Overview

Captain Silver is a fast-paced tactile game about a pirate treasure hunt. All players act simultaneously, reaching into their pirate pouches to feel for specific pirate items without looking. Correctly identified items earn gold coins and advance pirate ships toward Treasure Island, where valuable treasure chests can be claimed. Incorrect items go to Volcano Island and may cost penalties. After three game rounds, the player with the most points (gold coins plus treasure chest values) wins.

Components

• 1 double-sided Treasure Island game board
• 4 double-sided ocean boards
• 1 Volcano Island game board
• 64 pirate items (16 per player in 4 colors, two copies of each of 8 different items)
• 4 pirate pouches (1 per player)
• 4 pirate ships with bases (1 per player)
• 10 treasure chests
• 4 island cards
• 5 volcano cards
• 38 gold coins (12 large value, 26 small value)
• 1 rules booklet

Setup

1. Assemble the Pirate World from the six game boards: choose one side of the Treasure Island board, arrange four ocean boards next to it in any order and orientation, then add the Volcano Island board. In a 2-player game, use only three ocean boards.
2. Shuffle all 10 treasure chests and stack 5 face down on each of the two treasure chest storage spaces on the Treasure Island board.
3. Shuffle all island cards and stack them face down next to the Pirate World.
4. Shuffle the volcano cards, stack 3 face down next to the Pirate World, and remove the remaining 2 from the game.
5. Sort gold coins and keep them as a general supply.
6. Each player takes a pirate pouch, 3 gold coins, 1 pirate ship, and 16 pirate items of their chosen color. Place ships on the starting space of the Treasure Island board. Put all items into pouches.

Turn Structure

The game is played over 3 rounds. Each round consists of a simultaneous feeling phase followed by an evaluation phase.

Feeling Phase:

• All players shake their pouches, then call out “Pirates ahoy!” to start.
• Simultaneously, all players feel inside their pouches with one hand only, trying to identify wanted pirate items shown on the four rows of islands.
• Each row starts at the first space next to the small island near Volcano Island.
• When a player finds a wanted item, they pull it out and look at it.
• If it matches, they place it on the corresponding unoccupied space, unlocking the next space in that row for all players.
• If it does not match (or another player placed the correct item first), the item goes to Volcano Island.
• Items cannot be returned to the pouch once drawn.
• No looking inside pouches is allowed.

End of Round:

• When any item is placed on the last space of any row, that player calls “Pirates stop!” and the round ends.
• Players still holding a drawn item may place it if correct; otherwise it goes to Volcano Island.

Actions

Evaluation Phase (after each round):

1. Reveal the top island card to determine which row is evaluated first.
2. Check all items in that row from first space (near Volcano Island) onward. Each correctly placed item earns its owner the reward shown on that space:
   • Gold coins: The player receives the indicated number of gold coins from the supply.
   • Pirate ships: The player advances their ship on the Treasure Island board the indicated number of spaces clockwise.
3. If an item does not match the wanted item of its space, the owner pays 1 gold coin to the supply as a penalty.
4. Return each evaluated item to its owner immediately.
5. Reveal the next island card and evaluate that row. Repeat for all four rows.

Special Treasure Island Spaces:

• Gold coin spaces: When a ship passes through or stops on a water space containing a gold coin, the owner receives 1 gold coin from the supply.
• Landing spaces: When a ship passes through or stops on a landing space, the owner gains a treasure chest. The player takes the appropriate stack, secretly looks at all chests, keeps one face down, and returns the rest face down. Which stack depends on which Treasure Island board side is used (upper landing = upper stack, lower landing = lower stack).

Volcano Evaluation:

• After all four rows are evaluated, reveal the top volcano card.
• For each item on Volcano Island that matches an item shown on the card, the owner pays 1 gold coin to the supply.
• Items not shown on the volcano card incur no penalty.
• Remove the volcano card from the game.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

After the third round’s evaluation (including the final volcano card), each player totals their points:

• Each gold coin = 1 point
• Each treasure chest = its face value in points

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Only one item may be placed on each space.
• No empty spaces may be skipped when placing items in a row.
• Players may only feel inside their pouch with one hand.
• If a player has no gold coins, they cannot pay penalties but suffer no additional consequences.
• Items drawn from the pouch may never be returned to it.
• Between rounds, all players reclaim their items and put them back in their pouches. Island cards are reshuffled. Pirate ships remain where they are.
• There is no limit to the number of ships on a single space.

Player Reference

Phase	Action
Start of round	Call “Pirates ahoy!” and begin feeling in pouches simultaneously
Feeling	Pull out items one at a time; correct items go on board, incorrect go to Volcano Island
End trigger	Any item placed on last space of any row → “Pirates stop!”
Evaluation	Reveal island cards one by one; evaluate rows in order
Rewards	Gold coins or ship movement per space icons
Penalties	1 gold coin for mismatched items on rows; 1 gold coin for volcano card matches
End of game	After 3 rounds, most points (gold + treasure chests) wins