Montego Bay

About this board game

Montego Bay is a 2–4 player board game with an approximately 60-minute play time, challenging players to move dock workers, collect barrels, and win points by loading ships in a busy harbour.

Each player controls a large and a small worker, with a separate set of movement cards numbered 1–5 for each one. At the start of every round, players secretly choose one card for each worker. The workers then move in the current order, with collisions pushing passive workers around the warehouse path when possible.

After movement, the warehouses are resolved in order. Workers positioned beside storerooms can collect good barrels in their colour, take silver coins, or suffer losses when they reach rooms containing broken barrels. Collected barrels are freely assigned to the available ships, allowing players to build majorities across several boats.

• Secret programming: Select movement cards simultaneously for both workers.
• Tactical positioning: Push opposing workers or adjust your own route around the looped path.
• Ship majorities: Earn points for first, second, and, in larger games, third place on departing ships.
• Changing layouts: Warehouse tiles and incoming ship tiles create a different configuration each game.

A ship sails when it is full, while the leftmost ship is scored and removed at the end of a round even if it is not fully loaded. The remaining ships advance, and a replacement is drawn. Players must balance loading their own barrels, disrupting opponents, and timing their movements around the warehouses.

For three silver coins, a player can hire Lazy Jack for the current round. This extra worker moves first and ignores broken-barrel penalties, adding another way to influence the harbour. The game ends when the boat supply is depleted or the harbour reaches three or fewer boats; after final scoring, the player with the most points wins.