Libertalia

To set up the first campaign, each player receives a player board, a matching colored flag, a deck of 30 numbered character cards, and 10 doubloons. Score markers for each player are placed at 0 on the scoring track. One player shuffles their deck and deals out 9 character cards face-up. All other players then look through their decks to find the same 9 numbered cards to form their starting hand. The remaining cards in each player's deck are set aside, not to be touched until the second campaign, with the flag token placed on top as a reminder. All loot tokens are placed into the cloth bag. Then, for each of the 6 boxes on the main board, one loot token per player in the game is drawn from the bag and placed face-down in that box. The remaining loot tokens and the bag are set aside.

The objective of Libertalia is to accumulate the most total money and loot over the course of three 6-day looting campaigns. Players will send their pirate crew members (character cards) on expeditions to gather doubloons and various loot tokens, while also strategically competing against and backstabbing other players to secure the best haul. The player who has the highest total score in doubloons at the end of the third campaign is declared the winner.

The game unfolds over three campaigns, with each campaign lasting six days. Each day is divided into four phases: Sunrise, Day, Dusk, and Night. In the Sunrise phase, each player secretly chooses one character card from their hand and plays it face-down onto one of the available slots on the main board. Once all players have chosen, the cards are flipped face-up and arranged in numerical order from lowest to highest rank (tie-broken by a secondary number). In the Day phase, starting from the leftmost character, any character with a 'Day' effect (indicated by a sun icon) resolves its action. These actions are mandatory unless impossible. In the Dusk phase, starting from the rightmost character, each player whose character is still on the boat chooses one loot token from the current day's box, takes it, and adds their character to their den. Any 'Dusk' effects (indicated by a sunset icon) on the character are resolved. In the Night phase, starting from the highest-ranked character in each player's den, any 'Night' effects (indicated by a moon icon) are resolved. These effects are also mandatory unless impossible and are usually resolved simultaneously among players.

During the game, players collect doubloons and loot tokens. Doubloons are immediately added to a player's personal supply. Loot tokens are kept face-down in a player's collection until the end of a campaign. At the end of each campaign, after the 6th day's Night phase, players resolve 'End of Campaign' effects (indicated by an anchor icon) on their characters in their dens, from highest to lowest rank, which usually involves gaining or losing doubloons. Then, all collected loot tokens are revealed and converted into doubloons: barrels, jewels, and chests are worth 1, 3, and 5 doubloons respectively; sets of three treasure maps are worth 12 doubloons; sabers, Spanish officers, and incomplete sets of treasure maps are worth 0 doubloons; and cursed treasures are worth -3 doubloons. These newly gained doubloons are then added to the player's banked score on the scoreboard, making them safe from being lost later in the game.

The game concludes after the third campaign. At this point, all remaining 'End of Campaign' effects on characters in players' dens are resolved, and all collected loot tokens are converted into doubloons and added to each player's banked score on the scoreboard. The player who has accumulated the highest total score in banked doubloons across all three campaigns is the winner. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most character cards in their hand wins. If still tied, the tied player with the most loot tokens in their possession wins. If still tied, the tied player with the most doubloons in their personal supply wins.