Tortuga Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Game Components
• Setup
• Sequence of Play
  • 1. Roll the Dice
    • Rules for Assigning Dice
    • Skull Icon
  • 2. Actions
    • 1. Expand Fleet
    • 2. Recruit Crew
    • 3. Treasure Hunt
    • 4. Board
    • 5. Raid
    • Treasure Chests in the Fleet and Crew Area
  • 3. Move Treasure Chests
• Final Scoring
• Variant
• Rules Changes for a 2-Player Game
  • 2. Perform Actions

Object of the Game

As buccaneers, the players aim to bring 6 treasure chests to Tortuga, because that is the only place where they are safe from raids ashore and offshore by their fellow players. All treasure chests the players have collected on their own player board are worth victory points. They gain extra points by collecting treasure tiles and sets of treasure chests of different colors, this could make the difference between winning and losing.

Game Components

• 40 Treasure chests: 10 red, 10 blue, 10 yellow, 5 white, 5 purple
• 1 Bag
• 1 Island, composed of two parts
• 30 Treasure tiles: 17x Treasure 1, 9x Treasure 2, 4x Treasure 3 (front side)
• 1 Start player token
• 4 Pirate tokens
• 20 Bonus tiles (front side "1", back side "2")
• 4 Boat tokens
• 20 Dice: 5 each in 4 player colors
• 4 Screens: 1 each in 4 player colors
• 4 Player boards: 1 each (composed of 2 parts) in 4 player colors
• 1 Rules booklet

Setup

• Place the island in the center of the playing area and put the bonus tiles on the island.
• Arrange the 30 treasure tiles randomly around the island with their water side (front) up.
• Put the 40 treasure chests in the bag and mix them well.
• Each player chooses a color and takes the 5 dice, the screen and both parts of the player board in that color (rear side), putting the two parts together.
• The screen is placed behind the player board. It shows the sequence of play on its left side and the assignment of actions on each player's 5 dice.
• Additionally, give each player one boat token and one pirate token. The boat token is placed on the 3rd box of the fleet track, the pirate token on the 3rd box of the crew track.
• Next, each player draws 2 treasure chests from the bag one after the other and places the first on the island area of their player board and the second on the 1st space of the crew area.
• The youngest player is the start player and receives the start player token.

The player board has: action spaces for the 5 dice (expand fleet, recruit crew, treasure hunt, board, raid), spaces for bonus tiles, the fleet track with boat token, the crew track with pirate token, and the areas tortuga, fleet area, crew area and island area.

Sequence of Play

Tortuga is played over a series of game rounds. Each game round consists of 3 phases, which are played in this order:

1. Roll the dice
2. Perform actions
3. Move treasure chests

1. Roll the Dice

All players roll their dice simultaneously and once only, hidden by their screen. Each player selects at least one die to remain behind his screen. They may select more than one die, if all selected dice show the same action. All players take their remaining dice into their hand.

Example: Ani selects two of the three dice showing the action expand fleet to remain behind her screen.

After all players have taken their choice, the players lift their screen simultaneously and assign the dice to the corresponding action spaces on their player board. Then, the players roll again, hidden by their screen, and take their choice again, as described above. They may select dice showing the same action they had selected before.

Example: Ani places her selected dice on the action space expand fleet.

Again, these dice are assigned to the corresponding action spaces on the player board.

Rules for Assigning Dice

• Any dice showing the same action as a previously selected one are added to those dice.
• If, after rolling the dice, no dice can be assigned (only possible for board and raid) the player rerolls his dice after revealing them as many times as needed until they can assign at least one die.
• The action spaces board and raid can only hold that many dice as allowed by the position of the player's boat and pirate token, respectively:

Boat/Pirate token on box	1	2, 3	4, 5	6, 7, 8
Number of dice	1	2	3	4

• The action spaces expand fleet, recruit crew and treasure hunt can hold up to 5 dice each.

Example: After her first roll, Ani cannot assign any of the two dice because her boat token is on the second box of her fleet track only. After all screens have been lifted, she rerolls these two dice and assigns one of them to the action expand fleet. She rolls her last die with her next roll, hidden by her screen.

Repeat this procedure until all players have assigned all their dice. It may happen that some players have assigned all their dice already while others still have to roll theirs. All players who have finished assigning their dice receive one bonus tile for each further roll of other players, placing it on any space for bonus tiles on their player board, front side ("1") up.

Each time a player receives another bonus tile, they have to decide between actually taking a new one from the island and placing it on any free bonus tile space of their board or flip one of the tiles they already have on their board ("2" being up now).

Until the end of the game players gain 1 or 2 bonus points for the appropriate action provided they have assigned at least one die to that action.

If all bonus spaces of a player's board contain a "2" bonus tile, that player cannot receive any further bonus tiles.

Example: Alex (orange) has assigned all his dice, while Ani (blue) and Frank (yellow) still have to roll theirs. Thus Alex receives one bonus tile from the island and places it on the bonus space of the action expand fleet.

Please note: Players do not receive a bonus tile if other players have to repeat their roll because they could not assign any of their dice.

Skull Icon

Skull icons are wildcards and can be used in one of two ways:

A) One or more dice showing the skull icon may be selected on their own to remain behind the screen. After all screens have been lifted, the player turns the die or dice with one of the possible actions up. All these dice must show the same action now. Then, the player assigns these dice to their player board as usual. If more than one player have selected dice with skull icons, they turn their dice to the action they want one after another in clockwise direction, beginning with the start player.

Example: Ani selects the two dice C & D, both showing a skull icon. After the screens have been lifted, she assigns the two dice to the action board and turns the dice with that action up.

B) One or more dice showing the skull icon may be added to one or more other selected die or dice. After all screens have been lifted, the player turns the die or dice to the same action as the other selected die or dice.

Example: Ani selects the sword 5 and the skull A additionally. After the screens have been lifted, she assigns both dice to the action raid and turns die A with that action up.

2. Actions

Using their actions the players can expand their fleets, recruit pirates, hunt treasures and steal treasures from other players.

There are 5 different actions, which are performed in the following order:

1. expand fleet
2. recruit crew
3. treasure hunt
4. board
5. raid

For each action, the players add the numbers shown on their dice and any bonus points they may have for this action. All players compare their results. Only the two players with the best total (1st position) and the second best total (2nd position) are allowed to perform this action during the current game round. However, depending on their position, the two players perform that action in differing ways.

In case of a tie, the player holding the start player token resolves the tie in his favor. If that player is not involved in the tie, the player sitting closest to the start player in clockwise direction is the winner of the tie.

Players may forfeit their action.

Please note: It will happen that no player or only one player has assigned dice to a certain action. In that case the action is skipped respectively only one player performs it, being in 1st position.

Example: Both Lothar (green) and Frank (yellow) have the highest total with 9 points each. Because Lothar is sitting closest to the start player, he is in 1st position and Frank in 2nd position only.

1. Expand Fleet

• 1st position: The player advances his boat token two boxes to the right.
• 2nd position: The player advances his boat token one box to the right.

Once the boat token has reached the rightmost box of the fleet track it remains there even if it should be advanced further.

2. Recruit Crew

• 1st position: The player advances his pirate token two boxes to the right.
• 2nd position: The player advances his pirate token one box to the right.

Once the pirate token has reached the rightmost box of the pirate track it remains there even if it should be advanced further.

3. Treasure Hunt

• 1st position: The player draws one treasure chest from the bag and places it on his island area. Additionally, they draw two treasure tiles from the center of the playing area, look at them and keep one tile face down next to his board, mixing the other tile face down with the remaining tiles.
• 2nd position: The player draws one treasure tile from the center of the playing area and keeps it face down next to his board.

Example: Lothar first draws a treasure chest from the bag and places it on his island area. Then, he looks at two treasure tiles and keeps the more valuable one with two coins. He mixes the other one face down with the other tiles in the center.

Hint: The treasure tiles are worth extra victory points at the end of the game.

4. Board

• 1st position: The player chooses one other player whose ships they want to board. The boarding player seizes one of that player's treasure chests of his choice from that player's fleet area and places it on his island area. Additionally, the boarded player must move his boat token one box back (to the left) on his fleet track. If the boarded player has assigned at least one die to the board action themselves, the boarding player must move his boat token back by one box as well.
• 2nd position: The player chooses one other player whose ships they want to board except that player whose ships were boarded by the player in 1st position. The boarded player must move his boat token one box back (to the left) on his fleet track. If the boarded player has assigned at least one die to the board action themselves, the active player must move his boat token back by one box as well. Additionally, the active player claims one treasure chest of his choice from the center island (if there are any) and places it on his island area.

Example: Lothar (green) decides to board Ani's fleet (blue). Ani has assigned one die to the board action herself and thus can defend. That means that both players have to move their boat token back by one box. Lothar steals Ani's purple treasure chest and places it on his island area.

5. Raid

• 1st position: The player chooses one other player whom they want to raid. The raiding player seizes one of that player's treasure chests of his choice from that player's crew area and places it on his island area. Additionally, the raided player must move his pirate token one box back (to the left) on his crew track. If the raided player has assigned at least one die to the raid action themselves, the raiding player must move his pirate token back by one box as well.
• 2nd position: The player chooses one other player whom they want to raid except that player who was raided by the player in 1st position. The raided player must move his pirate token one box back (to the left) on his crew track. If the raided player has assigned at least one die to the raid action themselves, the raiding player must move his pirate token back by one box as well. Additionally, the raiding player claims one treasure chest of his choice from the center island (if there are any) and places it on his island area.

Example: Alex, in 2nd position (orange), raids Frank, who must move his pirate token back by one box. Then, Alex takes the blue treasure chest from the center island and places it on his island area.

Treasure Chests in the Fleet and Crew Area

The position of the boat and pirate token determines how many treasure chests are allowed to be in that player's fleet and crew area at a given time.

Boat/Pirate token on box	1	2, 3	4, 5	6, 7, 8
Number of treasure chests	1	2	3	4

If a player does not have the required number of boats or pirates to transport all his treasure chests after the actions board and raid are completed, they must deposit any surplus treasure chests (take from the right) on the center island. Once the boat or pirate token has reached the leftmost box on their respective track it remains there even if it should be moved back further during the actions board or raid. Only one treasure chest of each color may be on the center island at a time. If a player must deposit a treasure chest on the island and there is a treasure chest of that color already, it is returned into the bag.

Example: Frank was raided by the player in 2nd position and must move his pirate token back by one box. He can transport only one treasure chest now and must deposit the white chest on the center island.

After all actions have been completed, all players resume their dice from their board and place them behind their screen.

3. Move Treasure Chests

First, each player draws one treasure chest from the bag and places it on their island area.

Then, the treasure chests are moved in this order:

1. Move the treasure chests from the fleet area to Tortuga.
2. Move the treasure chests from the crew area to the fleet area.
3. Move the treasure chests from the island area to the crew area.

Fill each area from left to right; you may freely choose the order of the treasure chests. The boat token and the pirate token indicate how many treasure chests of the corresponding area may be transported. Any surplus treasure chests must be placed on the center island (see above "Treasure Chests in the Fleet and Crew Area"). The players move their treasure chests simultaneously.

If at least one player has at least 6 treasure chests in Tortuga now, the game ends immediately and players proceed to the final scoring.

Otherwise, pass the start player to the next player in clockwise direction and the next game round begins.

Example: Lothar draws a treasure chest from the bag and places it on his island area. Then, he moves his treasure chests: 1. The yellow and blue chests from his fleet area to Tortuga. 2. The yellow chest from his crew area to his fleet area. 3. The purple and red chests from his island area to his crew area. He decides to place the purple chest first, followed by the red one.

Final Scoring

Victory points are awarded to each player as follows:

1. For each own treasure chest:

   • In Tortuga: 3 points
   • In their fleet area: 2 points
   • In their crew area: 1 point

   Purple treasure chests are worth twice the points in each area.

2. 3 points for each set of one yellow, blue and red treasure chest on their player board. White chests in Tortuga are wildcards and can substitute any other color.

3. Each box they progressed on the fleet and crew tracks is worth 1 point.

4. Each coin shown on their collected treasure tiles is worth 1 point.

The player with the most points is the most prolific buccaneer and the winner of Tortuga. In case of a tie for the most points these players share the victory.

Example: Ani counts her points: 18 points for her 6 treasure chests in Tortuga. 4 points for the purple treasure chest in her fleet area (2x2, purple counts twice). 2 points for the 2 treasure chests in her crew area. 6 points for 2 sets: red, yellow and blue (in Tortuga); blue, white = yellow (in Tortuga) and red (crew area). 8 points for progression on the fleet and crew tracks. 4 points for her collected coins. Ani's total booty is 42 points.

Variant

Buccaneers wanting to play a longer game may use this change of rules: The game ends at the end of a game round, if at least one player has at least 8 treasure chests in Tortuga.

Rules Changes for a 2-Player Game

Apply these rules changes when playing with 2 players:

2. Perform Actions

Only the player with the best total (1st position) is entitled to perform the action:

1. Expand fleet: The player advances his boat token one box to the right.
2. Recruit crew: The player advances his pirate token one box to the right.
3. Treasure hunt: The player draws one treasure chest from the bag and places it on his island area. Additionally, they draw one treasure tile from the center of the playing area, and keep it face down next to his board.
4. Board: The player seizes one of the other player's treasure chests of his choice from that player's fleet area and places it on his island area. Additionally, the boarded player must move his boat token one box back (to the left) on his fleet track. If the boarded player has assigned at least one die to the board action themselves, the active player must move his boat token back by one box as well.
5. Raid: The player seizes one of the other player's treasure chests of his choice from that player's crew area and places it on his island area. Additionally, the raided player must move his pirate token one box back (to the left) on his crew track. If the raided player has assigned at least one die to the raid action themselves, the active player must move his pirate token back by one box as well.

Any treasure chests that would have to be placed on the center island are returned to the bag instead.