Overview

Borneo is a card game of spice trading in the 17th-century East Indies. Players are merchants belonging to multiple mercantile companies, competing to achieve the best positions within company hierarchies at the right time, when the profit from expeditions is divided. Cards serve triple duty: gaining control of companies at harbors, advancing in company rank, and as trade goods to fulfill shipment orders.

Components

• 1 game board
• 60 shipment cards
• 14 harbor cards
• 20 merchants (4 per player in 5 colors)
• 16 mission cards (sorted by value)
• 5 company rank markers
• 5 summary cards
• 1 pirate’s cove
• 1 pirate’s ship
• Rulebook

Setup

1. Place the board in the middle of the table.
2. Sort the cards by the symbol on the back: Shipment cards and Harbor cards.
3. Give each player three merchants with the same portrait and the matching summary card (four merchants in the 3-player variant).
4. Shuffle the shipment card deck and deal three cards to each player.
5. Prepare harbor cards based on player count — remove specific cards to maintain balance.
6. Players then place merchants into company columns across three alternating rounds.
7. Missions are sorted by value and displayed face up.

Turn Structure

Each turn follows four mandatory phases in order:

1. Complete a Mission (Optional)
2. Companies (Optional) — Transfer a merchant or fight for advancement
3. Shipment (Mandatory) — Play one shipment card to a harbor
4. Draw Cards (Mandatory) — Draw two cards from the shipment deck

Actions

1. Complete a Mission:

• Select any available mission and discard matching spices from your warehouse.
• You can use shipment cards or harbor cards as spices. You can use any number of wild cards.
• Cards with a “2” multiplier count as two spices.
• Hand cards cannot be used for missions — only cards in your warehouse.

2. Companies (choose one):

• Transfer: Move one of your merchants to a different company.
• Fight for Advancement: Choose one of your merchants (the “attacker”) and another player’s merchant at the same company that is ranked higher (the “defender”). The attacker plays shipment cards showing matching company flags. The defender may respond with matching cards but is limited to the number of cards the attacker played. Flags are totaled, with the defender receiving a bonus equal to the number of merchants between the combatants. If the attacker wins, they move up; if they lose, the defender claims one played card as a spice reward.

3. Shipment (Mandatory):

• Play one shipment card to any harbor. This may trigger distribution:
  • Monopoly: When one company reaches the monopoly flag threshold, the player who played the last shipment card takes the harbor card and adds it to their warehouse. Merchants then select spices in rank order.
  • Shared Distribution: If the card limit is reached without monopoly, companies are ranked by flags, and merchants choose spices accordingly in rank order.

4. Draw Cards (Mandatory):

• Draw two cards from the shipment card deck.
• If you now have more than six cards in your hand, you must discard down to six.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Victory points are earned from:

• Shipment cards in warehouse: 1 point each
• Harbor cards in warehouse: 1 point each
• Completed missions: Points as marked on the mission card

The player with the highest total score wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most completed missions wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Game End: The game concludes when harbor cards or shipment cards run out. All remaining hand cards are discarded. Players get one final opportunity to complete missions before calculating scores.
• Secrets of Blackbeard Variant: Players may trade one spice type for another during mission completion by acquiring the pirate’s ship. However, the player holding the pirate’s ship at the end of the game loses 2 victory points.
• 3-Player Variant: Each player receives four merchants instead of three.
• Rank Order: When distributing spices, the merchant ranked highest in the company chooses first. This makes company positioning critical.

Player Reference

Phase	Required?	Description
Complete Mission	Optional	Discard matching spices from warehouse
Companies	Optional	Transfer merchant or fight for rank
Shipment	Mandatory	Play 1 card to a harbor
Draw Cards	Mandatory	Draw 2, discard to 6 max

Scoring: Warehouse cards (1 VP each) + Completed missions (variable VP)

Hand limit: 6 cards maximum at end of turn