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Key Largo
Authors: Paul Randles, Mike Selinker & Bruno Faidutti
Publisher: Tilsit
Year: 2005

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It’s 1899 and we are on the idyllic Bounty island Key Largo, in the Caribbean. The sea surrounding Key Largo is full of shipwrecks, remaining from the days that the Pirates of the Seven Seas roamed the area. Luckily, the pirates neglected to remove the treasures from the sunken ships: this is a nice opportunity for our diving team! In the ten days they have left before the hurricane season starts, 3 to 5 players try to retrieve as many treasures as possible from the shipwrecks. These are then sold for high prices at the local tourists market. But be careful: the island may look like paradise, but the deep seas around it are more like hell… So watch out and don’t forget your trident!
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During these ten days players can perform two different actions per day: in the morning and in the afternoon. The players have five action cards that each represent a location on the island where a specific action can be performed. At the beginning of the round, each player selects two cards and places them face down with the card for the morning-action on top. Simultaneously, all players reveal their morning-action card, and starting with the first player all players resolve the effect of their action card. Subsequently, the afternoon is resolved in the same way, and then the starting player card moves to the left and the next day begins.

Of the five possible actions, diving is the most important one. The shipwrecks are represented by stacks of five cards, that are placed face down around the board. The cards depict either treasures or sea monsters. The shipwrecks are in different water depths. The wrecks in shallow water contain the least valuable treasures, but the chances of running into a sea monster there are also very small. The wrecks in deep water harbour the most valuable treasures, but they are crowded with sea monsters! The players that decide to dive place their boat over a wreck of their choice.

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Each player starts with one diver without further equipment. These can only dive in shallow waters. Later on, the divers can be supplied with hoses to enable them to dive deeper. A player dives only with the divers that are equipped to dive to the wreck that he selected, and the remaining divers wait in the boat! For each participating diver, the player may draw a card from the wreck. If it’s a treasure card, he keeps it secret in his hand. But if it’s a sea monster, he has a problem!
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The divers can be supplied with tridents to kill sea monsters. If the diver that discovers the monster has a trident, he can slay the monster, and the monster card and the trident are discarded. The diver may draw a replacement card from the wreck. If the diver doesn’t have a trident, he becomes so frightened that he gives up diving; in other words, the player has to remove his diver from the game. In addition, there are weights that allow the divers to stay down a bit longer, and enable to find more treasures. If a diver uses his weight, he may draw an additional wreck card. The weight is discarded.

Players in desperate need of some cash can always decide to take tourists for dolphin watching in the Dolphins Cove, although this is of course a bit degrading for professional divers. Players that chose this action take a specific amount of money that depends on the day of the week. On fridays and in the weekend there’s lots of tourists, and more money can be earned than on monday to thursday. When using the optional rules, players in Dolphins Cove also draw an encounter card. These cards allow various bonus actions that can be used later in the game, mostly to help yourself, but often to frustrate another player.
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In The Siren tavern players can hire a new diver, to a maximum of three divers per player. In the tavern, it’s also possible to hire a thief that steals one treasure card from another player. Another option is to buy the old mariner in the tavern a round of drinks. When his tongue loosens, the old sailor reveals valuable secrets about the shipwrecks in the vicinity: the player can look at all the wreck cards of two wrecks of his choice, shuffle the cards and put them back. This is a convenient way to determine the treasure-to-sea monster ratio without taking any risks! The price of divers and thieves depends on the number of players that are in the bar: they become more expensive when the demand is high. The cheapest way to hire your personnel is to make sure that you’re alone in the bar!
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In the Old Salt equipment shop, players can purchase equipment for their divers. They can buy hoses, tridents and weights. Again, prices depend on the number of players roaming around the shop; the owner is totally prepared to double his prices if it’s a busy day! The law of supply and demand also holds true on Key Largo.
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