Port Royal
2014
Draw from the harbor to build your fortune, but duplicate ships can end your turn empty-handed.
50
minutes
2 - 5
player(s)
8+
Medium Light
About this board game
Port Royal is a push-your-luck card game for 2–5 players, with games lasting about 50 minutes. As merchants in the Caribbean, you must decide how far to press your luck while seeking coins and influence.
On your turn, reveal cards one at a time from the deck and place them in the harbor. You may stop whenever you choose, but drawing a ship with the same name as one already in the harbor ends your turn and discards the harbor cards—unless you can attack that ship first with enough swords from your people.
- People join a face-up row and can provide swords, items, and influence.
- Ships can be attacked for coins or left in the harbor.
- Expeditions remain available until fulfilled by discarding people with the required items.
- Tax Increase cards make players with twelve or more coins discard half their money.
Once you stop drawing, the number of ships in the harbor determines how many cards you may use or acquire: one with up to three ships, two with four, or three with five. You can rob ships for their displayed coins or hire people by paying their costs. Afterward, each other player may pay you one coin to take one card as well.
Influence points appear on people and expedition cards. When a player reaches at least twelve influence, the current round is completed so everyone receives the same number of turns; the player with the most influence wins. Port Royal also includes enough cards for games with up to five players, and victory is possible without fulfilling an expedition.
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Board Game Rules for
Port Royal
Introduction
In the harbor of Port Royal life is bustling and you hope to make the deal of your life. But don’t risk too much or your cargo holds will be empty. Don’t forget to reinvest your profit to gain the favor of Governors and Admirals and to hire various other persons that can further your goals. Try to extend your influence and you might even be able to answer the call of one of the prestigious expeditions.
Goal of the Game
You will try to gain gold coins with which you will hire various persons who will give you permanent abilities to aid you. They, as well as Expeditions, will also yield you victory points which will bring you victory in a game of Port Royal.
120 Cards
Comprised of:
60 Persons
(some of which are identical in all but hire costs and victory points provided)
- 10 Traders
- 5 Settlers
- 5 Captains
- 5 Priests
- 3 Jack of all Trades
- 10 Sailors
- 3 Pirates
- 4 Mademoiselles
- 5 Jesters
- 6 Admirals
- 4 Governors
6 Expeditions
(including 1 only for 5 player game)
4 Tax Increases
50 Ships
10 of each colour:
- Yellow Pinnace: 4x 1
, 3x 2 , 3x 4 - Blue Flute: 4x 1 , 3x 2 , 3x 5
- Green Skiff: 4x 1 , 3x 3 , 3x 5
- Red Frigate: 3x 1 , 3x 3 , 2x 6 , 2x
- Black Galleon: 3x 2 , 3x 4 , 2x 7 , 2x
Game Setup
- If you play with fewer than 5 players, first remove the special Expedition that is only needed for 5 players and put it back in the box. You can easily tell it apart, because it is the only card without a gold coin on its backside.
- If you are playing with 5 players, put this card in the middle of the table instead.
- Now shuffle all remaining cards and set them face down on the table. This is the draw pile.
- Leave a little space next to it for an open discard pile.
- Each player now starts with 3 coins that are dealt from the draw pile to each player as face down cards into their personal display, with only the golden coins showing.
Important note regarding the cards:
The fronts of the cards are showing various Ships, Persons, Tax Increases and Expeditions. The back of every card features a golden coin. Every time a player gains coins, draw the appropriate number of cards from the draw pile and put them face down and with every coin visible into your display without ever looking at the front. For every card, a player owns 1 coin.
Flow of Play
The player who last visited a harbor will be the start player. Beginning with him and then in clockwise direction, 1 player will be the active player. He will have to perform 2 phases in order – the 2nd of which might sometimes be skipped. If there is a 2nd phase, then, after the active player has acted, each other player will also have an opportunity to act in this phase. Then the active player changes.
These 2 phases are:
- Discover: Draw cards from the draw pile into the harbor display
- Trade & Hire: Take cards from the harbor display
Phase 1: Discover
The active player must first draw a card from the draw pile to put into the middle of the table – this will form the harbor display. Now he has to decide if he wants to draw another card or stop. He can continue to make this decision until he stops voluntarily or 2 identically colored ships are in the harbor display (see below) which would force him to forfeit the rest of his turn. Should he stop, the 2nd phase begins.
There are 4 different card types:
- Persons
- Ships
- Expeditions
- Tax Increases
Persons
If the drawn card is a Person, it will go into the harbor display. Each person has an ability depicted on the top part of the card. It also has a shield with an amount of victory points. An explanation of all abilities can be found at the end of the rules.
Ships
If the drawn card is a Ship, the active player may put it into the harbor display as a possible source of income.
Alternatively he can repel the Ship and put it in the discard pile. To repel you must have 1 or more Sailors and/or Pirates in your personal display. Additionally, the amount of Swords they give you, must be equal to or higher than the Swords depicted on the Ship. If this is the case you may put the Ship into the discard pile instead of the harbor display – otherwise it cannot be repelled and has to go into the harbor display.
- You may only repel a Ship that has just been drawn; a ship with a Skull symbol can never be repelled.
- Swords are never spent, i.e. you can use them multiple times during your turn.
Alex wants to repel the Flute with 2 . Since his Sailor gives him 1 and his Pirate 2 he has a total of 3 and he succeeds. He can put the Flute on the discard pile.
Expeditions
If the drawn card is an Expedition, put it in the middle of the table but apart from the harbor display. An Expedition will stay there until a player claims it by fulfilling it.
To fulfill the requirements of an Expedition (visible on the bottom of the card) he has to have Persons with matching abilities in his personal display. He puts the matching Persons into the discard pile and takes the Expedition into his personal display, as well as a number of golden coins as depicted on the card. A player may claim Expeditions any time during his turn, and as many as he is able to.
Dagmar wants to claim an Expedition with 2 
. Therefore she discards her Priest () and her Jack of all Trades. She receives the Expedition card and 2 coins (from the draw deck).
Tax Increases
If the drawn card is a Tax Increase, all players that currently own 12 or more golden coins lose half (rounded down) of their coins (i.e. with 12 or 13 coins the player loses 6 coins). The cards are put onto the discard pile.
Afterwards – depending on the Tax Increase drawn – either the player with the most Swords or the player with the least victory points gains 1 coin. In case of a tie (for example if no players have swords or victory points yet) all tied players gain 1 coin.
After the Tax Increase has been resolved it is discarded and play resumes as normal.
Here the player with the least amount of victory points gains 1 coin.
Here the player with the most Swords gains 1 coin.
Ending Phase 1: Discover
A player can always stop voluntarily and proceed to the 2nd phase unless he draws a Ship that is of identical color to one that is already in the harbor display and that he cannot repel.
If that happens:
- The player has to discard all of the harbor display (remember to keep Expeditions separate!).
- He is forced to forfeit the rest of his turn.
- Phase 2: Trade & Hire will not take place, but all players with a Jester in their personal display gain 1 coin.
Play continues, with the next player in turn order becoming the active player and performing his Phase 1: Discover.
Should the draw pile ever be empty during game play, simply shuffle the discard pile and create a new face down draw pile.
Phase 2: Trade & Hire
In this phase the active player will be able to take 1-3 cards from the harbor display and then all other players will also get a chance to take 1 card. Exactly how many cards the active player will be able to take depends on the number of differently colored Ships in the harbor display:
- 0-3 differently colored Ships: take 1 card from the harbor display
- 4 differently colored Ships: take 2 cards from the harbor display
- 5 differently colored Ships: take 3 cards from the harbor display
Cards are taken one by one – so the ability of one card may be immediately used for the next card taken.
Trade:
The player takes 1 Ship from the harbor display, and puts it into the discard pile. He now gains as many coins as are depicted on the banner at the top of the card.
Klemens takes the Flute from the harbor display, puts it onto the discard pile and gains 2 coins.
Hire:
To hire 1 Person, a player has to pay an amount of coins (put onto the discard pile) equal to the cost depicted on the bottom part of the Person he wishes to hire. He puts the Person into his personal display and may from now on use the ability on the top part of the card (the banner). All abilities are explained at the end of the rules.
Andrea is hiring a Sailor. She pays 3 of her coins into the discard pile and puts the Sailor into her personal display.
Other Players’ Turn:
After the active player has taken 1 or more cards (Ships or Persons), every other player in clockwise direction may now also take 1 card if able, following all rules. Before he can do this, however, that player has to give the active player 1 coin as compensation. Should he take 1 Ship, this coin may come from the income of that Ship.
After all other players have had a chance to take 1 card, all leftover cards are discarded. It is also possible that there were too few cards to give all other players a chance to take one.
Now the next player in clockwise direction will be the active player and starts with his Phase 1: Discover.
Example: It’s Andrea’s turn. She had drawn 5 cards into the harbor display during her Discover Phase. 4 of those were differently colored Ships which is why she was able to take 2 cards. First she took a Ship worth two 2 coins. Then she spent the money to hire 1 Person. Now the other players may take a card, if able. Alex wishes to take 1 of the Ships that are left. He gives Andrea 1 coin for compensation, chooses 1 Ship, puts it onto the discard pile and takes the appropriate amount of coins. After the rest of the players also had a chance to take 1 card, the leftovers are discarded.
Overview
The abilities of Persons are depicted on the top part of their card on the banner. The victory points you gain are depicted on the little shield to the right of the ability banner. When you act – either as the active player, or during your chance on another players turn – you can use all abilities of Persons in your personal display. If you have multiples of one type of card, their abilities will stack. Should you have 2 Mademoiselles, for example, you will be able to hire Persons at a 2 gold coin discount.
Settlers, Captains, Priests (5 times each) / Jack of all Trades (3 times)
To be able to help claim an Expedition you must be able to discard these types of cards from your personal display. The ability banner is a little darker to signify this. The Jack of all Trades is a Joker type of card and can be discarded instead of a Priest, Settler or Captain.
Trader (2 of each color)
The player will gain 1 more golden coin if he has a Trader of the appropriate Ship color in his personal display.
Sailor (10 times) / Pirate (3 times)
With the depicted Swords, Ships can be repelled. (see Phase 1: Discover)
Admiral (6 times)
Whenever it is your time to take a card/cards during Phase 2: Trade & Hire and there are currently 5 or more cards in the harbor display you immediately gain 2 coins.
Jester (5 times)
- If you are currently not the active player and during a Phase 2: Trade & Hire it is your turn to take a card – and there are no cards left in the harbor display, immediately gain 1 coin.
- Should a player forfeit his turn during a Phase 1: Discover and the 2nd Phase will be skipped, all players with a Jester gain 1 coin.
Governor (4 times)
Whenever it is your time to take a card/cards during Phase 2: Trade & Hire you may take 1 more card from the harbor display. If you are not the active player, you have to compensate the active player with 1 coin for each card taken.
Mademoiselle (4 times)
The hire cost of a Person is discounted by 1 coin. The cost cannot be discounted to less than 0.
End of Game
The end of the game is checked as soon as 1 player was able to acquire 12 victory points into his personal display. The rest of the game round will be played to its completion, i.e. game play will continue until the player sitting to the right of start player will have been the active player.
Winner of the game will be the player who was able to acquire the most victory points in his personal display. In case of a tie, the player who still has the most coins left is the winner. If the tied players are also tied in coins, they share the win.
End of Game Variant
As an alternative you can play with the following End of Game:
The end of the game is checked as soon as 1 player was able to acquire 12 victory points as well as at least 1 Expedition into his personal display. All other rules stay the same. Winner of the game will be the player who was able to acquire the most victory points and at least 1 Expedition. Tie braking stays the same.
Game Credits
- Game Design: Alexander Pfister
- Illustration: Klemens Franz
- Graphicdesign: Hans-Georg Schneider und Klemens Franz
- English Translation: Benjamin Schönheiter
- Realisation: Klaus Ottmaier
Port Royal was the Winner of the Game Designer Award 2013 by the Wiener Spiele Akademie (Vienna Games Academy) under the name of „Händler der Karibik“ in cooperation with Österreichische Spiele Museum. www.spielen.at
Pegasus Spiele wants to thank Österreichische Spiele Museum (the Austrian Games Museum).
© 2014 Pegasus Spiele GmbH, Straßheimer Str. 2, 61169 Friedberg, Deutschland. All rights reserved. Reprinting and publishing of game rules, game components, or illustrations without owner‘s permission is prohibited.
Introduction & Goal
Introduction
In the harbor of Port Royal life is bustling and you hope to make the deal of your life. But don’t risk too much or your cargo holds will be empty. Don’t forget to reinvest your profit to gain the favor of Governors and Admirals and to hire various other persons that can further your goals. Try to extend your influence and you might even be able to answer the call of one of the prestigious expeditions.
Goal of the Game
You will try to gain gold coins with which you will hire various persons who will give you permanent abilities to aid you. They, as well as Expeditions, will also yield you victory points which will bring you victory in a game of Port Royal.
Components
120 Cards
Comprised of:
60 Persons
(some of which are identical in all but hire costs and victory points provided)
- 10 Traders
- 5 Settlers
- 5 Captains
- 5 Priests
- 3 Jack of all Trades
- 10 Sailors
- 3 Pirates
- 4 Mademoiselles
- 5 Jesters
- 6 Admirals
- 4 Governors
6 Expeditions
(including 1 only for 5 player game)
4 Tax Increases
50 Ships
10 of each colour:
- Yellow Pinnace: 4x 1 , 3x 2 , 3x 4
- Blue Flute: 4x 1 , 3x 2 , 3x 5
- Green Skiff: 4x 1 , 3x 3 , 3x 5
- Red Frigate: 3x 1 , 3x 3 , 2x 6 , 2x
- Black Galleon: 3x 2 , 3x 4 , 2x 7 , 2x
Setup
Game Setup
- If you play with fewer than 5 players, first remove the special Expedition that is only needed for 5 players and put it back in the box. You can easily tell it apart, because it is the only card without a gold coin on its backside.
- If you are playing with 5 players, put this card in the middle of the table instead.
- Now shuffle all remaining cards and set them face down on the table. This is the draw pile.
- Leave a little space next to it for an open discard pile.
- Each player now starts with 3 coins that are dealt from the draw pile to each player as face down cards into their personal display, with only the golden coins showing.
Important note regarding the cards:
The fronts of the cards are showing various Ships, Persons, Tax Increases and Expeditions. The back of every card features a golden coin. Every time a player gains coins, draw the appropriate number of cards from the draw pile and put them face down and with every coin visible into your display without ever looking at the front. For every card, a player owns 1 coin.
How to Play
Flow of Play
The player who last visited a harbor will be the start player. Beginning with him and then in clockwise direction, 1 player will be the active player. He will have to perform 2 phases in order – the 2nd of which might sometimes be skipped. If there is a 2nd phase, then, after the active player has acted, each other player will also have an opportunity to act in this phase. Then the active player changes.
These 2 phases are:
- Discover: Draw cards from the draw pile into the harbor display
- Trade & Hire: Take cards from the harbor display
Phase 1: Discover
The active player must first draw a card from the draw pile to put into the middle of the table – this will form the harbor display. Now he has to decide if he wants to draw another card or stop. He can continue to make this decision until he stops voluntarily or 2 identically colored ships are in the harbor display (see below) which would force him to forfeit the rest of his turn. Should he stop, the 2nd phase begins.
There are 4 different card types:
- Persons
- Ships
- Expeditions
- Tax Increases
Persons
If the drawn card is a Person, it will go into the harbor display. Each person has an ability depicted on the top part of the card. It also has a shield with an amount of victory points. An explanation of all abilities can be found at the end of the rules.
Ships
If the drawn card is a Ship, the active player may put it into the harbor display as a possible source of income.
Alternatively he can repel the Ship and put it in the discard pile. To repel you must have 1 or more Sailors and/or Pirates in your personal display. Additionally, the amount of Swords they give you, must be equal to or higher than the Swords depicted on the Ship. If this is the case you may put the Ship into the discard pile instead of the harbor display – otherwise it cannot be repelled and has to go into the harbor display.
- You may only repel a Ship that has just been drawn; a ship with a Skull symbol can never be repelled.
- Swords are never spent, i.e. you can use them multiple times during your turn.
Alex wants to repel the Flute with 2 . Since his Sailor gives him 1 and his Pirate 2 he has a total of 3 and he succeeds. He can put the Flute on the discard pile.
Expeditions
If the drawn card is an Expedition, put it in the middle of the table but apart from the harbor display. An Expedition will stay there until a player claims it by fulfilling it.
To fulfill the requirements of an Expedition (visible on the bottom of the card) he has to have Persons with matching abilities in his personal display. He puts the matching Persons into the discard pile and takes the Expedition into his personal display, as well as a number of golden coins as depicted on the card. A player may claim Expeditions any time during his turn, and as many as he is able to.
Dagmar wants to claim an Expedition with 2 . Therefore she discards her Priest () and her Jack of all Trades. She receives the Expedition card and 2 coins (from the draw deck).
Tax Increases
If the drawn card is a Tax Increase, all players that currently own 12 or more golden coins lose half (rounded down) of their coins (i.e. with 12 or 13 coins the player loses 6 coins). The cards are put onto the discard pile.
Afterwards – depending on the Tax Increase drawn – either the player with the most Swords or the player with the least victory points gains 1 coin. In case of a tie (for example if no players have swords or victory points yet) all tied players gain 1 coin.
After the Tax Increase has been resolved it is discarded and play resumes as normal.
Here the player with the least amount of victory points gains 1 coin.
Here the player with the most Swords gains 1 coin.
Ending Phase 1: Discover
A player can always stop voluntarily and proceed to the 2nd phase unless he draws a Ship that is of identical color to one that is already in the harbor display and that he cannot repel.
If that happens:
- The player has to discard all of the harbor display (remember to keep Expeditions separate!).
- He is forced to forfeit the rest of his turn.
- Phase 2: Trade & Hire will not take place, but all players with a Jester in their personal display gain 1 coin.
Play continues, with the next player in turn order becoming the active player and performing his Phase 1: Discover.
Should the draw pile ever be empty during game play, simply shuffle the discard pile and create a new face down draw pile.
Phase 2: Trade & Hire
In this phase the active player will be able to take 1-3 cards from the harbor display and then all other players will also get a chance to take 1 card. Exactly how many cards the active player will be able to take depends on the number of differently colored Ships in the harbor display:
- 0-3 differently colored Ships: take 1 card from the harbor display
- 4 differently colored Ships: take 2 cards from the harbor display
- 5 differently colored Ships: take 3 cards from the harbor display
Cards are taken one by one – so the ability of one card may be immediately used for the next card taken.
Trade:
The player takes 1 Ship from the harbor display, and puts it into the discard pile. He now gains as many coins as are depicted on the banner at the top of the card.
Klemens takes the Flute from the harbor display, puts it onto the discard pile and gains 2 coins.
Hire:
To hire 1 Person, a player has to pay an amount of coins (put onto the discard pile) equal to the cost depicted on the bottom part of the Person he wishes to hire. He puts the Person into his personal display and may from now on use the ability on the top part of the card (the banner). All abilities are explained at the end of the rules.
Andrea is hiring a Sailor. She pays 3 of her coins into the discard pile and puts the Sailor into her personal display.
Other Players’ Turn:
After the active player has taken 1 or more cards (Ships or Persons), every other player in clockwise direction may now also take 1 card if able, following all rules. Before he can do this, however, that player has to give the active player 1 coin as compensation. Should he take 1 Ship, this coin may come from the income of that Ship.
After all other players have had a chance to take 1 card, all leftover cards are discarded. It is also possible that there were too few cards to give all other players a chance to take one.
Now the next player in clockwise direction will be the active player and starts with his Phase 1: Discover.
Example: It’s Andrea’s turn. She had drawn 5 cards into the harbor display during her Discover Phase. 4 of those were differently colored Ships which is why she was able to take 2 cards. First she took a Ship worth two 2 coins. Then she spent the money to hire 1 Person. Now the other players may take a card, if able. Alex wishes to take 1 of the Ships that are left. He gives Andrea 1 coin for compensation, chooses 1 Ship, puts it onto the discard pile and takes the appropriate amount of coins. After the rest of the players also had a chance to take 1 card, the leftovers are discarded.
Abilities of Persons
Overview
The abilities of Persons are depicted on the top part of their card on the banner. The victory points you gain are depicted on the little shield to the right of the ability banner. When you act – either as the active player, or during your chance on another players turn – you can use all abilities of Persons in your personal display. If you have multiples of one type of card, their abilities will stack. Should you have 2 Mademoiselles, for example, you will be able to hire Persons at a 2 gold coin discount.
Settlers, Captains, Priests (5 times each) / Jack of all Trades (3 times)
To be able to help claim an Expedition you must be able to discard these types of cards from your personal display. The ability banner is a little darker to signify this. The Jack of all Trades is a Joker type of card and can be discarded instead of a Priest, Settler or Captain.
Trader (2 of each color)
The player will gain 1 more golden coin if he has a Trader of the appropriate Ship color in his personal display.
Sailor (10 times) / Pirate (3 times)
With the depicted Swords, Ships can be repelled. (see Phase 1: Discover)
Admiral (6 times)
Whenever it is your time to take a card/cards during Phase 2: Trade & Hire and there are currently 5 or more cards in the harbor display you immediately gain 2 coins.
Jester (5 times)
- If you are currently not the active player and during a Phase 2: Trade & Hire it is your turn to take a card – and there are no cards left in the harbor display, immediately gain 1 coin.
- Should a player forfeit his turn during a Phase 1: Discover and the 2nd Phase will be skipped, all players with a Jester gain 1 coin.
Governor (4 times)
Whenever it is your time to take a card/cards during Phase 2: Trade & Hire you may take 1 more card from the harbor display. If you are not the active player, you have to compensate the active player with 1 coin for each card taken.
Mademoiselle (4 times)
The hire cost of a Person is discounted by 1 coin. The cost cannot be discounted to less than 0.
End of Game & Variant
End of Game
The end of the game is checked as soon as 1 player was able to acquire 12 victory points into his personal display. The rest of the game round will be played to its completion, i.e. game play will continue until the player sitting to the right of start player will have been the active player.
Winner of the game will be the player who was able to acquire the most victory points in his personal display. In case of a tie, the player who still has the most coins left is the winner. If the tied players are also tied in coins, they share the win.
End of Game Variant
As an alternative you can play with the following End of Game:
The end of the game is checked as soon as 1 player was able to acquire 12 victory points as well as at least 1 Expedition into his personal display. All other rules stay the same. Winner of the game will be the player who was able to acquire the most victory points and at least 1 Expedition. Tie braking stays the same.
Credits
Game Credits
- Game Design: Alexander Pfister
- Illustration: Klemens Franz
- Graphicdesign: Hans-Georg Schneider und Klemens Franz
- English Translation: Benjamin Schönheiter
- Realisation: Klaus Ottmaier
Port Royal was the Winner of the Game Designer Award 2013 by the Wiener Spiele Akademie (Vienna Games Academy) under the name of „Händler der Karibik“ in cooperation with Österreichische Spiele Museum. www.spielen.at
Pegasus Spiele wants to thank Österreichische Spiele Museum (the Austrian Games Museum).
© 2014 Pegasus Spiele GmbH, Straßheimer Str. 2, 61169 Friedberg, Deutschland. All rights reserved. Reprinting and publishing of game rules, game components, or illustrations without owner‘s permission is prohibited.
Rules explaination videos
Expansions for
Port Royal
Port Royal: The Adventure Begins…
2017
Set sail on campaign scenarios filled with timed orders and tough choices.
50
minutes
Medium
View expansion
Port Royal: Just One More Contract…
2015
Add Contracts, cooperative play, solo challenges, persons, and ships to Port Royal.
50
minutes
Medium Light
View expansion
