Gamehelphmsdolores

Overview

H.M.S. Dolores is a fun twist on the classic Prisoner's Dilemma.

You are pirates who just looted a ship and must negotiate how to split the treasure.

On each turn, open four new treasures: two in front of you and two in front of your neighbor. Simultaneously decide how to split them.

If both players choose peace, split the loot evenly. If both choose war, lose all treasure. If both choose first pick, lose all treasure and one of your gained treasure columns.

The game continues until the Dawn Card is drawn.

Objective

Have the highest score when dawn arrives!

Game play

On your turn, you deal out 4 cards from the deck. Two cards in front of you, two cards in front of the player to your left. You both secretly decide what hand shape to play. When ready, you both reveal your hands simultaneously and divvy up the cards based on the outcome of the contest.

All cards you collect are kept face-up on the table area in front of you. Cards of the same type are stacked together.

Play continues until the Dawn card is revealed, then the game ends immediately! You do not even complete the current sharing contest!

Hand Shapes

• Peace (open hand): I want the 2 in front of me
• Fight (fist): I want them all
• First pick (thumbs-up): I want just one, pick first

Contest Outcomes

• Peace vs Peace: Both players take the cards in front of them. An even share.
• Peace vs Fight: "Fight" takes all of the cards
• Fight vs Fight: All of the cards are discarded. Nobody gets any of them.
• First Pick vs Peace: "First Pick" takes one card, then "Peace" gets any remaining cards in front of them. Remaining cards are discarded.
• First Pick vs Fight: "First Pick" takes one card, then "Fight" gets all remaining cards in front of both players.
• First Pick vs First Pick: All cards are discarded, then both players must discard an entire stack of goods from their own area!

Scoring

1. Add up the total value of the Goods Cards of each set.
2. Add up the sets with the highest total and the lowest total. All other goods are not worth any points.
3. If multiple sets of goods are tied for the highest or lowest total, then count them all.
4. If all your sets of goods have the same total value, then double your score! They count in effect as both the highest and lowest.

Example 1

A player with:

• 2 wines,
• 2 laces,
• 4 musical instruments,
• 5 ingots,
• 6 tableware,

scores 2 + 2 + 6 = 10 points.

Example 2

A player with:

• 3 jewels,
• 3 weapons,
• 3 laces,

scores (3 + 3 + 3) × 2 = 18 points.

Message Cards

Each Message Card represents a parchment depicting a special event that can be triggered during the game.

During a sharing contest, Message Cards are treated the same way as Goods Cards. If you take a Message Card, place it in your personal area.

You may play it anytime during the rest of the game, even during a contest between two other players! Message Cards are discarded after use.

Broken Lantern

During the next sharing contest, the cards are dealt facedown. The player who used the Broken Lantern must look at the cards and then chooses to share some information, not say anything, or even lie!

Lookout

When the Dawn Card is revealed, you may play this card if you wish to extend the game. If so, the Dawn Card has no effect, and the game continues until there are not enough cards to start a sharing contest. The Dawn Card has no value for the player who takes it.

Theft

Take 1 Goods Card from another player and add it to your personal area.

Note: This card must be used immediately, even if it is handed out during initial game setup.

New Wave

Discard the cards of the current sharing contest and draw 4 new cards to replace them.

Note: If the Convoy card was played, only draw 4 new cards.

Whirlpool

Rearrange the cards of the sharing contest as you please, keeping the same number of cards in front of each player.

Convoy

Draw 2 extra cards and add them to the current sharing contest. Each player now has 3 cards in front of them.

Two-Hand Trick

During the sharing contest, extend 2 hands simultaneously instead of 1. Choose the one you prefer after seeing your opponent’s hand.

Foiled

Play this card after 2 players have extended their hands. The players’ choices are cancelled, and the sharing contest is played again with the same cards.

Wager

Play this card during a sharing contest opposing 2 other players. You bet on their choices by extending 2 hands simultaneously as they reveal their choices. If you correctly guess both of the players’ choices, you may take 1 or more cards from the loot. Then, the players take the remaining cards according to what they have played.

Note: During a 2-player game, this card is not used. It counts as 1 of the 4 Message Cards removed during setup.

Dawn

When drawn, the game ends immediately even if the Convoy, New Wave or Broken Lantern cards are played.

Note: the Dawn Card is always shuffled in among the bottom 15 cards of the deck.