Overview

Powerboats is a racing game where players navigate speedboats across a modular lake, rounding buoys to complete courses. Speed is controlled by adding, removing, and re-rolling 1-2-3 dice. Players must manage momentum to avoid crashing into land or buoys. The game consists of 3 races with escalating point values.

Components

• 1 start/finish tile
• 6 speedboats (player colors)
• 18 triangular dice (faces 1-2-3)
• 6 score markers
• 10 damage counters
• 5 buoys (numbered 0-3 plus finish)
• 4 lake border tiles
• 6 lake tiles (double-sided: dark blue/light blue)

Setup

1. Connect the 4 border tiles to form the lake frame. Randomly fit the 6 lake tiles inside (dark blue side for beginners, light blue for experienced).
2. Each player takes the speedboat on their side of the board.
3. Place score markers on “0” on the score track.
4. Roll dice to determine start player.
5. Place dice stock and damage counters near the board.

Building a Course

For race 1, use the four A-spots. Race 2 uses B-spots, race 3 uses C-spots. Randomly place buoys 0, 1, 2, and 3 on the four spots. Place the start/finish tile at the side with the start (0) buoy. Arrange buoy arrows so boats don’t need to travel in complete circles. Set start and finish buoy directions for easiest routing.

Start Positions

The right-hand neighbor of the start player places their boat on or behind the start tile first, then counter-clockwise. Two boats cannot share one space. Point your boat’s front toward a side of its space, not a corner.

Turn Structure

Each turn consists of three steps:

1. Rolling Dice

Your dice on your color area show your speed (starts at zero). On each turn:

• Add or remove: You may add 1 die from the stock OR remove 1 die to the stock OR keep the same number.
• Re-roll: Choose which of your existing dice to re-roll. Roll all selected dice plus any newly added die at once.
• Place all dice on your color area (they stay until your next turn).

2. Turning Your Speedboat

Before moving, you may turn your boat 60 degrees left or right. You must choose a direction where you can move the full total of your dice in a straight line through water. If you would crash in all 3 directions, turn toward the longest straight path through water before crashing. Ties in path length: your choice.

3. Moving

Move your boat in a straight line through water spaces equal to the total on all your dice. Your boat ends on the last water space it reaches.

Actions

• Accelerate: Add 1 die to increase speed.
• Decelerate: Remove 1 die to reduce speed.
• Re-roll: Re-roll any or all existing dice for new values (1, 2, or 3 each).
• Turn: Rotate boat 60 degrees before moving.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Victory Points per Race

Race	Points (by finish position)
Race A (1st)	Players - 1, Players - 2, …, 0
Race B (2nd)	Double the Race A values
Race C (3rd)	Triple the Race A values

Example with 5 players: Race A: 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Race B: 8, 6, 4, 2, 0. Race C: 12, 9, 6, 3, 0.

The player with the highest total across all 3 races wins. Tiebreaker: finishing position in the last race.

2-Player Variant

Additionally count how many turns each player finishes before the last finishing player. Add this difference to scores. Finished players get 5 bonus points per sunken opponent.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Damage

• If land or a buoy blocks your path so you can’t use your full dice total, you crash. Your boat stops at the last reachable water space.
• Damage counters received = remaining unused movement.
• Crashing removes ALL your dice (speed resets to zero).
• Collecting 4+ total damage counters sinks your boat for the current race.
• Between races: repair your boat but keep 1 damage counter. After race 2, you may start race 3 with up to 2 damage counters.

Passing Boats

You can pass through spaces with other boats. If you would end on an occupied space, stop on the last free space before it.

Completing a Course

To finish, reach or pass the finish tile. A crash after finishing still damages your boat.

Course Start

For each new race, the left neighbor of the previous start player becomes the new start player.

Player Reference

Turn Step	Action
1. Dice	Add/remove 1 die, choose which to re-roll
2. Turn	Rotate boat 0 or 60 degrees
3. Move	Move straight for the dice total

Event	Effect
Crash	Lose all dice, receive damage = unused movement
4+ damage	Boat sinks (out of current race)
Between races	Repair but keep 1 damage counter