Piraten kapern
Fight pirate ships! Gather treasures! Collect...parrots?
Piraten Kapern ("Pirate Capers") is the German version of the 2011 game Otsarot o Tsarot, published by Shafir Games in Hebrew and English. It's part of a line of combined dice-and-card games that publisher AMIGO Spiel introduced in 2012.
As you might expect with a game titled Piraten Kapern, players must set off in search of treasure, pushing themselves to find as much as possible without losing their heads.
At the start of a turn, the active player rolls the eight special dice. He must set aside any skulls rolled, and his turn ends immediately with no score if he rolls a third skull. The player is free to set aside any number of other dice, rerolling the rest. He may continue to do this until the skulls get him or he stops. He then scores for dice combinations, with a three-of-a-kind earning 100 points, a four-of-a-kind 200 points, and so on all the way up to an eight-of-a-kind earning 4,000 points. Each gold or diamond showing is worth 100 points on its own. A player earns a 500 point bonus if all eight dice score.
If a player is not able to set aside any valid dice, all points are lost.
If a player rolls four or more skulls on his first roll, he heads to Skull Island for the turn, setting aside those skulls and continuing to roll as long as he sets aside at least one skull each time. Once he stops, all other players lose 100 points for each skull showing.
Before a player starts to roll for his turn, however, he draws a card from the pirate deck, which affects what's possible on that turn: He might score double for the treasure he collects, or need to roll sabers to fight off other pirates, or receive a free diamond or gold coin, or be able to score treasure even if he collect three skulls.
Once a player reaches 6,000 points, all other players take one final turn, then the player with the most points wins.
Number of players: 2 - 5
Game duration: 5 mn
Complexity: 1 / 5
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Play Piraten kapern and 968 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
Objective
- The objective on each turn, is to make sets of 3 or more identical die faces, collect diamonds and coins, and score points.
- The overall game objective is to score 6000 points or more, and end with the highest score.
Player Turn
- Draw the top Fortune Card, and apply the affects during your turn.
- Roll all 8 dice.
- Each die has 6 faces: Coin, Diamond, Monkey, Parrot, Sabre ,and Skull.
- You may stop rolling at any time, and collect your points, or press your luck and re-roll any number of additional times, for more.
- You can re-roll any of your dice, except skulls, but you must re-roll at least 2 dice.
- If you get 3 skulls on your first roll, or 3 or more skulls after any re-roll, your turn ends and you score nothing.
- If you get 4 or more skulls during your first roll, you go to the Island of Skulls (see below).
- Discard the Fortune Card.
Scoring
| # dice in set | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 100 | 200 | 500 | 1000 | 2000 | 4000 |
- Each diamond and coin is worth an additional 100 points.
- If the player generates points with all 8 dice, they score an extra 500 points.
- With some Fortune Cards and the Island of Skulls, it is possible for a player's score to be negative.
Game End
- The final round is triggered when a player's score becomes greater than, or equal to, 6000 points.
- All other remaining players are permitted one final turn.
- If during one of the remaining player's final turn, the triggering player's score goes below 6000, play continues as normal until a player reaches 6000 again.
- The winner is the player with the highest score.
- If the score ends in a tie, ... (the printed rules do not say what happens!)
The Island of Skulls
- If a player rolls 4 or more skulls in their first roll, they go to the Island of Skulls for that turn.
- They can re-roll as normal, except their turn only continues if they roll at least 1 skull.
- As soon as no skulls are rolled, or they cannot roll at least 2 dice, their turn ends.
- Opponents each lose 100 points per skull.
- Other objects have no value on the Island of Skulls. The player scores nothing.
Fortune Cards
- Monkey Business: Monkeys and parrots are grouped together and counted as a single set.
- Diamond: You start with 1 extra diamond.
- Gold: You start with 1 extra gold coin.
- Sorceress: Once during your turn, you can re-roll a skull.
- Captain: Double all points (positive or negative) in this turn.
- Sea Battle (2-4): If you roll at least the number of sabres on the card, you get bonus points (2:300, 3:500, 4:1000). Otherwise, score the same number of negative points.
- Skulls (1-2): You start with the amount of extra skulls on the card.
- Treasure Island: Place the dice on this card that you want save. They are protected and will score, even if you roll 3 or more skulls.
Promo cards
- If you are playing with the promo cards the following also appear:
After the Storm
- You are only allowed to re-roll your dice once.
- You only score, and receive double points, for diamond and coins.
- If you visit the Island of Skulls, you can only re-roll once.
- If you roll 3 skulls, your turn ends but you score according to the Island of Skulls rules.
Peace
- You have to end your turn without any sabres, or you score -1000 per sabre and your other dice are worth zero.
- If you succeed, you score your normal points.
- You are allowed to go to the Island of Skulls, but you are not allowed to roll sabres there or your opponents will not lose points.
