The Doge Ship

by Marco Canetta & Stefania Niccolini

The Doge was the chief magistrate and leader of the Serene Republic of Venice (La Serenissima) for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-states aristocracy. In order to celebrate the glory of Venice, in the early years of the XVI century the Doge ordered the construction of a state galley. In this game each player is a Construction Chief at one of the most important shipyards in Venice. He has to work in the Doges service and co-operate with other players in the construction of the new Doges Ship. The players will try to gain the favour and the approval of the Doge, and the best one will be the winner.

Set-up

Victory Points track

1Each player chooses

a colour and takes his 8 tokens: he places 1 marker token on the 0 position of the Victory Point (VP) track and another token on the 12 position of the money track. Decide the first 2 player randomly and place a marker token on the Turn Order track in clockwise seating order. The 5 remaining tokens are the action tokens of each player.

Money track

Place the Galley start tile on the table 3 under the gameboard.

4Take the 36 Galley part tiles and sort

them by type referring to the small grid on the reverse side. Then, shuffle each deck separately.

Built Galley tiles space

The deck of Gondola The Action dice (D6) used depends on 6 8 tiles is shuffled and placed the number of players: close to the game board with the under construction side visible. reverse side The deck of Doge tiles 7 is shuffled and placed with the reverse side visible, close to the game board.
2 players: red, green, white 3 players: red, green, white, yellow 4 players: red, green, white, yellow, blue 5 players: red, green, white, yellow, blue, black

5The deck of Barrier tiles is shuffled and

placed with the under construction side visible close to the gameboard.

The remaining dice (if any) and corresponding panels are not used during the game.

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Idea of the game

Each player shall work in the Doges service and co-operate in the construction of a Galley. During each round, the players perform 5 Actions among those available: PURCHASE MATERIALS in order to build the Galley, Gondolas, and Barriers. CONSTRUCT parts of Galley, in order to obtain Victory Points and Approvals (Approvals give victory points during the game), CONSTRUCT a Gondola, in order to obtain money (Ducats), CONSTRUCT BARRIERS, in order to protect the shipyard from the effects of the so-called High Water of the lagoon (the barrier should avoid the risk of water overflow) and to obtain some bonuses, make INTRIGUES in order to obtain some advantages, obtain DUCATS by serving the Aristocracy. The available actions are shown on the game board in 6 panels. Each panel is defined by the color of the die shown on it. All actions are represented by icons under the colored dice. At the beginning of each round, the first player rolls the dice and the result determines which actions are free and which require a payment. In this continuously variable scenario, players should try to choose the best actions for themselves and to create difficulties for the opponents. At the end of game, the player who has the highest number of Victory Points is the winner. In case of tie, the winner is the tied player with the highest number of Ducats. In the rare case of a further tie (victory points and ducats), the winner is the player

with the lowest Priority number on the barrier on the top of his Barrier stack.

How to play

The game is divided into rounds. During each round, 3 Phases are played in sequence: 1. 2. 3. Start Action phase Special Events and End of the round

engineers and architects of the Ship. the violet zones. These are the zones which the Doge would like to inspect; a High Water special event symbol; the Doge portrait instead of the drawing of the Galleys construction, indicating a Doge Inspection special event.

2. THE ACTION PHASE

1. START

The first player rolls all the D6 available in the game and places them on the matching spaces on the board. Example: if the green die result is 4, the die is placed on the fourth position of the green die panel.

Starting from the first player and proceeding in player order (see the Turn Order track), all the players perform 1 action by spending 1 action token. The actions are chosen among those available on the panels corresponding to the D6. Panels without a D6 are not used. Phase 2 continues until all the players have spent all their 5 action tokens. Note: as consequence of the High Water event, it may happen that one or more players have only 3 or 4 available action tokens instead of 5. So, those players will end this phase after 3 or 4 actions. The other players will continue the round until they have spent all the 5 action tokens.

1.1 The new Doge tile

A Doge tile is drawn from the top of the deck and put visible close to the game board (on the previous one, if any). special event High Water

2.1 Cost of the actions

colored parameters violet zones

Actions to the right of the D6 cost the difference between the die score of the action and the score of the rolled D6. The other actions are free. When a player chooses an action, he puts an action token on the corresponding space and pays the cost, if any. Important: an action with a token on it may not be chosen again.

A Doge tile Each Doge tile may have the following symbols on it: the values of the 4 colored parameters for the current round; these colored boxes show the modifications required by the

the galley size

The Galley under construction is divided into 2 horizontal levels (upper and lower) and into 3 vertical sections. So, 6 kinds of zones are obtained (3 sections x 2 levels). The Galley Start tile, at the left, and the Galley Finish tile, at the right, complete the picture. The Galley zones are represented by tiles. The number of tiles depends on the number of players. Whilst the length of Galley changes, the height is always 2 tiles. Upper Level The lengths of Galley sections: Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 2 players 3 players

2 2 2 2 2 2
4 players

3 2 3 3 2 3
5 players

3 4 3 3 4 3

4 3 4 4 3 4

The example on the right represents the Galley for 4 players.

START tile

Lower Level

FINISH

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Free actions

2 Example, the action on the left enables the player to purchase a Barrier OR a Galley part. The action on the right enables the player to construct (see next section) a Barrier AND a Galley part. The player can also partially perform an action. If the chosen action enables the player to purchase 2 tiles, it is legal to purchase just 1 tile or even nothing at all. Built side of a Gondola tile. This tile generates 6 ducats for the player when is built.

Example: on the red panel the result of the red D6 is 4. If the player chooses the action Replace Galley part (last action of the panel, showing a 6), he pays 2 Ducats. For the action Purchase Materials for Gondola and Galley (action with the score 5), he pays 1 Ducat. All the other actions are free.

2.3.2 Construction of a Galley part

2.2 Purchase Materials

With this action, the player purchases the building material for the construction of a gondola, of a barrier or of a Galley part. The purchase cost is shown on the under construction side of the tile: The cost of a gondola is 0 or 1 Ducats. The cost of a barrier is 0 or 1. The cost of a Galley part varies from 2 to 7 Ducats. The Purchase materials icon When a player purchases a Gondola, a Barrier or a Galley, he draws 3 tiles from the top of the corresponding deck. Then he chooses 1 tile and puts the other 2 tiles below the corresponding deck. Icons of

2.3 Construction

The action enables the construction of a Gondola, of a Barrier or of a Galley part. The player takes the appropriate under construction tile from his reserve and, with this action, turns it into a Gondola, a part of Galley or a barrier. The Construction icon As described in the example above, the Construction action can enable the construction of 2 tiles (gondola, barriers and/ or Galley parts) when the icons on the board are joined by the symbol +. The player can also partially perform an action. If the chosen action enables the player to construct 2 tiles, it is legal to construct just 1 tile or even nothing at all.

The length of the Galley depends on the number of the players (see The Galley Size box). The Galley is constructed by acquiring tiles, starting from the START tile on the left and proceeding to right and starting with the lower level and proceeding to the higher. During construction, no gaps on the left or on the lower level are allowed. This means that a Galley part may be constructed only if the part to the left (at the same level) and the part on the lower level have already been constructed.

2.3.1 Construction of a Gondola

Gondola Barrier Galley In some rare cases, it may happen that the selected deck contains fewer than 3 tiles. In this case, the player chooses among the available tiles. The player places the purchased tiles in front of himself, with the under construction side visible. Important: a maximum of 5 under construction tiles (among those, a maximum of 2 under construction Galley tiles) in each players reserve is allowed as the dimension of the shipyard is not unlimited. If a player has already 5 tiles in his own reserve and wants to buy another one, he must first discard one of his under construction tiles. The discarded tile goes below the appropriate deck. Note: if there are two icons shown on the board the player can purchase only one tile of his choice. If the two icons are connected by the symbol +, the player can purchase both tiles.

Start The Galley tiles represent the parts of Galley. The under construction side of tile shows: Colored parameters

Players construct Gondolas in order to earn Ducats or Approvals. The Approval icon When a player constructs a gondola, an under construction gondola tile is taken from the player reserve area and turned face up.

Cost VP value Galley zone the purchase cost, the Galley zone where the part must be placed (horizontal levels and vertical sections), the victory points that the player earns if he constructs this part of Galley, the approval symbol (only on some tiles), the parameters (from 2 to 4 coloured boxes). The parameters represent the main characteristics of the ship (weight, luxury, speed, manoeuvrability). When a player constructs a Galley part, an

Under construction side of a Gondola tile. The player obtains as many Ducats (or Approvals) as shown on the built side of the tile. Finally, the built Gondola tile is returned to the bottom of the corresponding deck.

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under construction Galley part tile is taken from the players reserve area, turned to the built side and placed close to the already constructed Galley parts. The tile is chosen and placed according to the Galley size box. Each time a player constructs a Galley part, he obtains Victory Points and, in some cases, Approvals. Victory points (VP): when a player constructs a Galley part, he obtains victory points in 2 ways: 1) a fixed number of victory points as shown on the tile. 2) a variable number of victory points based on the colored boxes on the under construction side of the Galley tile. Each box gives a number of victory points depending on the current Doge tile. The number may be positive, negative or zero.

know the exact number of your Approvals. During the game, it may be helpful to replace some 1 counters with 3 counters.

2.3.3 Construction of a Barrier

are Ducats, Approvals or VP. Note: the available bonus is the one on the barrier on the top of the players built barrier stack. Other built or under construction barriers dont provide any bonus. Example: the player chooses the construction action on the red panel, space 3 (see arrow):

The barriers protect the shipyards from the effects of the so-called High-Water of the lagoon, which, if it overflows, can delay the progress of the works. The greater the number of constructed barriers, the lower the risk of water overflow. The built barrier also provide some important bonuses. The Barrier tiles show their Purchase cost (0 or 1 Ducat), a Bonus Action, and a Priority number. The priority number, from 1 to 26, will determine the order of play (the player with the lowest number on the barrier on the top of the stack will play first).

His barrier on top of the stack is:

Under construction side of a Barrier tile. This tile costs 1 ducat. When a player constructs a barrier, he takes an under construction barrier tile from his reserve and puts it on the top of his stack of built barriers.

As result, the player may construct a Galley part OR a Gondola (chosen action) AND, as bonus, another Gondola (provided that he has the tiles under construction in his own reserve!) Important: during his turn, player can change the order of the barriers in his stack before doing the action. This costs 2 Ducats. The player first chooses the action and pays the cost (if due); then the effect of the bonus is applied; and finally he carries out the chosen action.

Example: placing a Galley tile on the left, the player scores 5 VP: the tile itself is worth 2 VP and the colored boxes are worth 3 VP (0+0 for the blue, 2 for the green, 1 for the red=3). Approvals: when a player constructs a Galley part, he obtains approvals in 2 ways. 1) If on the under construction side of the Galley tile there is the approval symbol, the player obtains 1 approval and takes an approval tile from the reserve. In the example above, the player gains 1 Approval, as it is shown in the under construction side of the tile. 2) If the Galley part is within the violet zones shown on the current Doge tile, the player obtains 1 approval (therefore, the minimum number of Approvals gained by assembling a Galley part is 0, the maximum is 2).

2.3.4 Replace a part of the Galley

The player can destroy an already constructed part of the Galley, construct a new part of the Galley and replace the destroyed part with it. Built side of a Barrier tile. This tile generates a bonus of 1 Ducat when a construction action is carried out by the player. The Priority number is 10. The bonus improves the effect of the action specified on the left side of the barrier. It means that each time the player chooses that action on the panels, he may have the bonus specified on the right side of the barrier. When the action on the left side of the barrier is Purchase, the bonus allows the player to purchase an additional tile specified on the right side of the barrier (provided that the player pays the cost of the tile). When the action on the left side of the barrier is construction, the bonus allows the player to build an additional tile specified on the right side of the barrier (provided that the player has the corresponding under construction tile in his own reserve). In other cases, the bonuses The replace Galley part icon A part of the Galley can be destroyed only if: it is the last constructed part on that level, (for parts on the lower level) there is no part above it on the higher level. Important: the Replace action cant be performed partially. If the player chooses this action, he must destroy a part of the ship and replace it with a new one.

2.4 Intrigue

Example: with a combination of the two tiles above, the player gains +1 Approval because the Galley part corresponds to one of the violet zone of the Doge tile. Note: the Approval counters should be kept hidden. The other players shouldnt

Intrigue are hidden and unfair actions, that may give some advantages. The intrigue icon

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There are 3 Intrigue actions: 1) The player who chose this action draws 2 new Doge tiles from the top of the Doges tile deck. He chooses 1 tile and puts it on the old one. That tile becomes the new Doges tile. The other tile is put above or below the deck, at the players choice. If, as a consequence of this action, the Doges tile deck is exhausted, shuffle all the old Doge tiles and make a new deck. 2) The player obtains 1 free Approval. 3) The player pays 2 Ducats and obtains 2 Approvals.

High Water Players may lose 1 or 2 action tokens for the next round.

action, places the last part of Galley, he immediately adds the finish Galley tile and the game ends. A final inspection occurs. The player with the highest number of approvals scores 9 points; the player with the second highest number scores 5 points, the third 2 points, the fourth 1 point. Players without approvals do not score anything. Final Inspection 1 player 9 VP 2 player 5 VP 3 player 2 VP 4 player 1 VP 5 player 0 VP

The high water icon from a doge tile

Each player checks how many barriers he has built (under construction barriers are ignored) and compares it to the number shown on the Doge tile (the water level): if the number of barriers is greater than the water level, nothing happens. If the number is equal to the water level, then the player loses 1 action. If the number is lower than the water level, the player loses 2 actions.

The shipyard gets economic help. The player obtains 2-3 Ducats. The money icon In the example a player has 4 built barriers and 1 under construction and the Doge tile on the right comes up. He looes 1 action token as the water lever is 4. If he had 3 built barriers, he would have had to discard 2 action tokens. The discarded tokens go in the water space of the game board, below the panels. Doge Inspection Each player secretly takes as many Approvals as he wants from his reserve and bids. The players, simultaneously, reveal their bidden approvals. The player with the highest bid scores 6 points; the player with the second highest bid receives 3 points, the third 1 point. Players who bid nothing score 0 points (0 approvals = 0 points). The bid approvals are returned to the common reserve. In case of tie, all the tied players score the amount of points corresponding to their position on the bid chart. Intemediate Inspection 1 player 6 VP 2 player 3 VP 3 player 1 VP 4 player 0 VP 5 player 0 VP

2.5 Money

At the end of the final inspection, the player with the highest number of Victory Points is the winner. In the event of a tie, the winner is the tied player with the highest number of Ducats. If still tied (victory points and ducats), the winner is the player with the lowest Priority number on the upper barrier of his stack.

Contents

2.6 Discard Action

In some cases a player cant choose or doesnt want to choose any action on the panels. In those cases, he can simply discard an action token and earn 1 Ducat. The Discard action can be chosen more than once per round and by more than 1 player.

3. SPECIAL EVENTS AND END OF THE ROUND

Gameboard 36 Galley tiles 1 Galley Start tile 1 Galley Finish tile 26 Barrier tiles 14 Gondola tiles 16 Doge tiles 6 Dice (6 colors) 19 Approval counters of 1 value 10 Approval counters of 3 value 25 action tokens (5 of each player color) 40 tokens (25 action tokens + 15 marker tokens) in 5 color rulebook

At the end of the round (when all the players have spent their action tokens) all the players take back their 5 action tokens and the new player order for the next round is established. The new order is based upon the priority numbers on the upper barriers of the players. The player with the lowest priority number plays first. If a player has no constructed barriers, he will be in the last position in the player order. If more than one player has no constructed barrier, they will be in the last positions of the player order, maintaining their respective order from the previous round. Example: Stefania has no built barriers, Alessandra 1 barrier with the priority number 11 and Marco has 2 built barriers. The upper barrier of Marco has 7 as priority number. The new player order is: Marco, Alessandra, Stefania. Then, if there is a High Water or Doge inspection symbol on the current Doge tile, the consequences of these special events are evaluated.

Credits

Authors: Marco Canetta and Stefania Niccolini Illustration: Lamberto Azzariti Editorial Project: Michele Quondam Many thanks to Alessandra e Iacopo Canetta, Stefano e Gabriele Avella, Valentina Mameli, Andrea Tarocchi and to all the people have played with us.

Example of intermediate inspection: Iacopo bids 4 approvals, Alessandra and Stefania 3, Marco 1. Iacopo scores 6 victory points, Stefania and Alessandra (both at 2nd place) 3 points and Marco (3rd) 1 point.

End of the Game

When a player, by using a construction

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