Play
Every way aboard: a rival captain in your browser tonight, a free kit for your table, the invite-only beta on your phones, and party mode on the television.
Against rival captains, tonight.
Your fleet against computer captains who see only what a captain in their seat would see. Free, in your browser, with no account.
- Deckhand. Gives any legal orders at random, a crew for learning the rules against.
- Bosun. Takes the best move it can see each round and plays for points.
- Navigator. Reads the log to guess each enemy ship, keeps clear of the storm and plays for points, and either side in Pirates! as well.
- Commodore. Reads the log like the Navigator and plays for the chosen ending, hunting Admirals, holding the Capital, guarding its own or raiding as the pirate.
Print and play, free.
Everything for a game at your table, on letter paper, with no signup. Print at 100 percent, not "fit to page".
- The rulebook
The fleet, who beats whom, a round in four steps, scoring and the storm; then the other endings, the options and Pirates!
- The square chart
Four sheets that tape into a chart 15 inches square, and an assembly page with the key. Two or four captains.
- The duel chart
Four sheets, 12½ inches square when taped, for two captains.
- The hex chart
Six sheets, about 21¼ by 18¾ inches, for three to six captains.
- The hex chart on one page
The whole hex chart in landscape, with notes on how it differs from the square charts.
- Ship tokens
One sheet each for the Square-Riggers, Lateens, Junks and Gaffs. Each token folds into a standing tent: the ship and her rating face you, a plain hull faces the table.
What else you need
- Scissors and tape, and card stock if you have it: heavy paper lies flatter and stands better.
- A pencil and a slip of paper for each captain, to write orders on.
- Something to mark the round, and a rival or three.
The kit is free and stays free.
Pay what you want
If the kit earns a place at your table, you can pay what you want for it. The downloads stay free either way.
The digital beta.
Free, invite only, and played in a browser on a phone or a laptop. There is nothing to install, though you can keep it on your home screen like an app.
- A host sets the table: the chart, the number of captains, the ending or Pirates!, and rival captains for any empty seat.
- Each captain gets a private link. Whoever holds it plays that seat.
- Give your orders when you have a minute. The round resolves when the last captain's are in, and the host can move it on if someone is away.
- Play at your own pace. Your phone tells you when your orders are due, or use the ntfy app if you prefer. Off unless you turn it on, and it never gives away a hidden rating.
- Every round replays on the chart, told only from what your seat knew.
What the beta captains tell us shapes the game.
Invitations go out by hand, to captains on the list who asked for a seat.
Party mode.
The board on the television, the orders in everyone's pocket.
- Open the party screen in the television's browser. It shows a four-letter code.
- The host types the code on their phone, in the game's Host tab, or ticks Party mode when making the game.
- Each captain scans their seat's code from the screen and gives orders from their own phone.
- The television plays every round's replay and keeps the score. It never shows a hidden rating.
Party mode runs on a beta table. Ask for a seat
Find a table near you.
Tell us roughly where you are, whether you want to play or to host.
We are gathering captains by place. When there are enough near one another, we write to them so a table can form, at a cafe, a club or a kitchen.
Your town is used only to match tables. How we handle your details