Hyperion blog

Doubloons Rules

Ahoy, ye scallywag! You have taken the helm of a pirate ship in a race for doubloons. Assemble your crew, shake out those sea legs, and batten down the hatches…a life of pillage and plunder creates a few enemies at the table. Savvy?

Table of contents

Components

  • 60 Action Cards (light brown)
  • 18 Pirate Cards (dark brown)
  • 50 Doubloon tokens
  • 6 player aid cards

Object of the game

Be the first player to reach at least 7 doubloons.

Setup

  1. Shuffle the action cards.
  2. The player who’s most recently been on a boat goes first. If nobody’s been on a boat, whoever can yell out the most blood-curdling “YAR!!!!!!” goes first. Play proceeds clockwise.

    Deal 3 cards to the first player, 4 cards to second player, 5 cards to the third, and so on. Players can look at their cards but shouldn’t show them to others. Place the remaining action cards in a face-down stack in the middle of the table.
  3. Shuffle the pirate cards. Draw the top 5 pirates and lay them out in a row so that all players can see them. Place the remaining pirates face down stack next to the visible pirates.
  4. Place the doubloons in the center of the table.

Playing a turn

  1. Draw an action card.  You can’t play action cards or use pirate effects before drawing.

Then do the following in any order...

  1. Play up to 3 action cards from your hand. When you play an action card, place it face-up in front of you and follow the instructions on the card. See ACTION CARDS section for more info on action card rules. If you are confused about what an action card does, see ACTION CARD CLARIFICATIONS for more info on specific cards.
  2. Hire pirates. You can hire any of the 5 face-up pirates by paying the cost indicated in the upper left. Place your payment in the doubloon pile. Take the pirate and place it on the table face-up in front of you (it should be visible to all players).
  3. Use your pirates. If you have any pirates, you can use each of their effects once per turn. Announce when you’re using a pirate so other players can follow your moves. See PIRATES for more info on how to use pirates. If you are confused about a pirate's effect, see PIRATE CLARIFICATIONS for clarification.
  4. End your turn by moving your played action cards into the discard pile in the center of the table.

Action cards

  • There is no limit to the number of action cards you can have in your hand.
  • You do not HAVE to play any action cards on your turn, but you can play up to 3.
  • Discarded action cards do not count as one of your 3 played cards.
  • Put discarded action cards into the shared discard pile.
  • You can’t discard an action card unless instructed by another action card or pirate.

Pirates

  • You can only have two pirates at a time. If you want to hire a 3rd, you need to discard one.
  • When you hire one of the 5 face-up pirates, immediately replace them with the top pirate from the pirate deck.
  • Once you hire a pirate, you keep them until discarded or swapped.
  • When you hire a pirate, you can use their effect immediately.
  • You can hire as many pirates as you want on your turn as long as you never have more than 2 at a time.
  • You can swap or discard disabled pirates.
  • You can’t use any pirate’s more than once per turn, regardless of how you triggered the pirate’s effect. For example, if you use Hendrick Quintor to copy another player’s pirate, you can’t use "Commandeer" to copy the same pirate’s effect on that turn. Similarly, you can’t use two "Commandeer" cards on the same pirate in a single turn.
  • You can only discard a pirate if you replace them with another or if you play the "Walk the Plank" action card.
  • Pirate cards are different than action cards, so using a priate doesn’t count towards your 3 action card limit per turn
  • Fun fact: these are all names of actual pirates!

Example scenario

Sindu, Shiva, and Marie are playing. Sindu uses Hendrick Quintor to copy Anne Bonny from Shiva’s ship, which lets Sindu collect 1 doubloon. Sindu cannot use her Commandeer card to copy Anne Bonny’s effect again this turn.

Disabled pirates

  • A pirate can only be disabled by THE “Marooned” and “Blackbeard” CARDS.
  • A disabled pirate is automatically enabled after one round (i.e. at the beginning of the next turn of the player who disabled the pirate).
  • Disabled pirates can’t be used by you or other players.
  • Disabled pirates can be swapped or discarded. If a disabled pirate is swapped, it becomes enabled at the same time it would normally.
  • When a pirate is disabled, keep the card face-up, but rotate it 90° so other players know they can’t be used.

Example scenario

Bharat, Harish, and Yogi are playing. Bharat uses Blackbeard to cancel Yogi's Kanhoji Angre pirate. Kanhoji Angre is disabled for all players until the beginning of Bharat’s next turn.

Winning the game

Once a player has at least 7 doubloons at the end of their turn, they win.

Example Scenario - Blocking a win

Tom, Kwee, and Allanah are playing. Tom has 5 doubloons to start his turn. He plays X Marks The Spot to reach 6. Then he plays Fire in the Hole to re-play the X Marks The Spot. That's 7, but then Kwee counters the Fire in the Hole by playing a Heave To. That prevents Tom from winning! The game goes on.

Action card clarifications

Barter

  • Can be used to reduce the cost of hired or unhired pirates.
  • If used on someone else’s pirate, Mutiny can be used to swap for a pirate for one fewer than the original cost.
  • Can stack (i.e. two or three barters can be used on the same pirate)
  • Pirate cost resets after the person’s turn who played Barter
  • Pirate cost can’t be reduced below zero. If reduced to zero, player can hire pirate for free.

Commandeer

  • Can't be used on disabled pirates.
  • If Heave To is used when a player attempts to Commandeer, the player may still use that pirate’s effect via another Commandeer or Hendrick Quintor.

Fire in the Hole

  • If played as the first card on your turn, you re-play the last card from the previous player.
  • If the last card played was Fire in the Hole, you re-play the card before that.
  • If a card was canceled by Heave To, you can still re-play that canceled card with Fire in the Hole.
  • If the last card played was Heave To, you re-play the card that was canceled.

Heave To!

  • This is the only card that can be played when it is not your turn.
  • Must be played immediately after an action card or pirate is played to cancel it. (There will be arguments about whether a Heave To was played in time. Keep arguing until resolved!).
  • If someone uses Heave To to cancel your card on your turn, you can use Heave To to counter their Heave To.
  • You can only use Heave To on your turn if it’s in response to another player using Heave To on you (this does not count towards your 3 action card limit). However, if an opponent plays a second Heave To, that can counter yours, and so on.
  • The canceled card is still considered “played” i.e. if the action card was canceled, it still counts towards the 3 action card limit. If a pirate is canceled, it can’t be used again.
  • After a Heave To! is played, it goes into the discard pile.
  • For added emphasis, throw onto the table and yell “HEAVE TO!!!!!!!”

Example scenario - Heave To!

Steve, Meri, and Matthias are playing.
1. Steve plays Yo-ho-ho, which would normally allow him to collect 2 doubloons.
2. However, immediately after Steve puts Yo-ho-ho down, Matthias plays down Heave To to cancel the Yo-ho-ho, preventing Steve from collecting two doubloons.

Steve has two more action cards to play. Matthias' Heave To goes in the discard pile.

Marooned

  • All of the targeted player’s pirates are disabled until the next turn of the player who played Marooned.
  • No player can use a disabled pirate’s effect (even via Commandeer or Hendrick Quintor)
  • Disabled pirates can be swapped. The pirate remains disabled and is enabled at the same time it would be normally.

Me Hearties

  • The card that you give to another player must be one of the two cards that you drew with the card.
  • The other players do not get to see the card you gave.

Mutiny

  • Can be used on enabled or disabled pirates. If a disabled pirate is swapped, it remains disabled until the normal time it would be enabled.
  • Can swap pirates with other players or with the 5 pirates available for hire.
  • When a pirate is swapped it can be used immediately.
  • Can’t be used on pirates in the discard pile.

Scallywag

  • Draw the top card from the face-down pirate deck.
  • You must keep the pirate that you pick.

Spyglass

  • Look at the top three cards in the action deck, pick one of them, and return the other two back to the top of the deck in any order.

Walk the Plank

  • Can be used on your own pirate or other player’s pirate.
  • Can be used on disabled pirates.

Pirate clarifications

Barbarossa

  • Pick a card in your hand to discard. Put that card directly into the discard pile. Then draw two cards.
  • The discarded card does not count as one of your 3 played action cards.
  • If Heave To is played when a player uses Barbarossa, the player does not discard a card.

Ching Shih

  • Pick a card in your hand to discard. Put that card directly into the discard pile. Then pick a player and steal a doubloon from them.
  • The discarded card does not count as one of your 3 played action cards.
  • If Heave To is played when a player uses Barbarossa, the player does not discard a card.

Francis Fernando

  • You get to look at their entire hand and pick a card of your choice.

Grace O'Malley

  • Effect is “passive” and lasts even when it is not your turn.
  • If disabled, action cards can be stolen from you.
  • If you Commandeer this pirate, action cards can’t be stolen from you until your next turn.
  • Can be swapped with other pirates via Mutiny.

Hendrick Quintor

  • You can’t use a pirate’s effect that you already used this turn.
  • If Mary Read (MR) or Grace O’Malley (GO) is copied, the player with Hendrick Quintor (HQ) is protected until that player’s next turn.
  • If MR or GO is copied and then HQ is disabled in before the player’s next turn, the player with HQ can now be stolen from.
  • If MR or GO is copied and then MR or GO is disabled, then the player with HQ is still protected.

Example - Hendrick Quintor and Mary Read

Aditya, Jack, Tyler are playing. Tyler has Hendrick Quintor (HQ) and Aditya has Mary Read (MR). Tyler uses HQ to copy MR’s effect. Tyler is currently protected until his next turn. However, on Aditya’s turn, Aditya plays Marooned on Tyler to disable HQ. Tyler is no longer protected. Aditya then plays Pillage to steal a doubloon from Tyler.

Henry Morgan

  • Pick any player to steal from. Draw a card at random without looking at their hand.

Mary Read

  • Effect is “passive” and lasts even when it is not your turn.
  • If disabled, doubloons can be stolen from you.
  • If you Commandeer this pirate, doubloons can’t be stolen from you until your next turn.
  • Can be swapped with other pirates via Mutiny.

Samuel Bellamy

  • You must keep the pirate you pick.

William Kidd

  • Re-playing a card doesn’t count towards your 3 action card limit.