How to Play Cooper Island | Rules & Setup Guide

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Assemble the game board

Place the central island with 1 peninsula and 1 bay tile per player, using puzzle pieces to fill open spots

Place cargo ships

Arrange the 5 cargo ships face-up by the board in order with the harbormaster standing on the 1st card

Display royal order cards

4 players: place all 8 cards face-up; 3 players: display 6 random cards; 2 players: return #8 card to box and display 4 random cards

Prepare building decks

Shuffle the 15 small building cards and 15 large building cards, place as separate face-down decks by the board

Fill the landscape bag

Put the 60 double landscape tiles in the bag, then each player draws 2 at random for their personal reserve

Arrange supply components

Place single landscape tiles, coins, resource cubes, and anchor tokens by the board; shuffle log book tokens and place log book side up

Claim player color

Take all pieces in chosen color and place 1 crate lid on each cargo ship's matching color space (5 total)

Set up player board

Take 1 player board and worker board in chosen color; place small buildings, large buildings, and fortress on designated spots; place cartographer marker on 0 space

Position workers

Place 2 normal workers on the available worker area, 2 remaining workers below on round spaces, and 2 special workers on square spaces

Place milestone tokens

Put 4 milestone tokens face-up on the 4 milestone spaces on your worker board in any order

Add ruin tokens

Place 5 ruin tokens with ruin side up on the 5 ruin spaces of your peninsula

Position ships

Put your 2 ships on your harbor space: 1-sail ship on left side, 2-sail ship on right side

Gather personal components

Put your 6 income boat tokens and 6 islet tiles face-up in your player area

Place starting landscape

Each player places 1 meadow tile on the start space of their peninsula with 1 food cube on it

Take starting coin

Take 1 coin from supply and place onto any available storage spot on your player board

Determine turn order

Pick a start player and award them the Cooper token; 1st and 2nd players put cartographer on 3, 3rd and 4th players put cartographer on 4

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Complete income phase

All players simultaneously perform the income action of each income boat once

Execute worker phase

Player with Cooper token starts, then continue clockwise; place 1 available worker and perform actions until no player has workers remaining

Resolve clean-up phase

All players simultaneously execute 7 steps in order

Place islet tile

Put 1 islet tile from personal reserve onto peninsula on an uncharted hex adjacent to existing landscape (not on ruins); islet side must cover half a sand bank; place matching resource cube on landscape side and perform islet action once

Place double landscape tile

Put 1 tile from reserve onto peninsula on 2 uncharted hexes (at least 1 adjacent to existing tile, neither with ruins) OR on 2 matching landscape tiles at same height without items; place resource cubes on new tiles

Place worker on action space

Put 1 worker from available area to a worker space where you have no worker (normal workers to round spaces, special workers to square spaces)

Pay displacement cost

If placing on another player's worker, pay the player beneath 1 coin or 1 resource cube to their marketplace; if you cannot pay, they take from supply and you take 1 anchor token

Action A - Explore

Draw 1 double landscape tile OR place 1 double landscape tile and advance cartographer 1 step; additional action: take Cooper token; special worker: perform all 3 actions

Action B - Build income boat

Build 1 income boat, place on any free landing space, pay cost shown, gain helm points, and perform boat action once; special worker: cost reduced by 2

Action C - Survey

Draw 1 double landscape tile AND place 1 double landscape tile; special worker: perform any islet action from any islet on water

Action D - Construct building

Pay cost to build 1 building, place on most cultivated free landscape space possible, gain +1 helm point if placed on settlement; special worker: cost reduced by 2

Action E - Advance cartographer

Gain +3 cartographer steps and +1 coin or cube to storage; special worker: perform any built income boat action

Action F - Work on statues

Remove 1 ruin (flip to statue, place on free crafting spot) OR build 1 statue (pay 3 wood + 3 stone or 2 wood + 2 gold, gain +1 helm point, +1 more on settlement); special worker: can take both actions

Action G - Double explore

Perform up to 2x: draw 1 double landscape tile OR place 1 double landscape tile; special worker: also +1 cartographer step

Action H - Acquire cargo

Pay cost on ship to move your crate lid to player board; if harbormaster is upright on that ship, lay flat and reduce cost by 1; special worker: also draw or place 1 double landscape tile

Move ships with helm points

Choose 1 ship and move spaces earned from one sand bank to the next; 1-sail ship moves clockwise, 2-sail ship moves counterclockwise

Pass islets

When passing an islet (yours or opponent's), immediately take its action

Reach a bay

Gain 1 log book token and immediately take its action or forfeit

Reach a harbor

Gain 1 log book token, perform action, and pay fee of 1 coin/cube to opponent (or supply if your harbor); if you cannot pay, take 1 anchor token and opponent takes 1 coin/cube from supply

Remove anchors

Ships with anchors cannot move; spend helm points 1:1 to remove anchor tokens before moving

Store resources

Move a resource from landscape to storage or from marketplace to storage

Market trade

Trade 2 cloth for 1 coin, OR trade 2 gold for any 1 resource, OR trade value 4 in coins/resources for 1 coin/resource

Use crate lids

Move crate lid from unused area to free crate space and perform that action

Pay cartographer steps

Pay 1 step to shim 1 tile when placing; pay 2 steps to place single tile on empty hex; pay 3 steps to place on landscape level 3 or lower; pay 4 steps to place on level 4 or higher

Activate large building cards

Use the card's anytime action then flip face-down until reactivated

Feed workers

Pay food cubes equal to or greater than total feeding value; for each food short, place an anchor under a sail ship; if fully fed, gain helm points for uncovered spots

Reactivate assets

Pay 2 coins to flip 1 face-down large building OR pay 1 coin to return 1 used crate lid; fortress allows both actions free

Gain statue bonus

Gain 1 helm point for each statue on your peninsula

Gain passage bonus

If all 3 hexes across top of peninsula are covered with landscape, gain 1 helm point

Return workers

Return all workers from island board to available workers area

Clear marketplace

Move any coins/resources to storage, then return leftovers to supply

Move harbormaster

Stand harbormaster upright and move to next cargo ship

Achieve milestone goals

Have 2 income boats, 2 buildings, 2 statues, or 2 crate lids to flip that milestone token face-down

Claim hire rewards

Move completed milestone to any hire space for +2 helm points OR to unlock 1 worker (special workers require assigning a worker to a royal order card)