Walk the Plank (2007)
Walk the Plank (2007) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's in Walk the Plank?
WALK THE PLANK comes with a deck of 68 cards. The deck has sixty-five numbered cards, two Walk the Plank! cards, and one Sea Monster! card. The sixty-five numbered cards are divided into five suits: Doubloons, Hookhands, Monkeys, Parrots, and Peglegs. The cards in each suit are numbered 1 through 13, with 1 worth the least and 13 worth the most.
Setting up the Game
Shuffle the deck or otherwise mix up the cards. Next you need to choose the Captain for the first round. To do so, each player draws a card at random from the deck. The player with the highest-numbered card starts the game as the Captain, and gets to deal the first hand. The suit of the cards drawn doesn't matter—just compare numbers. (Treat Walk the Plank! as 14 and Sea Monster! as 15 when drawing for first Captain.) In the case of a tie for highest card, the tying players should re-draw.
The winner of the card draw is the Captain (at least for now). Starting with the player to her left, the Captain deals one card face down to each player (including herself) until everyone has seven cards. Don't let the other players see the cards in your hand!
The Captain then turns over the top card on the deck so that everyone may see it. The suit of the card revealed will be trump for the first round. The trump suit is the most powerful suit in any given battle. For example, if Monkeys are trump, then a low card in Monkeys will beat even a higher-numbered card in any other suit. If the card the Captain turns over is a Walk the Plank! or a Sea Monster!, there is no trump suit for this first round. In every round after the first, whoever is Captain chooses the trump suit after looking at his or her cards.
About Rounds
Whenever the Captain shuffles the deck and deals a new set of cards, it is the start of a new round. Each game of WALK THE PLANK has no more than seven rounds. In the first round each player gets seven cards, and in each round after that, the Captain deals one card fewer to each player. (Six cards each in the second round, five cards in the third, four in the fourth, and so on.) There are as many battles in a round as the number of cards dealt to each player that round, starting at 7 battles in the first round, and going all the way down to 1 battle if the game lasts 7 rounds.
Starting Play (First Round)
After she turns over the top card of the deck to show what suit is trump, the Captain begins the first battle by laying down a card. A battle is a chance for each player to play a better card than all the other players do, in order to win the battle. Starting with the Captain and going around the table to the left, each player plays one card during a battle.
Things to Know
- You must play one card in every battle, and you can't play more than one.
- The suit of the first card played in a battle is called the current suit. If this card is a numbered card, it may or may not be from the trump suit. If the first card played in a battle is one of the three special cards, there is no current suit for that battle, but each player still has to play one card.
- You must play a card of the same suit as the first card played in each battle, if you can. We call this following suit. So if you have any cards in your hand of the same suit as the first one played in a battle, you have to pick one and play it.
- If, however, the first card played in a battle is one of the special cards (Walk the Plank! or Sea Monster!), you can play any card (and you do have to play a card).
- If you have a card from the current suit and a card from the trump suit, you can't play the trump card. You must follow suit.
- You don't have to follow suit if you have no cards in the current suit.
- You don't have to follow suit if you have a special card (Walk the Plank! or Sea Monster!), unless you choose not to play the special card.
- Sometimes you'll have to play a card you don't want to, since you have to play a card and you have to follow suit. A pirate's life is full of hardship.
When you win a battle, you gain control, which means you get to play the first card in the next battle. Gather up the cards everyone played during each battle you win, and stack them in front of you. If you win the most battles during a round you become the Captain for the next round, so you'll need to know how many battles you won.
Special Cards
Walk the Plank! and Sea Monster! are special cards. Walk the Plank! will win any battle, beating even the highest card in the trump suit—think of it as a "wild card" worth one more than the highest card in play. When someone plays Sea Monster!, no one wins the battle, no matter what cards have been played. The scurvy dog who played Sea Monster! doesn't win the battle, but he does gain control. (So he gets to choose the current suit for the next battle by playing the first card.) The special cards have no suit.
Which Cards Win Battles?
- Sea Monster!: Sea Monster! beats all cards, but no one wins the battle. Whoever plays Sea Monster! gains control.
- Walk the Plank!: The first Walk the Plank! card played in a battle beats all other cards except Sea Monster! If someone already played Walk the Plank! during this battle, don't play yours—it won't win. You should save it for later.
- Trump suit: The highest-numbered card played from the trump suit will win any battle, unless someone plays Walk the Plank! or Sea Monster!.
- Current suit: The highest-numbered card of the suit first played during a battle beats all cards except for any trump suit card, Walk the Plank!, or Sea Monster!.
If you don't have Sea Monster!, Walk the Plank!, a card from the trump suit, or a card from the current suit, you still have to play a card even though you can't win this battle. You should probably play the lowest-numbered card in your hand, because your higher-numbered cards might help you win a battle later on.
Important: One of the three special cards might come up when the Captain turns over the card to find the trump suit for the first round. If this happens, there is no trump for that round. That means that Sea Monster! beats Walk the Plank!, which beats the highest current suit card, which beats any other card.
Sample Game, First Battle
Barrett, Thyrza, Blake, Ashley, and Willie are playing WALK THE PLANK. Barrett draws the high card and becomes the first Captain. He shuffles the cards and deals seven cards to each player. He turns over the top card on the deck, showing the Nine of Parrots—Parrots will be the trump suit for the first round.
Since he's the Captain, Barrett gets to play the first card. He plays the twelve of Peglegs.
Thyrza plays next, since she's sitting on Barrett's left. She glares at Barrett as she plays the ten of Peglegs. She has the four of Parrots (the trump suit) in her hand, but she has to follow suit since she has Peglegs in her hand. Barrett's card will beat the card Thyrza played.
Blake is sitting to Thyrza's left, so he goes next. He puts on his best pirate face, and plays the nine of Parrots. Blake had no Pegleg cards in his hand, so he didn't have to follow suit and could play his trump card. Now Blake's card is going to win this battle.
Ashley is next. She grins and throws down Walk the Plank! Ashley had Pegleg cards in her hand, but she also had Walk the Plank!, and didn't have to follow suit. She is sure she's going to win this battle.
Willie looks at the cards in his hand and the cards on the table, and then plays Sea Monster!, dashing Ashley's hopes. No one wins the battle, and Willie has gained control for the next battle.
The round continues through six more battles, with the player who won the last battle playing first in the next. At the end of the round each player counts the battles he or she won. Thyrza, Willie, and Ashley each won one battle, Blake won three battles, and poor Barrett won none. (Remember, no one won the battle in which the Sea Monster! was played.)
Sleepin' with the Fishes!
If you haven't won any battles by the end of any round (like Barrett in the example), you've been tossed overboard, and you're out of the game until next time. Don't worry, though—WALK THE PLANK is very quick to play, so you'll soon return from Davy Jones's Locker to avenge your fate!
Breaking Ties
If any players tie for the most battles won in a round, they must duel to see who is the new Captain. This works just like choosing the Captain in the first round: each of them draws a card from the deck, and the best card wins. If a tie occurs, the tying players draw again until a clear winner is revealed.
Rounds After the First Round
In each round after the first, the Captain is the player who won the most battles in the last round. In the example, Blake won three battles, so he's now the Captain, and gets to deal the second round.
Each round starts with the new Captain gathering up all the cards, shuffling the entire deck, and dealing cards to each player who won at least one battle in the previous round. Remember that the surviving players get one card fewer in each round.
Important: In every round after the first, the Captain gets to choose which suit is trump, after dealing the cards and looking at her hand. The Captain also plays the first card in each round. It's good to be the Captain!
Yar! How Do I Win, Matey?
A true pirate captain knows it's all or nothing on the high seas. If you win one or more battles in a round in which no other player wins a battle, you win the game! That means you're the ruling Captain, and anyone who doesn't want to walk the plank better feed your parrot and polish your hookhand.
A Walk the Plank Glossary
Battle: One part of a round of WALK THE PLANK in which each player plays one card. The number of battles in a round is equal to the amount of cards dealt to each player.
Captain: The player responsible for shuffling and dealing the cards in a round. The Captain always gets to play the first card after she deals. If you win at least one battle in a round in which no one else does, you've won, and you're the Captain for good. Or at least until the next game.
Control: If you have control, you get to play the first card in a battle. You gain control by winning a battle. The Captain always has control right after he deals. The suit of the card played by the player with control is the current suit for that battle.
Current suit: The suit of the first card played in a battle. The highest-numbered card of the suit first played during a battle beats all cards except for any trump suit card, Walk the Plank!, or Sea Monster!
Doubloons: One of the five suits in WALK THE PLANK. The cards in the Doubloons suit are numbered one through thirteen, with one worth the least and thirteen worth the most.
Follow suit: To play a card from the same suit as the first card played in a battle. You must follow suit unless you have no cards from that suit in your hand, or unless you have one of the special cards (Walk the Plank! or Sea Monster!). If the first card played in a battle is a special card, the rest of the players can play any card from their hand.
Hand: The cards held by a player.
Hookhands: One of the five suits in WALK THE PLANK. The cards in the Hookhands suit are numbered one through thirteen, with one worth the least and thirteen worth the most.
Monkeys: One of the five suits in WALK THE PLANK. The cards in the Monkeys suit are numbered one through thirteen, with one worth the least and thirteen worth the most.
Parrots: One of the five suits in WALK THE PLANK. The cards in the Parrots suit are numbered one through thirteen, with one worth the least and thirteen worth the most.
Peglegs: One of the five suits in WALK THE PLANK. The cards in the Peglegs suit are numbered one through thirteen, with one worth the least and thirteen worth the most.
Round: A series of WALK THE PLANK battles in which players take turns playing cards. At the beginning of each round of WALK THE PLANK players are dealt one card less than the round before, starting with seven cards in the first round, and dropping all the way to one card each in the seventh round.
Sea Monster!: The most powerful card in WALK THE PLANK. When a player plays Sea Monster!, no one wins that battle, no matter what other cards people play. However, you do gain control when you play Sea Monster!. If the game lasts until the seventh round, each player will get only one card. If someone plays the Sea Monster! in this case, then the sea monster eats everybody! There is one Sea Monster! card in the deck.
Special cards: There are three special cards in the deck: two Walk the Plank! cards and one Sea Monster! card.
Suit: A group of cards which all share the same icon, like spades, diamonds, clubs, and hearts in a deck of playing cards. The five suits in WALK THE PLANK are Doubloons, Hookhands, Monkeys, Parrots, and Peglegs.
Trump: The most powerful suit of cards during a round. The highest-numbered card from the trump suit played during a battle beats all cards except for Walk the Plank! or Sea Monster!.
Walk the Plank!: The second most powerful card in the game. The first Walk the Plank! card played in a battle beats all other cards except for Sea Monster!. There are two Walk the Plank! cards in the deck.
Win a battle: To play a card which beats all other cards played during a battle. The player who wins the most battles during a round gets to be the Captain in the next round. When you win a battle, gather all the cards played during that battle and pile them in front of you.