How to Play

Endeavor: Age of Sail

2-5 players 60-90 min 7.9 Board Game Geek Rating

Players command European empires expanding across the globe by establishing trade routes and conquering cities. This engine-building game uses industry, culture, finance, and influence as resources to fuel territorial growth. Victory comes from accumulating the most glory through strategic expansion and efficient resource management across distant world regions.

Published 2018

Get Ready

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

Select board side

Use Side A for 2-3 players or high-conflict 4 players; use Side B for low-conflict 4 players or 5 players

Distribute trade tokens

Randomly place the 95 trade tokens face-up on all circular board spaces

Prepare Asset card decks

Separate the 8 decks, order each with level 5 on bottom and level 1 (or 0) on top, place on designated board spots

Position Governor cards

Slip the Governor card for each region under the edge of the board by that region's deck

Arrange buildings

Separate buildings into stacks by type, then place by level into the 5 columns of the building tray

Distribute player components

Each player receives a player mat, tray, 35 discs, and 4 cubes in their chosen color

Prepare Exploit tiles

Shuffle Exploit tiles and draw 3; check for additional components needed

Determine first player

Pick start player and award them the Crown

Choose starting building

In turn order, each player chooses Colonial House or Merchant Dock side of their start building tile

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Play in phases

Complete each phase in turn order for all players before starting the next phase; play proceeds clockwise from the player with the Crown

Select a building

Choose 1 building with Build Level equal to or less than your current Build Level

Add discs to Harbor

Move discs from your supply to your Harbor equal to the number shown on your Culture attribute

Return discs from buildings

Move discs from buildings of your choice back to your Harbor

Take one action or pass

On your turn, either take 1 action (move disc to building or spend Action token) or pass

Ship to Shipping Track

Move 1 disc from Harbor to the furthest unoccupied space of any closed region (presence not required)

Ship to Fleet Space

Move 1 disc from Harbor to an unoccupied Fleet in Europe or any Open region

Ship to Open Sea Zone

Move 1 disc from Harbor to a sea zone to gain presence; any number of discs from any players can occupy the same zone

Occupy a city

Move 1 disc from Harbor to an unoccupied city in Europe or an Open region where you have presence

Attack

First discard 1 disc from Harbor to supply, then replace an opponent's disc from a city or fleet in an Open region where you have presence with one of yours; claim any newly owned links

Payment

Move 1 disc from a building of your choice (unless it has the no-payment symbol) back to your Harbor

Draw

Take the top Asset card from any stack where your presence equals or exceeds the card's draw value; region does not need to be Open

Abolition of Slavery

When any player gains the value 5 card from Europe, all players must immediately set aside all their Slavery cards, reducing attributes; flip cards and place by player board; remove remaining Slavery cards from Europe

Rearrange and discard cards

You may freely rearrange cards, then discard down to your limit determined by Influence score (maximum 5)

Handle discarded cards

Discarded Slavery cards are flipped and placed by player board (-1 VP each); discarded Governor cards are removed from game; other discards go to face-up discard pile by Europe

End the round

Verify attribute score positions, pass the Crown to the left, and start a new round

Unlock Exploits

When a region marked on an Exploit is opened, move its key to the Exploit; when both keys are present, the Exploit can be used

Place shields

Players with presence in both regions place a shield on the Exploit tile (remove if presence is lost)

Access benefits

The shield indicates access to the Exploit's ability and end game scoring