How to Play
Ships and sailors

How to Play SHIPS AND SAILORS

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to be the player with the lowest score at the end of the game. A game is over when a

player reaches or exceeds 200 points or negative 100 points or below. The player with the lowest score at that

time is declared the winner.  The game can also be played to 100 points or negative 50 points.

The Deck

The deck consists of 60 cards, made up of 4 different color groups. Each color group consists of numerical cards 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 and 2 photo cards, one Sailor and one Ship. The Sailor has a game play value of 3 and the Ship has a game play value of 8.

Dealing

The deck may be modified depending on the number of players.

2 player game: all cards 9 and up are removed from the original deck. These may or may not be used as a kitty. The remaining cards are now the new deck, making the Ship the highest valued card in the playable deck.

3 player game: all cards 13, 14 and 15 are removed from the original deck. The remaining cards are now the new deck, making the 12 the highest valued card in the playable deck.

4, 5 and 6 player games: all cards are used.

The deck is then shuffled and dealt to all players.

Game Play

Once the cards are all dealt, each player will remove 3 cards from their hands to create discard piles. Each discard pile will have 3 cards in it, and these will be placed face down in the center of the playing area. There will be the same number of discard piles as there are players. In a 2-player game without a kitty, the 2 players will swap piles. In a 2-player game with a kitty, each player will draw 3 new cards from the shuffled kitty.  Players cannot discard any Ships or Sailors in this game version. In a 3, 4, 5 or 6 player game, the dealer will assign a pile of their choice to each player. Each player will then add the new 3 cards to their hands.

The dealer will then declare a penalty color. This is the color of cards that will result in points at the end of the hand from any tricks won.

Deciding Teams if playing with teams (The game may be played as individuals):

3 player game: the dealer selects a partner for the hand and the remaining player will not have a partner for the hand.

4 player game: the dealer selects a partner for the hand and the remaining 2 players will be partners.

5 player game: the dealer selects a partner for the hand, the player to the dealer's right selects a partner and the remaining player will not have a partner for the hand.

6 player game: the dealer selects a partner for the hand, the player to the dealer's right selects a partner and the remaining 2 players will be partners. The dealer may also choose 2 players as partners and the other 3 players will be partners.

Game play is the same for all numbers of players. The player to the left of the dealer begins the game by playing any card from their hand. Play continues in a clockwise direction and all other players must follow the same color as the first leading card. If a player does not have the same color, they may play any card. The player who plays the highest valued card of the leading color wins the book and starts the next play. Once all cards are played, the score is added up. The next dealer is the player to the left of the last dealer. When playing with partners, these can change as the new dealer can choose any player as a partner.

Scoring

The only cards needed for scoring are any number cards of the declared penalty color and any Sailors and Ships won. Each penalty-colored number card is 1 point, a Sailor is 10 points, a Sailor of the penalty color is 15 points, and a Ship is negative 3 points. If playing with teams, the total of points for each team is awarded to each player's score. If no teams, then the total for each player is added to their respective scores. If a team or player gets all 4 Sailors, they are awarded a negative 50 points for the Sailors instead of the positive 45 points, minus 3 points for each Ship and add any other points for penalty-colored cards collected. A game ends when a player reaches 200 points or negative 100 points. The player with the least number of points is the winner. In the event of a tie, a last hand should be played and the two players with the same score would be on opposite teams if teams are used. The player with the lowest score after that hand would be declared the winner.   

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING A SNAKES AND HAWKS THEME GAME! ENJOY!

For instructional videos and other mini games that can be played, visit www.snakesandhawks.com