Lands Uncharted

Players: 1-4     Time: 10-15 mins

Objective:

Be the first player to successfully collect 100 doubloons worth of treasure by drawing cards and banking them.

You're a daring pirate captain, searching for treasure on a dangerous island. Each card drawn represents loot you have found or peril faced. Bank your treasure before disaster strikes, or risk losing it all!

Setup:

1 standard 52-card deck (no jokers)

Paper and a pen/pencil to record scores.

The player who recently handled physical currency is the starting player.

Card Values (Hit Success Points):

Number cards (2–10): Each represents the value of the treasure, lower is smaller but the higher is heavier and more cumbersome.

Face Cards (J, Q, K) = A threat to your treasure - Wild animals, other pirates, indigenous populations.

Aces = An Ally - You've made a friend on your travels that will help you.

Gameplay:

Searching for Treasure (Drawing Cards):

The active player draws a card and adds its value to their treasure total.

After each draw, they may choose to:

A) Go Back to the Ship (bank points) – They successfully collect their treasure and earn the points total of the cards combined. Discard the cards to the discard pile and add the points to the score sheet. Play then passes to the next player.

B) Push Forward (draw another card) to attempt to increase their total.

Run For Your Life! (Bust Rule):

If a player draws two Face Cards (J, Q, K) they fail the this round, gaining nothing this turn. The hunt is too dangerous and no treasure horde is worth your life! 

If a player draws two of the same number, they have also drawn too much attention to themselves and must flee.

Play then passes to the next player.

If the deck runs out before the game ends, reshuffle the deck and continue to play.

Aces are Allies (Drawing an Ace):

As soon as you draw an ace keep it to one side of your play area. This is a friend you have made along the way.

Whenever you Bust due to Face cards or two of the same number you can discard an ace in your play area and the card which you have drawn to counteract it's effect.

Play then continues, you can either Go back to the ship or Push Forward as before.

Scoring

The last round is triggered when a player banks a total that pushes them equal to or above 100 doubloons worth of treasure. Play continues until the final player takes their last turn.

The player with the highest score is the winner.

If there is a tie, the player who scored the fewest times wins.

Eg: 

Player A: 10, 25, 55, 12 = 102

Player B: 5, 5, 17, 8, 10, 7, 5, 45 = 102

Player A would win the tie as they got to their total in fewer steps. While they failed more, their massive hordes will be remembered over smaller deliveries. 

Optional Rules:

“Buried Treasure” Bonus: If a player banks exactly 21 coins in one turn, they get +5 bonus gold for their smart timing.

“Double or Nothing” Dare: After a player reaches 90 coins, they may take one last turn attempting to hit 100 exactly. If they bust, they go back to 80 coins!

“Cursed Idol” Rule: Use as many of the following as you like, maybe even invent your own!

If a player draws a Queen of Spades, they must discard the highest numbered card they have drawn so far in the round.

If a player draws a Queen of Clubs, they instantly bust.

If a player draws a Queen of Hearts, they must draw two more cards.

If a player draws a Queen of Diamonds, they must keep drawing unless the card is above an 8 in value.

“Lone Explorer: Short on Funding” Solo Game Mode: You have ten rounds to get the highest score possible. Log your total and try to beat it next time!