How to Play

Madeira

2-4 players 60-150 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

Players develop Portuguese-controlled Madeira island across three captaincies, managing agriculture, construction, and trade. Through careful timing, they fulfill Crown requests for expeditions, urbanization, and commerce while adapting to changing agricultural demands. Victory goes to whoever earns the most prestige by balancing resource management with strategic timing of achievements.

Published 2013

Madeira

Get Ready

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

1
Lay out the boards
Place the Game Board in the center of the table and assemble the appropriate Guild Board for your player count
2
Choose player colors
Each player selects a color (yellow, red, purple, or blue) and takes all components of that color
3
Prepare home supply
Each player takes 12 Workers, 6 Ships, 3 Action Markers, 3 Tracking discs, 1 Wheat, 1 Sugar, 1 Wine, 1 Wood, 4 Bread, and 5 Reals
4
Place prestige markers
Each player places 1 Tracking disc on "0" of the Prestige Points track
5
Position characters
Place the 4 Character tiles next to the Game Board
6
Prepare dice
Place the 3 Pirate dice and 12 Guild dice next to the Game Board
7
Distribute Starting Crown's Requests
Shuffle the 4 Starting Crown's Requests and deal 1 to each player face-up
8
Determine first player
The player with the most crowns on the back of their Starting Request is first player
9
Set turn order
In clockwise order from first player, each player places a Turn Order disc on the Passing Column (I through IV)
10
Distribute starting money
1st player gets 2 additional Reals, 2nd gets 3, 3rd gets 4, 4th gets 5
11
Prepare Crown's Requests
Shuffle all Crown's Requests and lay them face-up in rows of 5 on the Guild Board's Dice column
12
Place Guild Favors
Shuffle the 12 Guild Favors and place them randomly on city districts, leaving the two leftmost districts of each city empty
13
Position Neutral Citizens
Place 1 Neutral Citizen on the rightmost empty spot of each city
14
Initial city worker placement
In reverse turn order, each player places 1 Worker from Home into an empty city spot
15
Fill City Watch
Each player moves 2 Workers from Home to the City Watch
16
Set Windmill position
Each player places 1 Tracking disc on "3" in the Windmill
17
Place King's Rewards
Shuffle A-marked tiles, place 1 face-up on each Colony's A slot; repeat for B-marked tiles
18
Place Wood on fields
Put Wood on fields according to the numbers shown for your player count
19
Initial field placement
In reverse turn order, each player places 2 Workers on 2 different unoccupied Fields (not in the same Region)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Place Characters
Shuffle the 4 Character tiles and place them randomly on Buildings, leaving the Building matching the current round number empty
2
Roll Pirate dice
Roll 3 Pirate dice and place them on the City Watch
3
Roll Guild dice
Roll 3 Guild dice and place them on each row of the Guild Board
4
Choose a Guild row
In turn order, each player selects a row, moves their Turn Order disc there, takes those dice, takes 1 Crown's Request from that row, and flips all their Guild Favors of that Guild face-up
5
Place a die or pass
On your turn, either place a Guild or Pirate die on a Character, or pass
6
Use Guild dice
Take a die and Action Marker from Home, place the die on a Character, and place the Action Marker on the associated Building slot
7
Use Pirate dice
Take a Pirate die from City Watch (maximum 1 per Character), place it on a Character, and return 1 Worker from City Watch to Home
8
Pay Bread for low dice
If the die value is lower than the Region number, discard Bread equal to the difference
9
Perform Character action or harvest
After placing a die, either perform that Character's action or harvest Fields in that Region
10
Pass when done
Move your Turn Order disc to an empty Passing Column slot and receive the shown Reals or perform the Passing Action
11
Steward
Move up to 2 of your Workers to any Fields where you have no Workers
12
Guild Master
Choose a Guild Favor from a city district, discard the required Wood (2-5), and take that Guild Favor face-up
13
Commander
Move up to 2 Ships to empty Colony Landing or Market Route slots
14
Mayor
Relocate up to 2 Workers/Neutral Citizens between city spots, then gain resources from cities where you have Workers
15
Harvest
Instead of the Character action, take 1 Wood or 1 Good from each Field you have Workers on in that Region
16
Use empty Building
Placing a die on the empty Building's Character only allows harvesting, but you harvest one Field twice
17
Resolve Buildings in order
Process Buildings 1 through 5 sequentially
18
Pay or receive Pirates
If you have Action Markers on a Building, either pay (10 minus rolled Guild dice values) Reals, or receive Pirates equal to (1 plus Pirate die value if present)
19
Perform Building action
If you paid and have Workers in that Region, perform the Building action
20
Convert Goods
Discard any 2 Goods to receive any 1 Good
21
Increase Windmill level
Discard 2 Wheat to move up one step (or gain 1 PP if already at top)
22
Decrease Windmill level
Move down one step to take 1 Bread or 3 Reals (or lose 1 PP if at bottom for 1 Bread or 1 Real)
23
Activate Guild Favor
Flip a face-up Guild Favor face-down to use its effect immediately
24
Honor the City Watch
The player with majority in City Watch may move 1 Worker home to earn 4 PP
25
Collect Colony income
For each Worker on Colony Lands, receive the depicted Good
26
Pay Ship upkeep
Discard 1 Wood per Ship on the board (receive 1 Pirate per Wood not paid)
27
Feed Workers
Workers equal to your Windmill level are fed automatically; discard 1 Bread per remaining Worker on board (receive 1 Pirate per Bread not paid)
28
Score requests (Rounds 1, 3, 5)
Choose and score the required number of Crown's Requests
29
Convert Fields (Rounds 2, 4)
Place conversion tiles on empty convertible Fields

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
End game trigger
The game ends after completing the 5th round
2
Convert resources
Each player converts all Goods, Wood, and Bread to Reals at 1-for-1 ratio
3
Score final Reals
Earn 1 PP for every 5 Reals you have
4
Calculate Pirate penalties
Reveal all Pirates and assign penalties by ranking
5
Apply excess Pirate penalty
Lose 1 additional PP for each Pirate over 20
6
Determine winner
The player with the most Prestige Points wins
7
Break ties
If tied, the player with the higher position on the Passing Column wins

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

How to play Madeira boardgame - Full teach + Visuals - Peaky Boardgamer

How to play Madeira boardgame - Full teach + Visuals - Peaky Boardgamer

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Madeira - Tutorial and Playthrough from Gaming Rules!

Madeira - Tutorial and Playthrough from Gaming Rules!

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

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