How to Play Shipyard | Rules & Setup Guide

Get Ready

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

Prepare ship tiles

Sort ship tiles face down at top of board into 3 stacks: Bows, Middles (stack I on II), and Sterns

Fill ship display

Turn over 5 bows, 10 middles, and 5 sterns and fill appropriate columns below the stacks

Prepare freight and canals

Shuffle freight trains and canals, stack face down, then turn over 5 of each to fill right columns

Set up action track

Place action tiles on the track with some in designated spaces and rest placed randomly between them

Place countdown marker

Set to indicate the number of players

Place coins

Put coins in the middle of the Action Track

Stock the bank

Place all equipment and crew pieces in the "BANK" on supply board

Set up rondels

Randomly place a marker on the brown manufacture ring, one on the green recruit ring, and one on the hexagonal exchange rondel

Prepare employee tiles

Sort into dark and light brown backed stacks, place dark brown randomly face up around employee track, then place matching light brown tiles face up on top

Set hire marker

Randomly place a marker on the Hire Employees track

Distribute player materials

Each player takes a shipyard mat in their color, places counter on scoring track, takes 1 ship marker and 1 player pawn

Distribute starting money

Each player receives 6 guilders from the bank

Deal contracts

Give each player 6 government contracts (3 green and 3 blue), kept secret

Remove subsidy action

Do not use the "Receive Subsidy" action

Reduce employee tiles

Do not use the light brown tiles in the hiring track

Use three pawns

Each player uses all 3 action selection markers

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Advance previous action tile

Pick up your marker and the action tile you were on, move tile to front of all action tiles (skip on first turn)

Choose new action

Place your marker on an unoccupied action; cannot choose the action you just moved

Collect income

Take 1 guilder for each occupied action ahead of you

Perform selected action

Execute the action as detailed below

Optional bonus action

Pay 6 guilders to perform one additional action (any except current), before or after regular action

Launch completed ships

At turn end, take shakedown cruise for any completed ships

First turn

Use 2 action markers to select your first action

Second turn

Do not move first action forward; place one marker on an unselected action

Third turn onward

Pick up 2 markers from previous action, move that tile forward, place 1 marker on previous action (now has 2), place remaining marker on new selection

Pay tile costs

Top two rows cost 2 guilders, middle two rows cost 1 guilder, bottom row costs 0 guilders

Refill after purchase

Remaining tiles slide down to fill gaps, new tiles drawn and placed at top

Take ship tiles

Take 1 to 3 ship tiles from Ship Board and pay their costs; must take at least 1

Place tiles

Put tiles in any empty spaces at bottom of player mat; once placed, cannot be moved

Follow placement rules

No sterns or middles in leftmost position; no bows or middles in rightmost position; no bows and sterns together with no room for middle

Complete ship requirements

Need 1 bow on left, 1 stern on right, at least 1 middle between them, no empty spaces

Purchase train

Take 1 train tile, pay the cost, place on player mat

Take canal tile

Take 1 canal tile from Ship Board

Place first tile

If first tile, place boat marker on a space to indicate starting position

Extend canal

Place additional tiles adjacent to existing canals with edges lined up

Move marker

Move brown ring marker one required space (pay 1 guilder per extra space, max 3 total)

Collect equipment

Take the indicated item: smokestack, crane, sail, or cannon

Move marker

Move green ring marker one required space (pay 1 guilder per extra space, max 3 total)

Collect crew

Take indicated item: captain/officer, businessman, soldier, or propeller

Move marker

Move outer ring marker one space (cannot pay for extra spaces)

Trade train tile

Trade in only 1 train tile; for each of 3 car commodities, either trade for ship item (one of each type only) or sell for guilders

Move marker

Move one space around track; may pay any number of guilders to advance further

Choose employee

Select from 3 available employees at that position

Collect money

Take 2 guilders from the bank

Verify minimum requirements

Ship needs bow on left, 1-7 middles, stern on right, a captain, and canal long enough for full speed

Discard failed ships

Ships not meeting requirements score 0 points, are discarded without outfitting, and don't count toward contracts

Outfit qualifying ships

Move ship parts off shipyard, add equipment to proper mounting points (black for sails/smokestacks, blue-gray for cannons, green for cranes, specific stern for propellers)

Assign crew

All crew except captain require a cabin; some tiles have 2 cabins

Calculate speed

Base 4 points if smokestack + propeller (then +1 per additional smokestack, sail, propeller); otherwise base 1 point (+1 per sail or propeller, +1 per pair of smokestacks); minimum speed is 1

Score crew

1 point per crew member including captain

Score equipment

2 points per cannon or crane

Move through canal

Advance ship 1 space per point of speed; choose branch at splits

Score symbols crossed

Cannon: 1 point per soldier and cannon; Crane: 1 point per businessman and crane; Lantern/Lifeboat/Lifebuoy: 1 point each on ship; Blue Riband: 1 point per space travelled to that point (first only)

Score repeated symbols

Score each symbol type every time crossed (except Blue Riband)

Keep launched ships

Set aside for end-game contract scoring

Discard used canal tiles

Place face down in scoring discard; disconnected unused tiles go to non-scoring pile

Trigger countdown

When a player completes a lap with their action tile, move countdown marker down one position after completing turn

Discard contracts

In 4-player: discard 2 of each color when counter reaches 2; in 3-player: discard 1 of each color at 2 and 1; in 2-player: discard 2 of each color when counter reaches 1