The Pirate's Flag
The Pirate's Flag Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
In the Box
- 6 Unique Shape & Color Plastic Pirate Ships
- 8 Unique Double-Sided Captain Cards
- 6 Reference and Color Cards
- 48 Unique Action Cards
- 1 Black Plastic Flag
- 2 Six-Sided Dice
- 1 Game Board
- 1 Rulebook
Objective
The Pirate's Flag is a dice-rolling, card-playing, capture the flag adventure! Players battle through The Serpent's Pass trying to be the first player to escape back to The Dread Sea with The Pirate's Flag. The player who gets the flag off the board into The Dread Sea is the winner!
Ages 8+ | 3-6 Players | ~45 Minutes
Game Setup
Let each player choose a Pirate Captain (or randomly deal them) and choose a ship to sail! Take the Color Card that matches your ship color.
Each Captain has a unique once-per-game ability that can be used at any time. Captains are public knowledge and don't count towards cards in hand. Once you've used your Captain ability, flip it to the full art side.
Shuffle the action cards into a central draw pile. Players do not start with any cards in hand.
Start: All players start just off the board in The Dread Sea. Put the flag on the back of the Dread Captain's ship in the opposite corner of the board.
Starting the Game
To determine which player goes first, each player will roll both dice. The highest roller is the winner! After the first player moves, continue clockwise (to the left).
At the start of the game, turns will be spent rolling dice and moving ships to collect cards from the docks and Trading Posts. Once a player has the flag, the focus changes from gathering supplies to going to war!
Movement
To move, each player will roll two dice and move their ship that many spaces; until any player gets to the flag. Once the flag has been picked up, all players will only roll one die for movement the rest of the game.
You must move the full number of spaces you roll in one direction (whether one or two dice are being rolled); however, you may choose which direction you want to move.
There are four times a player may choose to stop movement early:
- When you pick up the flag in open water. If you pick up the flag in open water, you may continue movement in either direction from where you pick up the flag.
- When you come to either end of the board. If you get to either end of the board mid-movement, you will continue the rest of your movement back in the opposite direction.
- When you stop to battle another player for the flag. (see "Battles")
- When you visit a Trading Post. (see "Trading Posts")
When a player gets to the flag, they pick it up and put it in the back of their ship.
Only one player must make it to the Dread Captain's ship to get the flag.
BONUS: The player who takes the flag from the Dread Captain's ship gets +1 to their maximum hand size for the rest of the game.
Hazards
There are six hazards along The Serpent's Pass. A player cannot end their movement on a hazard space.
If you would end your movement on a hazard that says -1, move your ship back 1 space the direction you came from regardless of which direction you were going.
If you land on a +1, move forward 1 space in the direction you were going.
Gameplay Tip: Because cards may be played on any player's turn, we advise a "pass the dice" method of signaling that a turn has ended. When your turn is over, pass the dice to the next player so everyone knows when one turn ends and another begins.
Waterfalls
There are two waterfalls along The Serpent's Pass. Players may take the waterfalls down as a shortcut in the direction of the arrow on the board, making the path to get the flag shorter. Waterfalls are one-way, and players may not travel back up a waterfall.
NOTE: After going down a waterfall, you may continue movement in either direction.
Some cards say, "Take the flag from a player within 2 spaces of your ship." or "Pull a ship towards you 3 spaces." Waterfalls do not count towards the number of spaces. Those cards all refer to true board spaces.
Optional (Recommended) Rule: If the player carrying the flag attempts to travel down a waterfall, the flag will fly out of their ship and remain in open water at the top of the waterfall.
Docks
As players move along The Serpent's Pass, they will draw a card every time they pass one of the six docks (yellow lines). You do not stop at docks.
HINT: Sometimes it's better to go backwards if it means you'll pass by a dock and get another card!
There is a maximum of 5 cards in hand. If you are holding 5 cards and pass a dock, you do not draw a card.
Trading Posts
You may stop your movement as you pass by either of the two Trading Posts. If you choose to stop at a Trading Post, you may discard a card. If you do, you may draw TWO new cards (to a maximum of 5). You may only do this once each visit to the Trading Post.
NOTE: All cards go to a single discard pile. If you run out of cards in the deck, re-shuffle the discard pile and make a new draw pile.
Battles
You may stop your movement if you come to the same space with a player carrying the flag. If you do, you may initiate a battle!
Battles are 1 vs. 1 die roll, highest number wins. If there is a tie, re-roll until there is a clear winner. Cards and Captain abilities may be used in battles just as they may be used during movement.
TIP: Cards may be played at any time, so cards like "Flank!" could help you avoid battle before it starts!
If the attacking player is successful in winning the battle, they capture the flag and roll again to try and escape!
If the defending player wins, they keep the flag and the attacking player's movement is over.
You may only initiate a battle on your turn.
If you start your turn on the same space as a player with the flag, you may initiate a battle. Initiating a battle takes place of your movement roll. If you win the battle, you may roll again to escape. If you lose the battle, your movement is over.
If a card allows you to move a number of spaces towards the flag, you may choose to stop and battle on your turn, just like a movement roll.
Pro TIP: You may do battle at a Trading Post; and you can choose to use the Trading Post either before or after battle!
Rules note: If the flag is floating in open water, a player does not need to stop to pick it up, just pass by it.
Cards
Players may play cards on any player's turn, not just their own. You may only play 1 card per any player's turn, unless the card states otherwise.
Some cards say they can only be used "On your turn..." And some add, "Instead of rolling..."
Other cards specify things like, "On your next roll" or on "the next roll." Cards that say "next roll" must be played before a player rolls.
Some cards say, "Does not count as your 1 card per turn." These do not need to be played first; they simply allow for additional cards to be played that turn. You may play more than one of these cards on a turn. For example, you could play "Aarrrgh!" at the start of someone's turn to subtract 3 from their next roll. Later that same turn, you could play "Thick Fog" to prevent them from playing a card against you.
TIP: You can play cards like "Smooth Sailing" and "Heavy Breeze" to add to your next roll during other player's turns. If you used both of those, you'd have +5 to your next roll when it came around to your turn!
Example 1
Many cards may be played in response to other cards, or in response to a battle. For example: "Flank!" could be played to get out of the way if someone is trying to take the flag with "Gone Fishin'."
Reminder: You may only play 1 card per turn regardless of whether it's for battle or for movement, unless it says otherwise; plan wisely!
If a card says, "On the next roll" and two players are about to roll, the person playing the card chooses which roll is affected.
Similarly, if a card says to move a ship "closest to The Dread Sea" or another location, and there is more than one ship on that space, the person playing the card chooses which player/ship moves.
In this example, Tucker played "Gone Fishin'" on Shannon. Shannon then played "Flank!" in response. "Flank!" takes effect first, making Shannon's ship move 1 space.
Assuming Shannon is now more than 3 spaces away from Tucker, "Gone Fishin'" is out of range, and has no effect (it gets discarded).
Reminder: There's a max of 5 cards in hand, except the player who picked up the flag first can hold 6.
PRO TIP: If a player has +5 to the next roll stacked ready for their next movement roll, someone could play a card like "It's you or me!" which chooses a player to roll a die. The +3 from "Smooth Sailing" and +2 from "Heavy Breeze" would be added to the roll for "It's you or me!" because it would be the next dice roll!
Example 2
Cards are played using a first in, last out method, which means cards can be played in response to other cards, and the last card played in the series is the one that takes effect first.
Shannon plays "Aarrrgh!" to subtract 3 from Tucker's next roll. Tucker responds with the "Giant Mirror" to change the target back to Shannon! If she had the card "Thick Fog," she could play it to ignore the effect of the "Giant Mirror" making "Aarrrgh!" go through successfully!
Reminder: Most cards can be played on ANY player's turn, not just your own!
NOTE: Cards that reduce the value of the dice may only drop the dice to 0. Numbers cannot be negative. In rare cases 0 counts as an Even number.
Cards may be played at any point during a turn, unless it says "Instead of rolling..."
This means you can do things like try to steal the flag with "Gone Fishin'" or "Harpoon Gun" and if you get it, still run away with your regular turn movement roll.
Example 3
Shannon is 4 spaces away from Tucker who has the flag. Shannon has her Captain Shan ability (Double her next roll) as well as the card "Harpoon Gun" (Take the flag from a player within 2 spaces of your ship.).
Shannon doesn't think she needs to use her Captain ability yet, since she only needs to move 4 spaces to battle, or only 2 spaces to be in range to use the "Harpoon Gun".
She would roll for her movement first to get closer to Tucker. If she rolls 4+, she can stop on his space and enter battle. If she wants to, she could then use her Captain's once per game ability to double her next roll aiming to crush him in battle!
If she didn't roll 4 or higher for her movement, but she did get within 2 spaces, she can still use her "Harpoon Gun" to take the flag! Because she took the flag with a card, and not from a battle, she doesn't get to roll again to escape.
If Shannon still has the flag on her next turn, she could use her Captain's once per game ability to double her next roll, this time choosing her movement roll to sail far away!
FAQ
Q: What happens if two players are on the same space, but neither have the flag? A: Enjoy each others company! You only battle players with the flag.
Q: Must I get to the end of the board? A: No. One player needs to pick up the flag, everyone else may try to take it from them (or whoever has it).
Q: Can I use the Trading Post if I have no cards in hand? A: No. You must discard a card to draw at the Trading Post.
Q: What happens if a card says pull something 2 spaces towards you and you're only 1 space away? A: It would stop at your location.
Optional Rule
The player carrying the flag may only move towards The Dread Sea during their movement.