Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Welcome to Dead Man’s Doubloons, an action-packed board game in which players take on the role of a legendary pirate ship captain hell-bent on winning the race to endless riches of buried treasure.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Action Queue
Place actions into an ordered queue that resolves now or on later turns.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Read the full game description
Welcome to Dead Man’s Doubloons, an action-packed board game in which players take on the role of a legendary pirate ship captain hell-bent on winning the race to endless riches of buried treasure. Fragments of treasure maps, gold doubloons, and precious jewels can all be stolen, as can the reputation of rival ships! Once the buried treasure has been dug up, ship captains return to their vessels to engage in a final epic battle on the high seas! As the game begins, pirate ships skirmish with one another while navigating the reefs surrounding the mysterious island, desperately searching for treasure map fragments and pillaging whatever they can. Meanwhile, the ships' captains and their landing parties follow one of several possible paths leading to the buried treasure, discovering additional riches and perilous obstacles along the way. Only the savviest of captains will manage to locate and dig up the legendary treasure. Having collecting their precious loots, the captains return to their vessels to engage in the final battle. Defeated vessels become ghost ships with cursed treasure, though with careful planning they may still emerge victorious. Once the captains have laid waste to their enemies and exhausted their options, the game ends and the richest pirate wins!