How to Play

Pirates of Maracaibo

1-4 players 40-100 min 7.9 Board Game Geek Rating

Pirates navigate the Caribbean across three rounds, collecting treasures like gold, emeralds, and pearls while exploring shores, hiring crew, and battling rivals. Players must strategically stockpile valuable cargo and find safe harbors to stash their loot. Victory goes to the buccaneer who accumulates the most wealth before retiring.

Published 2023

Pirates of Maracaibo

Get Ready

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

1
Select modules (optional)
Choose one or more modules to modify setup and rules; recommended to skip modules until all players are familiar with the base game
2
Place the Exploration board
Position the board between all players in the center of the table
3
Prepare Tier I deck
Separate Tier I cards into Locations, Residences, and Improvements piles
4
Create the Caribbean
Draw cards from Tier I deck and place them faceup next to the Exploration board in columns from left to right (roughly 9 columns and 4 rows)
5
Prepare Tier II deck
Shuffle all Tier II cards and place them facedown near the Caribbean
6
Set up Treasure Islands
Place 4 Marker cubes onto each Treasure Island board, starting from the bottom spaces
7
Place Treasure Value tiles
Randomly place all 6 Treasure Value tiles faceup onto the top left corner of each Location card showing a treasure symbol
8
Distribute player components
Each player takes a Ship board, Hideout board, and matching color components: Ship token, Explorer token, Scoring token, Black Market tiles, and Player tokens
9
Position player components
Each player places their components as follows:
10
Randomize Black Market tiles
One player randomly flips all their Black Market tiles, then all other players flip theirs to match the same sides faceup
11
Set up Quest cards
Shuffle Quest cards and place facedown near the Exploration board
12
Create Figurehead Market
Randomize Figurehead tiles and place a number faceup equal to the number of players plus 2; return the rest to the box
13
Place common components
Position Doubloon tokens and Raiding dice within reach of all players
14
Determine first player
Randomly select a first player
15
Distribute starting doubloons
In clockwise order, each player gains doubloons based on turn order:
16
Mark final player
The last player in turn order places one Player token with the 50 VP side facedown onto the Maracaibo space to indicate they act last when the game ends

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Perform Move step (mandatory)
Move your Ship token 1 to 3 spaces in the Caribbean
2
Perform Actions step
Execute all actions available at your destination space
3
Pass to next player
Play proceeds clockwise
4
Move toward Maracaibo
Ship must end movement in a column closer to Maracaibo than where it started
5
Move to adjacent spaces
Each movement goes to a space touching the current space
6
Start from starting zone
From the starting zone, first move must be to any card in the leftmost column
7
Stop on Exploration board spaces
If ship moves to the Gulf or Maracaibo, it immediately stops and forfeits remaining movement
8
Pay opponents on cards
When ending movement on a card space with opposing Ship tokens, pay each opponent 1 doubloon if possible
9
Share Gulf/Maracaibo freely
No payment required when sharing these Exploration board spaces
10
Option A - Ignore and gain doubloons
Skip the card and gain 5 doubloons from the supply
11
Option B - Acquire the Improvement
Spend doubloons equal to the top-left cost (reduced by any discounts)
12
Construct the Residence
Spend doubloons equal to the top-left cost to place one Player token (symbol side up) onto the card
13
Step 1 - Increase Treasure Value
If there's a Treasure Value tile on this Location, place 1 Marker cube from supply onto the depicted Treasure Island (bottom to top)
14
Step 2 - Activate Black Market
If your Black Market tile is on this location, perform all its indicated effects; ignore opponent's tiles
15
Step 3 - Upgrade Ship
Perform a Ship Upgrade action if desired
16
Step 4 - Perform Location Actions
Execute one or more actions shown on the Location in any order (if "/" appears, choose actions from one side only)
17
Raiding action
Roll all 3 Raiding dice and optionally reroll all once
18
Gain Treasure
Remove a Marker cube from the associated Treasure Island (top to bottom) and place it on your Hideout board
19
Explore action
Move your Explorer up to the indicated value on the Exploration track
20
Bury Treasure
Move a Treasure Marker below the shovel line on your Hideout board per shovel icon
21
Stop immediately
Ship must stop when entering the Gulf space
22
Gain 6 points and Upgrade
Score 6 victory points and perform a Ship Upgrade
23
Choose one additional action
Select one of the following:
24
Stop and forfeit movement
Ship must stop here, forfeiting any remaining movement
25
Gain 6 points and Upgrade
Score 6 victory points and perform a Ship Upgrade
26
Trigger round end
The round immediately ends after completing this turn (exception: in round 3, play continues until the player whose token is on Maracaibo finishes their turn)
27
Place Marker cube
Put a gray Marker cube from supply onto an empty Upgrade slot on your Ship board
28
Respect barrier lines
Can only place to the right of a barrier line if you have at least that many Upgrades already
29
Gain one-time benefits
Perform beige scroll effects immediately
30
Activate ongoing benefits
Red scroll effects go into effect immediately after the upgrade
31
Gain Figurehead
Spend 3 doubloons, take 1 Figurehead from the market, attach to left side of Ship board; gain lightning bolt benefits immediately and ongoing benefits thereafter; limited to one Figurehead
32
Place Black Market Tile
Spend indicated cost, place your Black Market tile onto any Location card without one; activate it immediately; Black Markets cannot go on Gulf or Maracaibo
33
Gain Quest
Take 1 Quest card from the top of the deck or from the faceup Quest Market; replace from deck if taking faceup card; keep Quests hidden until Endgame Scoring
34
Acquire Improvement remotely
Acquire a Crew or Equipment Improvement from anywhere in the Caribbean, paying 3 extra doubloons; replace with top Tier II card
35
Gain VP
Move Scoring token on the perimeter track; when exceeding 50, place a Player marker on the 50 VP space and continue from space 1
36
Gain doubloons (white number)
Take indicated amount from supply and store on Hideout board
37
Pay doubloons (red number)
Return indicated amount to supply; must pay full amount to proceed with action
38
Gain income
Each player gains doubloons and VP equal to all income icons (green scrolls) on acquired Improvements and Figurehead
39
Reset ships
If fewer than 3 rounds completed, move all Ship tokens to the starting zone
40
Continue play
Play proceeds clockwise from the player who ended the round
41
Proceed to endgame
After round 3 and all players have equal turns, move to Endgame Scoring

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Complete three rounds
The game ends after round 3 when all players have taken equal turns (the player whose token is on Maracaibo acts last)
2
Score rivers
Gain 4 points for every river crossed on the Exploration board
3
Score remaining doubloons
Gain 1 point for every 5 remaining doubloons
4
Score Improvement VP
Gain all points shown in the top-right corner of each acquired Improvement
5
Score conditional Improvements
Gain gray scroll points on each Improvement with the Endgame Scoring icon
6
Score Residences
Gain conditional points for each Residence with your token (maximum 24 or 25 points per Residence)
7
Score Treasure
Each treasure (buried or unburied) is worth points based on Markers on its Treasure Island:
8
Score buried Treasure bonus
Gain 2 additional points for every buried Treasure
9
Score Quest cards
Reveal all Quests and score based on conditions met
10
Score Quest bonus
Gain 10 additional points if you scored points from at least 6 Quest cards
11
Highest score wins
The player with the most victory points wins the game
12
Tiebreaker - buried Treasure
If tied, the player with the most buried Treasure wins
13
Shared victory
If still tied, the tied players share the victory

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FULL rules

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