Four rival crews chart treacherous seas from scattered island holds. You grow by seizing territory, raising Outposts, and crowning Colonies — racing to plant your flag first. But the seas are not empty. Out on the deeps, the storm hunts the strongest captain.
HOW YOU WIN
First captain to the point target wins (shown top-left in "Your Path to Victory" — it tells you every way you could still score). Points come from Outposts, Colonies, cargo pairs, goals, most islands, and cards.
A TURN, STEP BY STEP
1. Draw a Fate card. It names 2 goods — every province of those types produces, for everyone. (No dice, no numbers — the card is fate.) Watch for Trade Winds (double), Doldrums (nothing), and Storms.
2. Spend your 3 actions. Building, buying a card, and Advancing each cost one action — you can't do everything, so choose. Trading at the bank and playing cards from your hand are free.
3. End Turn.
THE FIVE GOODS
Crew · Timber · Rope · Cannon are what you build with.
Gold is currency — needed for Advancing, Capitals, Relics and Tribute, and it trades 2:1 at the bank (everything else trades 3:1). Don't burn it on small stuff.
Holding over 7 goods is dangerous (9 in Tier 2 / advanced maps) — a Storm Fate card makes hoarders lose half. Spend, don't sit.
BUILDING (what you see on the map)
Claim empty land touching yours — a settlement. More land = more income.
Advance (once, early) unlocks Upgrades and the card market. Do it as soon as you can.
Upgrade a province to an Outpost — this is your main point engine, and it produces double. Each new build costs 1 more of everything than your last, so the bigger you grow, the dearer it gets.
Colony — raise an Outpost to a grand harbour (Colony): +2 points, triple output, and +1 more if it's nestled among 2+ of your own islands (a heartland). Build these at the heart of your territory, not the edge.
THE STORM
They live on the skull icon in the wastes. They are not a player — they are the pressure that stops any one settlement running away with the game. Here's exactly what they do:
They grow. Each round their strength rises by 1 (that's the counter climbing next to the skull). At strength 4 they start wrecking.
They hunt the leader. Every round they march one step toward whoever is winning — then strike where they land.
They plunder and wreck. The island they occupy can't produce. When wrecking, they raze a Colony all the way back to a Settlement, smash an Outpost to a settlement, or ruin a plain island (costing points until you Repair it). Losing a Colony to the storm hurts — keep a Broadside card or gold for Tribute ready.
Beating them — your cannons: play a Broadside card to hammer their strength. Drop them to 3 or below and you've scattered them for +1 point.
Holding them — your armour: pay Freeze to hold the squall for a round and shield your cargo. Freeze now costs more the more Colonies you hold (1 gold + 1 per Colony) — protecting a pirate empire isn't cheap, so the leader can't buy safety forever.
THE CARDS
After Advancing, three cards sit face-up in the market. Buy one, play it free on a later turn. Broadside scatters the storm; Drop Anchor claims free islands; Mutineer bleeds every rival; Batten Down guards you; Buried Treasure is a quiet endgame point. Costs vary by power: cheap cards take spare Grain/Timber, the strongest demand scarce goods (Stone, Iron, Gold). Cards win close games.
OPENING STRATEGY (read this!)
In the draft, grab a pair. Two provinces of the same good means every Fate card naming it pays you double — and a pair is worth a point. Consistent income beats scattered variety.
Don't chase every resource. You mainly need Stone + Iron to upgrade. Land rich in those turns into points fastest.
Advance early, then upgrade relentlessly. Castles are how you actually score. A player with 4 Outposts beats a player sitting on a pile of goods every time.
Bank your gold for Advance, a Colony, or a Relic — not small trades.
Leading is dangerous — the storm hunts the captain on top. Keep a Broadside card ready, or gold for Freeze, before you pull ahead.
TIDESWEPT
New here? Start on Intro (Learn Here) — a simple square map to learn the game. Then try the three main maps.