Contents

36 Right Whale Tokens

20 Bowhead Whale Tokens
4 Sperm Whale Tokens
16 Empty Sea Tokens

1 Ocean Bag 1 Town Board

8 Wooden Ship Tokens 20 Building Tiles

(2 in Each Color)

8 Wooden Worker Tokens

(2 in Each Color) 1 Ship’s Wheel First Player Token
1 Whaling Board

58 Money Tokens 1 Whale Round

($1 and $5) Marker Token

4 Player Boards 25 Wood Tokens 30 Food Tokens 20 Brick Tokens

(Solo-Player Mode on Back)

Wood, food, bricks, and money are unlimited. If more pieces are needed, improvise using whatever
flotsam and jetsam is available. Whale tokens are limited and only the correct number based on
the number of players should be used.
1
Setup
1) For each player, add 9 Right Whales, 5 Bowhead Whales,
1 Sperm Whale, and 4 Empty Sea Tokens to the Ocean Bag. Wood - Worth $1
2) Place the Town Board, Whaling Board, goods, and money in the
middle of the play area. Put the wooden Whale Round Marker
Token on the round track of the Whaling Board in the 1 space.
3) Gather the Building tiles and place them next to the Town Board.
Suggested Buildings for 2 Player Games:
• Bank Food - Worth $1
• Counting House
• Dry Dock
• Lighthouse
• Lumber Mill
• Schoolhouse
• Seamen’s Bethel
• Tavern Brick - Worth $2
• Tryworks
• Wharf
• All Victory Buildings
For 3-4 Player games, use all Building tiles.
4) Give the wooden Ship’s Wheel Token to the player who will
go first. Then, players select a color and receive the 2 workers
of that color, the Player Board for that color, and the 2 ships
associated with the chosen color. Ships and workers are kept near Example starting goods
the Player Board when they are not in use.
5) In turn order, each player also takes $5 worth of goods from the
general supply to begin the game with. (See side bar for more information.)

2
 Game Overview
Your goal is to build the town of New Bedford into a thriving industrial city while
accumulating the most points from Whale Tokens, Buildings, and money over 12 rounds. Each
round is divided into 4 phases:
1) Starting with the Action Phase, each player in turn-order places one worker at a time on
Town or Building Action Spaces and immediately follows the Action appointed. More Action
Spaces are created through constructing Buildings.
2) When all players have placed their workers, the Movement Phase begins. Ships move toward
the Return space. Players pay to receive whales on Returning ships or must sell them.
3) When all ships have finished moving and Returning, the Whaling Phase begins. Whale
Tokens are drawn and players add them to ships, starting with the ships farthest out.
4) Once all ships have had a chance to select whales the round ends. In the End of Round
Phase, workers are cleared and the First Player Token and Round Marker advance.

PHASE 1: Action Phase

In clockwise order, players place workers on Action Spaces, one at a time, until all players
have placed both of their workers. All Town Spaces and most Buildings are Actions. Actions
are resolved immediately. The player may also purchase either 2 wood or 2 food for $3 before
completing the selected Action once per action, per turn (i.e. each time a worker is placed,
including the extra actions from the Inn). The player may purchase exactly 2 wood or exactly 2
food, but not one of each. A reminder of this is shown on the Player Board.
Initially, only actions on the Town Board and Whaling Board are available. These Actions
can be used multiple times each round, with a bonus for the first player to place a worker on these
spaces. The Buildings make more actions available after they are Built. Unlike Actions on the
Town and Whaling Boards, a Building may only be used once per round. The owner may use it
for free, but any other player may use it by paying the owner $1. A player cannot take an Action
they are unable to perform. (Example: Using the Dockyard without having a ship to Launch, or
using the Lumber Mill without selling wood.)

The Town Board Denotes First

Town Action Spaces are always Player Bonus
available and can be used multiple
times per round, even by the same
player. Every player who uses the
space takes the normal Action next
to the plain worker symbol. The
first player to place a worker on
any empty Town Action also takes
the Bonus Action, shown next to
the worker symbol with “1st” on it.
(See page 17 for in-depth descriptions
for each Town Action Space.)

3
Building Tiles
Building Tiles are double-sided. The light side shows the cost of the Building and gives a
detailed description of the Building Action. The more vibrant side shows the Building Action in
icons and should be used once a Building has been Built. To build a Building, the player pays the
cost to the general supply from their supply, and places the Building Tile on their corner of the
Town Board (completed side up), aligned with the steps around the edge. The player who builds
the Building is considered the owner. A player may own any number of Buildings.

Player 4 Build Area Player 3 Build Area

Building Starting Side

Player 2 Build Area

Player 1 Build Area Completed Building Side

There are two types of Buildings: Action Spaces and Victory Buildings.
• Building Tiles with no border color provide new Action Spaces when they are built. Unlike
Town Actions, Building Actions can only be used once per round and give no other bonus.
Buildings with Action Spaces are marked with the worker symbol ( ).
• Building Tiles with a dark border are Victory Buildings worth additional Victory Points at
the end of the game. (Victory Buildings do not contain an Action Space.)

Building Action Space Victory Building

The owner of a Building can use its Action Space for free. Other players can use the Building’s
Action Space, but must pay the owner $1 before using it. (See page 18 for in-depth descriptions for
each Building.)

4
 The Whaling Board
The Whaling Board contains the dock, the whaling track, the round track, and two additional
Action Spaces (the Dockyard and the City Pier), which can be used multiple times per round,
like Town Actions. The Dockyard allows a player to Prepare their ship on the dock for later
Launching. The City Pier allows a player to Launch a ship from the dock. (For more in-depth
descriptions of these spaces, see page 23.) Players may only ever Prepare and Launch their own
ships, and ships can only be launched to spaces with a food cost shown.

4. Food Cost to Launch a Ship

Spaces on the whaling track are

is important for Returning ships

4

be on a space. Players may not

take actions that would result in

The bottom of the whaling track

5
PHASE@2: Movement Phase
In the movement phase, all ships move up the whaling track toward the Return space. Starting
with the ships closest to shore, each ship moves one space closer to shore. Any ships moving into
the Return space Return to port in the same order as they selected whales in previous rounds.

Returning A Ship
Each Whale Token shows a cost, called the “lay”, in the upper left corner. When a player’s ship
reaches the Return space on the Whaling Board, the lay must be paid to receive the Whale Tokens
on that ship. Each token for which the lay has been paid earns the number of points shown in the
barrel in the upper right.

Historical Note: The

term "Lay" referred
to the share of the
profits each person
on the ship received
after Returning home.
Right Whale Bowhead Whale Sperm Whale Empty Sea

Right Whale tokens are worth 1 point and cost $2. Bowhead Whale tokens are worth 2 points
and cost $4. Sperm Whale tokens are worth 4 points and cost $8. Empty Sea Tokens have no
value and no purchase price since they cannot be
selected. Any tokens that the player cannot or chooses
not to pay for must be sold.

Selling and Buying Whale Tokens

When selling Whale Tokens, the seller first takes
half of the cost of each sold token from the general
supply. This money can immediately be used for other
whales on the same or another ship.
Next, in clockwise order from the seller, each other
player can buy one of the sold tokens or pass. The
other players take turns either buying or passing, until
all of the sold tokens are bought, or all players pass.
The selling player may not repurchase whales they
have sold. A buyer pays the full cost of each token to
the general supply, and adds the whale to their supply
to be scored. Tokens that are not bought by any player
are removed from the game.
After all of the whales are taken from a Returning
ship, the ship piece is returned to the player. Each ship’s
Return - including Buying and Selling - is performed
1 ship at a time in order of Return and must be
completed before Returning the next ship.

6
 PHASE@3: The Whaling Phase
After all ships move, the whaling phase begins. Whaling is the primary means of earning points
in the game.
At the start of the whaling phase, any Whale or Empty Sea Tokens on the board are returned
to the Ocean Bag. Next, if there is at least 1 ship on the whaling track, draw 1 token from the bag,
followed by an additional token for each ship on the whaling track. No tokens are drawn when
there are no ships whaling.
Empty Sea Tokens might be drawn in addition to the Whale Tokens. Empty Sea Tokens
cannot be selected or added to a ship and can only be removed from the game by using the Tavern
Building Action.

Because there are Ships choose tokens based upon

2 ships on the their order on the whaling track.
whaling track,
3 tokens are drawn
from the Ocean Bag
and placed
beside the track.

After the correct number of tokens is drawn, tokens are selected by players in order of position
on the whaling track. Ships farther from the Return space select first. Ships on the same space
select in the order of arrival. The owner of each ship can select a whale from the drawn tokens
and place it next to the matching ship on the player board. Players are not required to select a
Whale Token for a ship.
Any Whale Tokens or Empty Sea Tokens that are not selected during
the whaling phase remain out until the start of the next whaling phase.
Since valuable Whale Tokens are taken, but Empty Sea Tokens are
returned to the bag, the selection of whales will get worse as the game
progresses, representing the historic decline in whale population due to
the whaling industry.

Historical Note: One of the

most famous American whaling
ships,the Essex,set sail from
Nantucket, Massachusetts. In
1820 the ship was attacked by
a sperm whale and sank. The
novel Moby-Dick was inspired
by the accounts of 2 of the 8
survivors.

7
Player Board
Each player has a board to track Whale Tokens and goods. All information is public, and
players may not hide goods, money, or Whale Tokens. Workers and ships should remain near
the Player Board when not in use. Goods should be stored in the upper left portion of the Player
Board. Whale Tokens that have been Returned should be placed in the lower left.
Each player has a small ship (“Ship 1”) and a larger ship with more sails (“Ship 2”). The right
side of the player board is used to track Whale Tokens on each ship. Whales selected by the small
ship should be stored in the denoted spots on “Ship 1” and whales selected by the large ship should
be stored on “Ship 2”. Whales in the holds of ships earn no points until the ship Returns and the
lay has been paid. There is no limit to the number of whales a single ship can hold.

2 4

The Player Board

1. Area for storing all wood, food, and brick tokens throughout the game.
2. Area for storing all Returned whale tokens for scoring at the end of the game.
3. Area for storing whale tokens selected while Ship 1 is out to sea.
4. Area for storing whale tokens selected while Ship 2 is out to sea.

8
 PHASE@4: End of Round Phase
After all players have selected whales, the end of round phase occurs. The First Player
Marker moves 1 player to the left, the Round Marker moves 1 space along the round track, and
players take their workers back. (If the Post Office Building is in play, the owner also takes
$2 in this phase.)

End of the Game

The game ends after the 12th round. Before scoring, the movement phase is repeated until all
ships Return, so that whales remaining on ships can be obtained. Ships that did not Return during
the movement phase of the final round still select Whale Tokens during the whaling phase of
round 12. After all ships Return, scores are totaled.

Scoring
Scores are tallied in the following manner:

Whale Points:
A player earns points for any Whale Tokens they have. Each Right Whale earns 1 point.
Each Bowhead Whale earns 2 points. Each Sperm Whale earns 4 points.

Building Points:
Each Building earns the owner 1 point. Each Victory Building counts as only 1 point at this time.

Victory Points:
Additional points from Victory Buildings are scored separately from points earned in other
categories.
• The Seamen’s Bethel earns its owner 5 additional victory points.
• The Municipal Building earns its owner 1 additional victory point for each 2 Buildings owned by
the owner, including itself.
• The Counting House earns its owner 1 additional victory point for each 2 Right Whale Tokens
in their possession.
• The Mansion earns its owner 4 additional victory points.

Money Points:
Each $5 a player has is worth 1 point. Extra goods are worth no points at the end of the game.
Look for these
The player with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, the player with icons to denote
the most Whale Tokens wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the Victory Points!
most unscored money wins. If the game remains tied after this, players
should mutually enjoy their shared success.

9
The Lonely Ocean - Solo Game Rules
Extra Components

1-biased Heading die

(sides 1,1,1,2,2,3)

4 Captain Tokens
4 Captain Boards
1 New Building Tile

Overview
In the Lonely Ocean a player faces off against some of the most talented Captains as they
attempt to rise to prominence in the town of New Bedford. The Lonely Ocean includes 4 Captains
with individual personalities – Starbuck: skilled in all aspects of the industry, Stubb: the master
builder, Flask: the expert whaler, and finally Ahab: the mad
Captain who is as mighty and unpredictable as a whale.
Each captain has his own board (found on the reverse
side of the Player Boards), with Helm (in the form of an
Action Rondel), which determines a Heading and a decision
tree that gives the Captain’s Orders. The Helm includes
the basic types of Actions in the game: taking resources,
Preparing and Launching ships, collecting money, and
Building. Captain’s Orders determine how those actions are
accomplished.
Each Helm is unique to the character’s personality
(e.g. Flask has more whaling-related actions, and Stubb
has more building actions). Some spaces list two actions,
which will change the behavior after a certain round.
Each Captain also has specific Buildings to use which
complement their personalities.
The Captain’s Orders are also unique to the Captain’s
personality (e.g. Starbuck mostly keeps to himself, while
Ahab does whatever it takes to get ahead). Between the
Heading and Captain’s Orders, players can see what
actions a Captain is likely to take, but will not be able to
perfectly predict them.

10
 The Lonely Ocean - Solo Game Rules
Setup
1) Select a Captain (or Captains) to face off against. Give each Captain the 2 workers and 2 ships
in his color, and the matching Captain token.
2) Select Buildings for the number of players (including Captains) as normal. Shuffle the Building
Tiles for the game, and lay them out in a random order. This sets the order that Captains
will look for Buildings to Build. Once complete, players may optionally add the Turner’s Mill
Building Tile to the selection of Buildings.
3) Add the appropriate Whale Tokens to the Ocean Bag.
4) The player selects goods as normal. Captains do not use goods or money.

5) Place the Captain’s token on the leftmost Action Space of the Helm, roll the Heading die, and
move the Captain clockwise around the Helm that number of spaces to determine his starting
Heading.

3) Move
1) Start with token
Captain's to the
2) Roll the starting
token in the
Heading die Heading.
leftmost
to determine
Action Space
the starting
on the rondel.
location.
(Ex: Stubbs
rolls a 3).
11
Taking A Turn For A Captain
The Captain is always the first player.

Determine A New Heading

On the Captain’s turn, roll the Heading die and advance the Captain Token around the Helm
Rondel to determine his Heading for the turn. (Note that Round 12 Headings are fixed, and listed
below the Helm.)
Next, look at the Captain’s orders to determine what Action to use. Look at the Buildings and
locations in the order listed until one of the Buildings accomplishes the Action or provides the
goods given by the Heading. When a Building is found, or if a named Building is available, place
the Captain’s worker there, and execute the Action. The Captain neither pays nor collects goods
or money to take Actions; however, when the player’s Building is used by the Captain, the player
takes $1 from the general supply.

1 6

3 7

Captain Board
1. Captain's Orders 6. Ship's Storage
2. Prepare & Launch Restrictions 7. Helm (the entire rondel)
3. Building Plans 8. Headings (the individual Action
4. Captain's Limits Spaces)
5. Expert Variant

12
 The Lonely Ocean - Solo Game Rules
When following Captain’s Orders, multiple Buildings in the same location may satisfy the
Heading (e.g. the Captain owns both the Wharf and Dry Dock, or both School and Bakery). The
Captain prefers the Building that gives the most goods, most money, or largest discount. Generally,
use your common sense judgment to determine which Building to use. If there is no difference at
all, the player may choose the Building for use by the Captain.

Possible Headings:
Wood, Food, Brick: Use an action that gives at least 1 of the associated goods.
Money: Use an Action that gives money. To determine the value of a given money Action
evaluate the Action Space normally for these Buildings: Tryworks, Refinery, Cooperage,
Perfumery, Tavern, Bank, and Customhouse. The following buildings have fixed value to
the Captain – Market: $6, Wood Mill: $5, Chandlery: $4, Brewery: none, and Post Office:
none.
Prepare: Use an Action that Prepares a ship, following any restrictions in Captain’s Orders.
Launch: Use an Action that Launches a ship, following any restrictions in Captain’s Orders.
Combined Prepare/Launch: Prepare first, if possible, then Launch.
/ Buildings: Use an Action that Builds a Building. Build one of the Buildings listed next to
the matching icon, using the order determined during setup.
Victory Buildings: Use an action that Builds a Building. Build one of the Victory Buildings in the
order listed in the Captain’s Orders.

Captain’s Orders:
Captain’s : Check the Buildings owned by the captain.
Player’s : Check the Buildings owned by all other players. Whenever a Captain uses the
player’s Building, the player takes $1 from the supply.
: Check the Town/Building Tile Actions.
Named Buildings: Use this specific Building if Built, regardless of owner.
Other Heading Icons: Change Heading and search again.

Special notes for Ahab:

Most and Combo: Check both the player’s and Ahab’s Buildings, but not Town Actions.
Look for the one which provides the most total resources, or largest discount. (e.g. Wharf before
City Pier). If no discounts can be found on Buildings, or in case of a tie (e.g. Bakery and School
both provide 4), use a Building that combines different resources or actions (e.g. School before
Bakery). Ahab only uses the Post Office if he is not currently the owner.
If Ahab cycles through his orders two times in a turn, he uses his action of last resort, pulling
a whale from the Ocean Bag and adding it to a ship if possible. In this case, Ahab’s worker is not
placed on any building, and will not take an action in the round.

13
Example Scenarios
Example 1: Starbuck’s Heading is the food action.

According the Captain’s Orders, first check

Starbuck’s owned Buildings to see if any of them
provides any amount of food. In this example,
Starbuck only owns the Wharf, which does not
provide any food.

Because neither Building satisfied the current

Heading, Starbuck must now look to the Town
Buildings. The Farm provides food, so Starbuck
uses the Farm.

Starbuck has now successfully fulfilled his current

Heading and his turn is over.

Starbuck's current Heading is to gain food. Neither of his current Buildings provide
food so he is forced to look to the Town Buildings. He finds the Farm and adds
food to his supply using that Action. His turn is now complete.

14
 The Lonely Ocean - Solo Game Rules
2) On his next turn, Starbuck’s Heading is now money.

There are currently no

Buildings that fulfill
Starbuck's Heading,
so he proceeds
to step 2 under
Captain's Orders.

Again following his Captain’s Orders, Starbuck checks his own Buildings and then the Town
Buildings. He does not own any Buildings that give money and there are none in the Town so his
next option is to check Opponent’s Buildings, so if the player owned the Bank, Starbuck could use
it. Because he cannot satisfy the first step in his Captain’s Orders, he proceeds to step 2, as shown
above. Neither the Inn nor Lighthouse is Built, and Starbuck’s Heading is already money, so he
cannot fulfill the requirements given by step 2. The final option is to use step 3 and change his
action’s purpose to wood, not moving the Captain Token. Starbuck then uses the Forest.

Whaling Phase
Captains always take the most valuable whale available to them, and add them to their
corresponding ship. When a Captain’s ship Returns, he simply sets the whales and ship aside, and
earns points.

Ending The Game

The game ends normally after 12 rounds and points are totaled for the players and Captains.
The player wins if they have a higher score than all Captains.

15
Captain Limits
During a game, it is possible for a Captain to reach his limits. Captain Boards list restrictions
on Buildings and Whale Tokens for each Captain. No more buildings can be built by the Captain
once that limit is reached. Similarly, no more whales can be added to a Captain’s ship when that
limit is reached. (For a challenge variant, if a Captain completely reaches his limits, advance the
round marker to round 12 at the end of the current round.)

Adding More Players

More than 1 Captain can be used in a solo game to add a third or even fourth player. Set up as
normal for the number of players including Captains. If using more than 1 Captain, the Captains
take turns being first, but the player is always last in turn order. Each Captain treats other
Captains as normal players, but prefers their Action Spaces in case of a tie with the player.
Captains can even be added to a 2 or 3 player game to increase the player count. For 1 Captain,
the Captain is always first player, and the other players alternate going next in turn order. For 2
Captains and 2 players, each player controls 1 Captain. Captains alternate being the first player,
and the other Captain is the second player. The third player is whichever player is controlling the
current first player Captain. (e.g. Starbuck, Flask, player controlling Starbuck, player controlling
Flask). In cases where the Captain has a choice between 2 players that is not otherwise resolved by
the Captain’s Orders, the current first player decides how to resolve the action.

Turner’s Mill
The Turner’s Mill may be added to solo-player games in addition to the chosen Building Tiles.
The Turner’s Mill works as follows:
Build Cost: 2 wood & 2 food
Action: Repeat the action of the Captain’s last worker. Pay the normal cost of the action plus $1.

16
 REFERENCE SECTION
Town Board Action Spaces

FARM FOREST
Action: Add 2 food to your supply. Action: Add 2 wood to your supply.
1st Player Bonus: Add 1 extra food to your 1st Player Bonus: Add 1 extra wood to your
supply. supply.

GENERAL STORE
Action: Sell any number of wood or food for $1, Action: Build a Building by returning its cost
and any number of brick for $2. to the general supply and placing the
1st Player Bonus: Add $1 extra in total to your Building on the player’s corner of the
supply. board.
1st Player Bonus: Pay 1 less wood, food, or
brick. When using the
bonus, the player selects
which resource they will pay
1 less of. The bonus “1 less
resource” does not apply to
money in the cost for the
Mansion. The player cannot
reduce the cost below zero of
WAREHOUSE a given resource, or use the
Action: Add 1 brick to your supply. bonus to take a resource that
1st Player Bonus: Add either 1 extra wood, is not in the cost.
1 extra food, or 1 extra brick
to your supply.
17
Suggested 2 Player Town Building Tiles
BANK
Build Cost: 4 brick
Action: Add $5 to your supply.

DRY DOCK
Build Cost: 2 wood & 2 brick
Action: Prepare and Launch a ship for 2 wood, plus the full food
cost. Players do not receive the Dockyard or City Pier
bonuses also.

LIGHTHOUSE
Build Cost: 2 wood & 2 brick
Action: Move 1 of your ships 1 space farther out on the whaling
track and into the 1st position on the new space. Other
ships retain their relative order.
Historical Note: The Lighthouse is modeled after Clark's
Point Light. Originally built from wood in 1797, it was
replaced by the stone tower in 1804 and (though rebuilt)
it still stands lit today.

LUMBER MILL
Build Cost: 3 wood & 1 brick
Action: Sell wood only, but take $2 for each wood sold instead
of $1.

18
 REFERENCE SECTION
Suggested 2 Player Town Building Tiles
SCHOOLHOUSE
Build Cost: 2 wood, 2 food, & 1 brick
Action: Add 2 wood and 2 food to your supply.

TAVERN
Build Cost: 3 food & 2 brick
Action: Remove 1 or 2 Empty Sea Tokens that were drawn
in the previous whaling phase, and take $4 or $6,
respectively. These Empty Sea Tokens are removed
from the game. The Tavern only has an effect if at least
1 Empty Sea Token was revealed during the previous
whaling phase.

TRYWORKS
Build Cost: 3 brick
Action: When occupied, 1 of your ships may Return up to 3
Right Whales for free.

Historical Note: Tryworks were comprised of cast iron

pots set into brick, iron, and wood furnaces used to
render whale oil from the blubber of whales. Often
found on ships, Tryworks could also be found at
ports near the shore.

WHARF
Build Cost: 3 wood & 1 brick
Action: Launch a ship for half of the normal food cost,
rounded up.

19
Additional 3-4 Player Town Building Tiles
BAKERY
Build Cost: 2 food & 1 brick
Action: Add 4 food to your supply.

BRICKYARD
Build Cost: 4 brick
Action: Add 3 brick to your supply.

CHANDLERY
Build Cost: 2 wood, 2 food, & 2 brick
Action: Add $1, 1 food, 1 wood, and 1 brick to your supply.
Historical Note: The Chandlery is modeled after the
Corson Block, a building constructed in several phases
between 1878 and 1884. It is a prime example of late
19th century architecture and still stands today.

COOPERAGE
Build Cost: 4 wood
Action: Add $1 for each Whale Token on one of your ships to
your supply.

20
 REFERENCE SECTION
Additional 3-4 Player Town Building Tiles
COURTHOUSE
Build Cost: 5 wood & 1 brick
Action: Build a Building, paying 2 fewer resources. The
resources can be different.

INN
Build Cost: 2 food & 2 brick
Action: After all players have taken their actions, but before the
movement phase, the player picks up their pieces and
places them on any two Town Board or Whaling Board
Action Spaces. The player may not use Building Actions.
Other players’ pieces remain in place. It is possible to
receive the bonus for the same Town Action twice in a
round if a player leaves a space empty and re-enters it.

MARKET
Build Cost: 1 wood, 1 food, & 1 brick
Action: Sell goods. Take double the cost of the first good of each
type sold. All of these can be earned in the same action.

POST OFFICE
Build Cost: 2 wood & 1 brick
Action: The owner takes $2 during each end of round phase. Use
the action to move this Building to your corner of the
board, becoming the owner. The Building cost does not
need to be paid when using the action.

21
Victory Building Tiles
COUNTING HOUSE
Build Cost: 3 wood & 2 food
Game End Effect: Earns 1 additional victory point for every
2 Right Whales you have.

MANSION
Build Cost: 4 wood & $10
Game End Effect: Earn 4 additional victory points.

Historical Note: The Mansion is modeled after the

Grinnell Mansion designed in 1831 by Russell Warren
for U.S. Congressman Joseph Grinnell. The Greek
Revival-style granite is one of the great examples
of the fortunes made in the golden age of whaling.
The building still stands in New Bedford today as a
shared-living environment for the elderly.

MUNICIPAL OFFICE
Build Cost: 4 food & 4 brick
Game End Effect: Earn 1 additional victory point for each
2 Buildings owned.

SEAMEN’S BETHEL
Build Cost: 5 wood & 5 brick
Game End Effect: Earn 5 additional victory points.

Historical Note: The Seamen's Bethel is modeled

after the chapel of the same name. It is a National
Historic Landmark that was constructed in 1832 for
the sailors who called New Bedford their home. Herman
Melville's novel Moby-Dick references the church as the
"Whalemen's Chapel" in a scene where a sermon was
given from the bow-shaped pulpit.
22
 REFERENCE SECTION
Whaling Board Actions
DOCKYARD CITY PIER
Action: Pay 2 wood to Prepare 1 ship (place 1 of Action: Launch a Prepared ship from the
your available ships on the dock). Ships dock by moving it to any space on the
remain on the dock until launched. whaling track with a food cost, and pay
1st Player Bonus: Pay 1 less wood to Prepare the amount of food shown.
your ship. 1st Player Bonus: Launch for 1 less food.

NOTES/FAQs
1) Cash and goods on hand, and the number of whales caught and Returned are public knowledge.
2) A player cannot occupy an action space he is unable to perform. Example: Taking the port
without having a ship to Launch, or using the Lumber Mill without selling any wood.
3) The cost to use another player’s Building must be paid before using the Building. Example: the
money received from using the Tavern cannot be used to pay for the Tavern.
4) A purchase of 2 wood or 2 food for $3 can be made once per action, per turn (i.e. each time a
worker is placed, including the extra actions from the Inn). The player may purchase exactly 2
wood or exactly 2 food, but not one of each.
5) The extra actions from the Inn are taken before moving ships on the whaling track.
6) The Town Hall bonus and Courthouse action apply only to the printed resource cost. Money
cost cannot be reduced (example: Mansion).
7) All ships go through one last Returning phase after the end of the last round. This means that
ships still select Whale Tokens at the end of the last round.
8) When multiple ships Return in the same round, ships Return to port in the same order as token
selection.
9) A player may not prevent other players from buying Whale Tokens they must sell. A player
may choose to sell any number of tokens Returned to port.
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Acknowledgments
Credits
Game Design: Nat Levan
Cover and In-Game Art: Nolan N. Nasser
Character Art: Jorge Ramos
Graphic Design and Art Direction: Jennifer Closson

Thank Yous
Thanks to all the playtesters for their contributions. Thanks to my close friends who suffered
through the most games for my sake, and made it a better game: Josh and Becca Kohn, Eric
Handler, Sean Harmon, Elton Clark, Nathan Cook, Josh Temkin, Josh Mills, Duane Kolar,
Dr. Wictz, Austin Smokowicz, and Aaron Honsowetz. Thanks to Uwe Rosenberg and Andreas
Seyfarth for providing inspirational games.
Special thanks to my wife, Anna Rutledge for her support and input on development of this
game. Additional special thanks to John Moller, Darrell Louder, and the rest of the UNPUB
Network for their support. Special thanks to Trevor Casterline, owner of Sheepshead Studios, for
his beautiful work on the Kickstarter video.
And finally, thanks to Chris Kirkman, along with the whole Greater Than Games team, for
their decision to publish the game and make my idea a reality.

www.DiceHateMeGames.com
www.GreaterThanGames.com
Copyright 2016, Greater Than Games, LLC.

Historical Notes referenced from Leviathan by Eric Jay Dolan, New Bedford by Anthony Sammarco & Paul
Buchanan, History of New Bedford by Daniel Ricketson (1858), the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the New
Bedford National Historic Park, Encyclopedia Britannica and the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE (WHALE).
For more information about the history of New Bedford, visit their website at http://www.waterfrontleague.org.
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 QUICK START GUIDE
Set-Up (page 4)
2 Player Building List Each Player Starts With
• Bank • A Player Board
• Counting House • 2 Ships of the matching color
• Dry Dock • 2 Workers of the matching color
• Lighthouse • $5 worth of wood, food, brick, and
• Lumber Mill money in any combination
• Schoolhouse
• Seamen’s Bethel
• Tavern
• Tryworks
• Wharf
• All Victory Buildings
3-4 Player games, use all Buildings.

Number of tokens in the Ocean Bag by player count:

2 Players 3 Players 4 Players
Right Whales 18 27 36
Bowhead Whales 10 15 20
Sperm Whales 2 3 4
Empty Sea 8 12 16

Phases (pages 5-11)

1) Action Phase
Each player in turn-order places one worker at a time on Town or Building Action Spaces
and immediately follows the Action appointed.
2) Movement Phase
Once all players have placed their workers, ships move toward the Return space. Players
pay to receive whales on Returning ships or must sell them.
3) Whaling Phase
Whale Tokens are drawn and players add them to ships. Begin with the ship in 1st place
farthest out on the board.
4) End of Round Phase
Workers are cleared and the First Player Token and Round Marker advance.

Scoring (page 11)

Points are counted in the following order: Whale Points, Building Points, Victory Points, and
finally Money Points. In case of a tie, the player with the most Whale Tokens wins. If there is still
a tie, the player with the most unscored money wins. If players remain tied, they share the victory.
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GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Action: Placing a worker on any Town or Building space, following the instructions.
Action Space: Includes both Town Actions and Building Actions.
Action Buildings: Buildable Buildings with Action Spaces. See Pages 17-21.
Build: Taking a Building and adding it to your corner of the Town Board after paying the cost.
Building Action: Only the Action Spaces on the Buildings, not on the main boards.
Buildings: Includes Action and Victory Buildings.
Dock: The area for prepared ships on the Whaling Board.
General Supply: The food, wood, brick, and money supplied in the center of the table
for all players.
Goods: Includes food, wood, and brick.
Launch: Moving a ship from the dock to the whaling track, after paying the food cost shown
on the whaling track.
Money: $1 and $5 coins.
Movement: The phase of the round where all ships are moved.
Ocean Bag: The bag used to draw Whale and Empty Sea Tokens.
Owner: The player with the Building on their corner of the board who earns the points from it.
Prepare: Placing a ship on the Dock so that it can be launched.
Return: Process of taking whales from your ship, paying the Lay, and/or selling whales.
See page 6.
Ship: The two ship tokens in each player color, and the hold represented on the player board.
Town Board: Includes Farm, Forest, Warehouse, General Store, Town Hall. See pages 3 & 17.
Town Buildings: Includes the named spaces on the Town Board and spaces on the
Whaling Board.
Victory Buildings: Buildable Buildings that earn points at game end, with no actions.
See page 22.
Whale Token: Includes any token with a type of whale on it, i.e. Right Whale, Bowhead
Whale, and Sperm Whale.
Whaling: The phase of the round where new Whale Tokens are drawn and players select
whales for ships.
Whaling Board: Includes City Pier, Dockyard, Whaling Track, Round Track. See pages 5 & 23.
Whaling Track: Tracks movement of ships and turn order for whaling.
Worker: The tokens used to select and mark actions.
Your Supply: The food, wood, brick, and money kept in the “stored goods” area in the upper
left of the Player Board.

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