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HOW TO PLAY - RACE FOR THE GOLD
- GAME
RULES
Before you begin:
Open the game board and place it in the middle of the table.
It does not matter where the ships are positioned. You will be
moving them later, during the game. Each player chooses a color
and places his/her playing figures in the lower right hand area of the
game board, near the tents. This is home base, the beginning of
the trail the pirates must take to reach the treasure.
Playing the game:
The youngest player begins by rolling the die and moving his/her
colored pirate figures the number of spaces indicated on the dice.
All pirates move along the stone path, each stone counting as one (1)
space. You can choose to either move 1 pirate the number indicated
on both die, or you can split the roll, and move one of your pirates the
number indicated on one of the die, and another of your pirates the
number indicated on the other die. It is the next player's turn.
The game continues, with each player
rolling the dice, deciding which of his/her pirates to move.
Boarding
the ship:
In order to capture the
treasure, your pirates must board the ships and sail over to Treasure
Island where the golden treasure lies. As you can see on the
board, there are several piers (2 on right island, 2 on the left).
When you are on the starting, or
right-hand side of the board, as you take your turn, your aim is to get
your pirate on board the ships. This is accomplished by moving
your pirates along the trail to one of the piers.
In order to board a ship, it must be
docked at one of these places. To get a ship docked, you can
choose to use one or both of your die throws to move the ships.
For example, you throw the dice and roll a
4 and a 6. One of your pirates is 5 spaces away from the pier, but
there is no ship anchored there for him to board. You may decide
to use your throw of 4 to move the ships, hoping that ship will land
next to the pier. Using the finger groove holes in the game board,
place your finger in the right groove and move it all the way to the
left, as far as it will go. This causes the ships to move.. This
counts as 1 move. Do this 3 more turns (to equal the roll of 4).
If you are lucky, one of the ships will now be positioned in front of
the pier, ready to board. You now use your throw of 6 to board the
ship. Move your pirate 5 spaces, which lands him on the pier.
The 6th move is onto the ship. (boarding a ship always counts as 1
space)
Your pirate is now aboard a ship, ready to
sail over to the Treasure Island!
The first pirate to board a ship always
sits in the front. If others board, they sit behind him, in the
order they boarded.
As pirates board the ships, players can
continue to decide on their turns, whether to move the ships or move
their other pirates.
The Sea Journey:
Once you have one of your pirates on board a ship, you want to
sail the ship across the sea, in order to reach Treasure Island.
On any of your turns you may choose to move the board, by using the
finger grooves, sailing your pirates(s) closer to the Treasure Island.
Beware! There are hidden dangers in
the water! If a GIANT OCTOPUS is in front of the ship, the pirate
sitting in front of the ship falls in, and has to return to home base,
and start the journey again. Any other pirates in the ship move
forward to the front of the ship.
If a GIANT ROCK is in front of the ship,
the ship sinks, and all pirates on board must return to home base and
begin the journey again.
Reaching Treasure Island:
A pirate can get off the ship only when it lands next to a
landing pier on an exact roll. For example, one of your pirates is
on a ship and you roll a 4 and a 6. You may choose to move the
finger grooves 4 times to see if this will line the ship up to one of
the piers on Treasure Island. If it does, you can use the roll of
6 for your pirate to disembark the ship moving him 6 spaces.
Winning the game:
When a pirate reaches the treasure on an exact roll, the game is
over. The player whose pirate reaches the treasure first is the
winner!
Game strategy:
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Don't forget - you can always split your
dice rolls, but you don't have to. On each turn you should decide
your best strategy.
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It is a good idea to move all your pirates
along, rather than just moving one. If, during the game, one of
your pirates is forced to return home, you will have other pirates who
are still advanced enough to reach the treasure first.
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You may want to move the ships, even if
you don't have any pirates on board. You can play a defensive game
by moving ships away from piers so your opponents can't board or
disembark; or you can cause a ship to "hit" the Giant Rock or Octopus.
Variation of Play:
For a longer game, the first player who gets his/her entire
pirate crew to the treasure is the winner.
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