants: The player may move up to any 3 of his own and/or his opponents' Servants between the Baal temple and the lighthouse.
+ 1 Trading Point: The player receives a bonus Trading Point. This can also be used either to increase his points in the trading house or to place a Servant on the path of intrigue. (Immediately!)
+ 1 Servant on the path of intrigue: The player places a Servant from his reserve onto the path of intrigue. (Immediately!)
Buy a place in the palace without needing the required Trading Points: The player may buy an additional place in the palace without needing to use the palace bonus action and without needing the required Trading Points. The player must still pay the full price in Talents to the bank, however.
Bring a Ship into the harbor from the first row of Ship Cards: The player chooses a Ship from the first row of Ship Cards, and places it at its matching dock in the harbor. If both docks are unoccupied, it is placed at the dock with the lower Roman numeral. If both docks are occupied, the Ship leaves the harbor, and the Ship Card is placed back under the deck. The Ship Card from the second row directly next to the vacated space is moved into the first row, and a new Ship Card is drawn from the deck to replace the card from the second row.

Path of Intrigue

When a player earns a Trading Point, he can instead choose to immediately place one of the Servants from his reserve onto the next unoccupied space on the path of intrigue. In this case, he does not move his Trading Point Marker in the trading house. When a player earns 2 Trading Points, he may also use one to increase his total in the trading house and the other to place 1 Servant on the path of intrigue from his reserve.

The path begins on the space directly next to the arrow and continues in the direction of the palace. One Servant is placed on each space. Servants placed on the path of intrigue remain there until the end of the game.

The "point space" reached at the end of the game determines how many bonus places in the palace are awarded, and how many players will earn them. The player with the most Servants on the entire path receives the largest number of bonus places in the palace, as shown on the point space reached. If more than one number is shown on that point space, then the player with the second-highest - and possibly third-highest - number of Servants on the path also receive bonus places in the palace. Ties are broken by awarding the player who first placed a Servant on the path.

Example 1: The space "3/2/1" is reached. Red and Blue each have 5 Servants on the path of intrigue. Since Red placed a Servant there first, Red receives 3 bonus places in the palace, Blue receives 2 more places, and Yellow receives one place for having the third most Servants on the path of intrigue.

For these places in the palace, each player moves the appropriate number of his Servants from the path of intrigue to the large palace space.

End of Game

The game ends at the end of the fifth decade.

The game also ends if, at the end of the fourth decade, at least one player has 8 Trading Points.

Final actions: If there is at least one Good at one of the 12 docks, the Ships are brought into the harbor one last time. It is possible that Goods already on the docks can be loaded onto the appropriate ships and each player has the opportunity to buy one additional influence space in the palace at a cost of 20 Talents and requiring 6 Trading Points.

Winner

Depending on the number of spaces filled on the path of intrigue, one, two, or three additional places in the palace are awarded. The players earning places in the palace in this way move the correct number of Servants from the path of intrigue into the palace (Example 2).

The player with the most Servants in the palace wins the game. If there is a tie, then the tied player with the most Trading Points wins. If still a tie, then the tied player with the most Talents wins.

Example 2: Now each player counts his Servants in the palace. Red has 6 Servants in the palace, Blue has 7, Yellow has 5, and Black has 7. Black wins because he has more Trading Points than Blue.

Overview (Reference Page)

Action Cards:

Carrier: transports a Good from one location to another.
Aristocrat: moves up to 5 of a player's Servants in any combination between the lighthouse, Baal temple and his reserve.
Captain: charters one ship.
Merchant: purchases one Good from the market.
Loadmaster: claims, switches or dissolves a dock.

Privileges: + 3 Talents bonus contract (immediately); Look and sort the top 3 Ship Cards; Load any Good; Move up to 3 Servants; + 1 Trading Point (immediately); + 1 Servant on the path of intrigue (immediately); Get a place in the palace without needing the required Trading Points; Bring a Ship into the harbor from the first row of Ship Cards.

Chartered ship outcomes:

Danger number met (Servants in the Baal temple at least the danger number): the Ship survives the journey and delivers the Good. The player earns 2 Trading Points. The player receives the number of Talents shown on the card from the bank, but pays one Talent back for each Servant in the temple. The Ship Card is placed under the deck, and the Good is placed back in the bag. The Servant from the chartered ship and one of that player's Servants from the Baal temple is returned to his reserve.
Danger number not met: the journey fails and the ship does not deliver the Good. The player receives 1 Trading Point and half of the Talents (rounded up) shown on the Ship Card as compensation. The Ship Card is placed under the deck, and the Good is placed back in the bag. The Servant placed on the chartered ship and one of that player's Servants from the Baal temple is returned to his reserve.