Gameplay

Scourge of the High Seas is a competitive pirate game with unique diceless combat where each successful attack places a bounty on your head.  For 2-6 players, Sail with the wind, steal treasure, avoid the navy, and bury your gold before you get caught in the open waters.    
Scourge of the High Seas is played over 5 rounds where players will move their ship to attack merchants, islands, navy, or other players in order to gain supplies to sell at market in trade for money. Once sold, bury the money and treasure to keep it safe for the end of the game. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins.

Diceless Combat

Combat is quick and simple. Add your tokens to the combat bag along with the defending tokens. Shake the bag and blindly draw three tokens out. Whoever has the majority of tokens is the winner.

Dynamic Wind

Each round the direction of the wind can change. This can greatly affect the player's choices for the round. Sailing with the wind gives players a movement bonus. Sailing against the wind will cost more movement.

Reactive Economy

Each time a player sells at a market, it will change the value of resources for other players.

Be the first to sell to control the values for other players.

Sail, Plunder, Sell, Bury

Three guys laughing and enjoying Scourge during a combat reveal

No Safe Habor

Two to six players can set sail on the ocean to try and gain the most money. Players will search out merchant ships or royal held islands and plunder them for supplies, treasure and money. With the supplies, the players can deliver them to nearby markets for selling to further increase their money. However, a captain's fortune is not safe until they can successfully bury it on the hidden island. Do not hold onto too much loot or another player may decide you are an easier way to grow their fortune.

Hidden Action Planning

Each player will have crew tokens to assign positions on their ship board in secret. When all players have made their assignments, everyone reveals their choices and whoever has the most speed will move first. Assignments depend on many factors including wind direction, nearby targets to attack, other players and the navy ships out on patrol. 

Time Your Market Sell to Maximize Profit

Each round the merchants and navy move around on trade routes, while the King's islands produce more supplies to be sold at market. Each market has its own demands for the four different types of supplies and it changes as player's sell their ill-gotten goods. In addition, every round has shifting winds making every decision in every round impactful. 

No Two Games are the Same

Will you go for the island that has a bunch of one resource in hopes the market demand is high? Or will you risk confrontation with the navy to steal from the merchant ships? Perhaps that other pirate ship is too encumbered by its own fortunes and is ripe for the taking. The choice is yours and each game has a different starting layout giving unending variety.

Component List

Player Specific Components

60

Pirate Crew Tokens

10 Per Player

6
Pirate Ships
6
Player Screens
6
Player Boards
6
Treasure Cards
1
First Player Marker

Neutral Components

5
Merchant Tokens
5
Navy Ship Tokens
5
Neutral Defender Tokens (NPCs)
1
Bounty Hunter Token
Bounty Hunter Icon

Other Game Components

1
Map Board
1
Side Board
12
Resource Locations Tokens
(3 Sets of 4 Resources)
2
Market Locations
7
Crown Location Tokens
36
Treasure Cards
52
Resources Tokens
2
Cloth Bags
90
Coins
1
Die
1
Wind Direction Arrow

Sign Up for News

Sign up for news and alerts on where to demo Scourge of the High Seas, and when copies of the game will be available to purchase.

Sign-up

* indicates required

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from OLS:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices.

Intuit Mailchimp

Upcoming Demo Schedule

Date
Event
Location
Link
July 16th-19th 2026KantconOverland Park Convention Center, Overland Park, KS
April 23-26, 2026Midwest Gamefest18011 Bass Pro Drive, Independence, MO 64055
November 14-16 2025Meeple-a-thonOverland Park Convention Center, Overland Park, KS
August 8-10 2025TFestCourtyard Austin Pflugerville and Pflugerville Conference Center
June 26-29 2025KantconOverland Park Convention Center, Overland Park, KS
December 6-8PAX UpluggedPennsylvania Convention Center
1101 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

September 27-29Meeple-a-thonHy-Vee Arena, 1800 Genessee St, Kansas City, MO 64102


Search for "Scourge of the High Seas" in the event name. We have 12 sessions over three days scheduled. Pick your favorite time to demo the game.

December 6-8PAX UnpluggedPennsylvania Convention Center
1101 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
March 23-25 2025Planet Comic ConKansas City Convention Center
301 West 13th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105
Details to come

FAQ

Most commonly asked questions

Yes! It has been tested and demoed hundreds of times. It has been play tested by the KC Game Designers, at the Indianapolis Protospiel, Chicago Protospiel, St. Louis Protospiel. It has been demoed at Kantcon, Great Plains Game Fest, Meeple-a-thon, Midwest Gamefest,  Origins and Gen Con.

You can play the demo online at Screentop.gg. There is version of the game up there for playing. If you play it, please let me know what you think! I am continually looking for new places to promote the game, look for it at future conventions. Or let me know where you would like to see the game and I will try to make it work.

Scourge will play anywhere from two to six players. For 2-players, there is an automaton rule set located on the back of the rule book. 

Play Time by Player Count

  • 2-4 players around 60 minutes
  • 5-6 players 90-120 minutes

Yes! The rule book has been uploaded to BGG. You can view it at this link

Scourge of the High Seas Rule Book

At this time there is not a solo version. While I would like to have one someday, it will be a free download if I get one working.

Big Thanks to Kansas City Game Designers

Much of the testing and initial suggestions were from attending the KC Game Designer's monthly meetups. Public play tests began in 2017 and through the pandemic were tested online. You can test a version of the game on Screentop.gg which is free to play.