Entry 1: Island Influence

A voting game for 3-5 players.

Components:

• 1 map depicting 11 islands (see below)
• 44 cards (4 copies of each island)
• 60 cubes (20 of each in 3 colors: white, orange, and green)
• 5 betting spinners (which can be set to show one of 3 colors)

Overview:

Players take turns holding elections on islands.

Setup:

Deal each player 3 cards, which they assign to their own color pile. For example, a player could put one card in each color; put all three in the same color, or any such combination. Use cubes to denote which pile is assigned to which color. Each player starts with 6 cubes (2 of each color). Also, put 3 white cubes on Coconut Island, 3 orange cubes on Mandarin Island, and 3 green cubes on Kiwi Island. The remaining cubes form the general supply.

Elections:

The current player selects an empty island on which to hold elections. The following cubes are added to an initially empty bag.

• 1 cube of each color from the supply,
• 1 or 2 cubes from each non-empty adjacent island. You cannot remove an island’s last cube this way. The active player selects how many cubes from each island.
• Each player adds 0 – 2 cubes of a single color. Each player also bets on a color by setting their betting spinner to that color. This is public information, so everyone can see each player’s bet.

Once all the cubes have been added and each player has made a bet, draw cubes from the bag singly, until the second cube of a color is drawn. This color wins the election. Put all cubes of the winning color onto the island.
The remaining cubes are randomly divided evenly among players who bet on the winning color. If the cubes cannot be divided evenly, supplement the cubes with points. For example, to divide two cubes among three players, give two of the players one cube each, and the remaining player scores 1 point. Players who have the island’s card in the winning color’s pile score points according to the formula (8 - # of winning cubes). For example, if white wins, and there are 3 white cubes in the bag (including those drawn), then each player with the island’s card in their white pile gets 8-3 = 5 points. If there are more than 8 winning cubes, no points are awarded.

Alternatives:

Instead of holding an election, a player may do one of the following for their turn:

(a) Campaign: return N cubes to the general supply to take N+1 cubes of any combination of colors from the general supply. For example, you can turn in 2 orange cubes and 1 green cube to take 4 white cubes.

(b) Research: draw a card, and then re-assign all of your cards to any color.

End Scoring

The game ends when 9 islands are scored (the last two islands will not be scored). Each player adds 1 point per cube they have to their score. Highest score wins.

Entry 3: Commutiny on the Bounty

A game of collective decision-making on the high seas for 3-6 players. Crewmen of the Bounty! We have deposed Captain Bligh, but sadly Fletcher Christian was lost to that fateful breadfruit accident. Now we must pool our wisdom to found a new utopia on a Pacific island! Incidentally, it seems many of the local people are siding with Bligh.

Components

• Board showing 24 ports in the South Pacific Islands, linked by Sailing Routes, and a track indicating the number of turns before the Royal Navy catch up with the mutineers.
• The Bounty token
• Royal Navy token
• Chairman’s Cap
• For each player:
• 6 x Ally tokens in the player colour (use 6 in a 3-player game, 5 in a 4-player game, and 4 in a 5/6-player game)
• 1 x 2-sided Course decision coin
• 1 x 2-sided Action decision coin
• 1 x cardboard secrecy screen
• Goods cubes in four types (Cloth, Seeds, Shells and Wood)
• Goodwill (VP) tokens
• 1 x 6-sided die

Gameplay

Each turn, the players must communally decide which port the Bounty sails to next, and how to approach the locals. Once in port, the players individually trade goods for profit or Goodwill and make use of their local Allies. The object of the game is to amass the most local Goodwill by the time the Royal Navy arrives.

Setup

Decide who first receives the Chairman’s Cap. Starting with this player and proceeding clockwise, players take turns placing their Ally tokens on ports until all Ally tokens are placed. Only one Ally token may be placed on any one port. Randomly place The Bounty on a Sailing Route facing a port. Place the Royal Navy at the end of the Royal Navy track. Randomly assign each player 6 Goods cubes.

The Chairman

When a vote is tied, the decision is taken according to the vote cast by the player with the Chairman’s Cap. In democratic fashion, the Cap is then passed to the next player clockwise.

Steering the Bounty

Each port on the map has three routes leaving it, leading to other ports. The Bounty will not leave a port by the route it entered, and will turn either Port (left) or Starboard (right), according to a majority vote of the players. Players secretly vote either Port or Starboard using their Course coin. All player votes are revealed, and the die is rolled to represent votes from the remaining crew. Results: 1: +2 votes Port 2: +1 vote Port 3-4: no effect 5: +1 vote Starboard 6: +2 votes Starboard The Bounty is then moved according to the majority decision (the Chairman’s vote breaks ties). Any players who voted for the losing decision are rewarded with a random goods cube from the ship’s supply as compensation.

Landing at Port

At port, each player decides secretly using their Action coin either to Talk with the Chieftain, or to Ignore him and go straight to trading. Then all decisions are revealed simultaneously. Roll the 6-sided die. Add the number of players who Talked with the Chieftain. If the total is less than or equal to the number of players who chose to Ignore him, the locals are angry and drive the entire crew away. Each player who Ignored the chieftain loses half his or her goods cubes (rounding down). Otherwise, all players may trade, beginning with the Chairman and proceeding clockwise. The map shows which 2 goods are in demand by the locals in this port, and which 1 good they export. Roll the 6-sided die. Each player may make this many trades. A trade consists of: - Exchanging one different good of each of the in-demand types for three goods of the exported type, or - Exchanging two goods of any type (except the exported type) for that many goods of the exported type, or - Exchanging three different goods (not the exported type) for a VP. Each player who Ignored the Chieftain receives one additional good of the exported type.

Allies

When The Bounty lands at a port, if any player has an Ally at that port, that player removes the Ally and immediately receives two Goodwill Tokens.

Ending the Turn

At the end of the turn, advance the Royal Navy token one space on the turn track. When it reaches the South Pacific, the game ends.

Winning the Game

At the end of the game, each player may buy VPs for five goods per token. The player with the most VPs jumps ship and begins a new life in the South Pacific; the rest of the crew are clapped in irons. Ties are won by the player with the most goods remaining after buying VPs.

Entry 5: Captain's Bounty

A cut-throat game of pirate plunder and daring duplicity. For 3-6.

The pirates of the Cutlass are in a rough spot. They were damaged in a fight with the Navy while treasure hunting on the Isle of Auro. Someone on board must have tipped them off!

To make matters worse, another Navy ship is on the horizon! The damaged Cutlass can't escape, but the pirates can!

Since the Navy will arrive in a manner of minutes, you must grab as much Gear and Treasure from the Island and Ship as possible before time is up. But what of the spy? Surely he'll try to delay escape until the Navy arrives?

Goal

Each player is a pirate on the crew of the Cutlass with a secret goal like:

• Letting time run until the Navy arrives (Spy)
• Killing the Spy, and have more gold than other players with this goal
• Bringing a certain amount of Gear and gold to the Escape boat
• Have three other crew members killed, and have more gold than others with this goal.
• Etc.

Once a player(s) achieves his goal, the game ends! Or when the Navy arrives in literally nine (real-world) minutes. (NOTE: time pressure to encourage poor decisions!)

Play Summary

The pirate group calls votes for action. On the Cutlass or Island the player who calls the vote claims and assign cards to other players, and then votes to either Move, Kill, or Elect a new Captain.

On the Move, Players can only carry two hands worth of treasure/gear so they will need to either leave some or get a neighbor to "Lend a Hand."

Setup

Each player starts with a secret goal (goals are printed on the board). Then randomly deal half (rounded up) a single "vote token." Those without a Vote get one of two Roles, and the rest get to draw one Gear or Treasure card.

Place a Pawn on The Cutlass to represent the Pirates.

Roles

The Roles are "Captain," who breaks tie votes and may draw a card off the deck instead of from those showing, and "Quartermaster," who gets to assign one extra card when he calls a vote.

A Role is elected when the player is killed, or if an Elect Vote is called.

NOTE: Roles also give incentive to other players to kill them, or delay moving in order to call an Elect Vote

How to Play

1. Deal three face up cards from the Gear deck and the Treasure deck onto the board.
2. Start the Timer.

3. Someone calls a vote by playing a Vote token.

   Call a Vote

   1. If at a location with cards, Player who Called the Vote takes 1 for himself and assigns 1 to another player. New cards are drawn to replace those taken.
   2. This player MAY then Call a Vote to either:

   • Move the group to a new location
   • Elect a new Captain or Quartermaster
   • Kill a player Each of these require a majority vote, with the Captain breaking ties.

4. Vote is carried out, player gives his Vote Token to first clockwise player that DOESN'T HAVE ONE. Another player may now play a Vote Token

   Move

   Player declares location to move to. If vote fails, do not move.

   Locations

• The Cutlass - On the ship, the Pirate Gear cards help fulfill player goals, and some have special powers. One type, Weapons, can be used during a Kill vote

• The Island - Treasure cards here give gold-value, to fulfill player goals.

• Escape Boat - Players may immediately deposit any cards by placing facedown in front of them. They are now safe (except some special Gear cards).

  Elect

  Player declares Role to elect, and who it should go to.

  Kill

  Player names another to kill. If the vote passes, Players may play Weapon Gear cards against the target. The target may play Weapons to defend. Others may add to either side. If the attackers' side has more "Hands" of Weapons, the target is killed. He discards everything and draws a new crew goal.

Cards

Players can only carry two "Hands" of cards at a time. Each card takes between 1/2 to 4 hands. If a player has too much when a Move vote passes, he must discard the excess, or find an adjacent player to Lend a Hand

Lend a Hand

Adjacent player may help carry with any empty hands he has. Place the card between the players. Once the Pawn is moved, the first of them to grab the card keeps it.

Game End

Game ends immediately when a Player's goal is reached.

Entry 7: Rubber Duck Invasion

Introduction

During a savage storm a container carrying nothing but rubber ducks spilled off a ship into the ocean. The goal of the game is to help these ducks find new homes on nearby islands. You do this by using dice rolls, event cards, and the wind. The game consists of movement turns followed by a “Wind phase.” Each player votes to see which way the wind blows. The wind can blow your ducks off course, but they can also bring you that much closer to finding a new home.

Game Play

The board is a 16x16 grid of the ocean. There are 20 tiles to represent the islands and one tile to represent the cargo ship. The island tiles have two numbers of them; the top represents how many points per duck you receive for that island. The bottom number represents how many people on this island want ducks. Players setup the game by taking it in turns to randomly pick a tile from the supply and placing it anywhere on the grid they want. Whoever reveals the cargo ship gets to place it as the starting point. Each player receives a supply of fifteen ducks of their colour, four voting tokens (North, South, East and West) and 5 event cards from the event card pile.
Each round consists of two movement phases, then a “Wind phase.”

Movement Phase:

The starting player rolls the die to see how many squares they will move their first duck. The player moves one of their ducks from their supply pile any direction out of the cargo ship and into the ocean. Ducks can’t move diagonally in the water, and can’t rest on the same square as another duck, however can pass over them. After the player has moved a duck their turn is over and it is the next player’s turn. Ducks are attempting to get to an available island. Once a duck is on an island it remains there until the end of the game. The bottom number on the island represents how many ducks the island can hold. After an island is full, ducks can no longer move onto that island. After each player has moved their first duck, the order of play reverses. The last player gets to use their second turn. They can use it to either move the same duck, or bring a new duck out of the ship. There is no limit to the amount of ducks that can be brought off the ship over the course of the game. Play then rotates counter clockwise around the board so that the player who started goes last in the second round.

Event Cards:

Players can also use one event card per turn, unless specific cards allow for more. Event cards fall into the following categories: Movement, Voting modifiers, Wind modifiers, Actions and Re-actions. Certain event cards are played either before or after you roll. Others (mainly “Voting” and “Wind” modifiers) are played face down in front of you and only revealed after votes have been cast during the next “Wind Phase.” Anytime a duck lands on an island you receive a new event card. Also, after every “Wind Phase” each player draws two new event cards before the next round.

Wind Phase:

During the “Wind Phase” players select which way they want the wind to blow by placing a voting token face down in front of them. Once every player has voted, tokens are revealed. Opposing winds cancel each other out. For example if there was a North, South and East vote. The North and South would cancel each other out. After cancelling out directions, the wind will blow in the direction of the most votes. If a round results in all directions being cancelled out, no wind is blown that phase. If the vote results in two complementary directions (e.g.: North-West, North-East, South-West or South-East) then the ducks will be blown diagonally. You then roll the die to see how strong the wind is. Each player must move all their ducks in the water that many squares in that direction.
Ducks can be blown onto islands if room is available. The wind can also blow ducks off the edge of the board, in which case they are lost for good and put in the discard pile. Ducks can use the waters around the islands for shelter. Two squares in each direction around an island offer shelter from the opposing wind. For example ducks in the two squares directly to the East of an island won’t be affected by wind from the West.

Game End:

The game ends after eleven rounds. Each duck successfully on an island receives as many points as that island is worth. The player with the most points wins.

Sample Event Cards:

Entry 9: Pistols and Planks

A game for 3 to 5 swashbucklers A group of pirates must split the loot from their latest plunder. Of course they do it the only way they know how, thievery and treachery.

Materials

• 48 Chest Cards
• 40 White Marble Beads
• 40 Black Marble Beads
• 2 Bead Containers
• 5 Fold-up Stashes
• 1 Black Velvet Bag
• 1 Captain Token
• 1 First Mate Token

Set-Up

Shuffle the Loot deck of 48 Chest Cards and place them in the center of the playing area. Each player receives 2 Black Beads and 3 White Beads to be placed in their stash. Each player's stash should be closed and stay hidden from the other players. The remaining Black and White Beads are separated and placed in their respective containers in the center of the playing area. Randomly decide who will receive the Captain Token. The player who receives the Captain Token selects a First Mate and gives them the First Mate Token.

Gameplay

Each round consists of two phases:

Lot Phase

The Captain takes the top four Chest cards from the loot deck. These cards will be divided into one or more Lots of any size the Captain chooses. The Captain then places these Lots face down in front of one or more players, including himself. If the captain has apportioned a Lot to himself he must turn at least one of the cards in the Lot face-up for all to see.

Secret Vote Phase

Each player may look at the Lot apportioned to them, these cards should remain hidden from other players. Starting with the Captain and going clockwise, each player secretly places up to three beads of any color combination from their stash into the velvet bag. When the bag reaches the Captain he removes the beads and counts the results. If a majority of the beads are white, each player reveals the Lot apportioned to them and places it in their stash. If any beads are shown on the bottom of the card(s) received these are also taken from the supply and added to the player's stash. If there are an equal number of white and black, all Lots are collected and put into the discard pile. If the majority of the beads are black, a mutiny occurs. All Lots are turned face up and placed in the center of the playing area. Starting with the player who had the lowest victory point value Lot (or no Lot) and going clockwise, each player selects one Lot and adds it to their stash, also receiving any beads shown on the card. Selection continues until all Lots are claimed. The Captain does not receive a Lot this round. If two players are tied for the lowest value Lot, the player closest to the captain's left chooses first. If a mutiny occurred, the First Mate takes the Captain Token and chooses a new First Mate, giving that player the First Mate Token. Players begin a new round.

Sitting-Out

If during the Lot phase a player has no tokens with which to vote, they may choose to sit out the current round and receive no Lot, even in the case of a mutiny. This player must reveal their stash and show that they have no beads, they may then immediately take 2 Black and 3 White Beads.

Ending the Game

If the Loot deck runs out, the discard pile is re-shuffled and becomes the new Loot Deck. If there is no discard pile, the game ends. Players total the victory points shown on the cards in their stash, additionally each bead they have remaining is worth one victory point. The player with the highest victory point total is the winner!

Special Cards Appendix

In addition to cards with victory points and beads on them, there are a few cards that allow the player who receives them some special abilities. These are a few examples. Spyglass – Once Lot selection has been resolved after the voting phase, you may look at one player's stash, take up to two beads of your choice and add them to your own. If there is more than one spyglass this round, they are resolved starting with the Captain and going clockwise. Treasure Map – You may look at the top four cards of the Loot deck and select whether each card will be placed on the bottom or top of the deck. Walk the Plank – You may take the First Mate Token for yourself or give it to the non-Captain player of your choice. If a mutiny occurred this round you become the Captain instead of the First Mate.