April 14, 1912 – 23h40 – North Atlantic – R.M.S. Titanic strikes an iceberg. The water immediately floods into the boat’s compartments and the ship is listing to starboard in a worrying way. No hope about her outcome.

Alone, or co-operating with other crew members, show presence of mind and do the right thing to save as many passengers as as possible. Time is short…

Goal of the game

SOS Titanic is a co-operative game whose mechanic is based on the well-known game ofpatience. The players embody crew members whose goal is to save as many passengers as possible.

How to play?

On the ship, the passengers are pictured on numbered cards, in two sets of First classpassengers and two sets of Second class passengers.  They have to be guided and arranged in order and in class, in a line on the decks, so that they could board a lifeboat.

Each round, the active player can:

– either try to set up the evacuation by taking passengers and arranging them in the lines. If he fails in setting up the evacuation, a page of the booklet is turned over and the shipwreck goes one step further. The game end comes closer.

– or do a special action such as equalize the lines, look for a specific passenger in the pile or save time.

Each player has a special ability that helps the party during the game.

End of the game

The game ends on the 12th stage, that is the last page of the booklet or when all the passengers are saved. Then the score of the team depends on the number of saved passengers.

Contents

• 1 booklet
• 10 Crew member cards
• 60 Passager cards
• 20 Action cards

A classic game rediscovered in an original way with a strong theme supported by an appropriate mechanic.

Some useful Links

F.A.Q.

Reminder of a game turn

After moving the eligible passenger cards between the lines, or between a line and a lifeboat (if possible), I have to:

• EITHER play an action card
• OR flip over a bunch

I am not allowed to pick an action card AND flip a bunch.

 

Moving passengers (optional phase at the beginning of a turn)

When moving face-up passengers at the beginning of the turn, may I move only a portion of the face-up passengers of a line?

• Yes, you can. It may allow you to sort anchored and no anchores passengers for instance.

 

Mystery Passengers

Can a mystery passenger be a lifeboat?

• Yes.

What happens if a mystery passenger is part of a face-up line that needs to be shipped and re-shuffled?

• In this case, the mystery passenger is discarded (i.e. place on the pile of the discarded Action cards).

When am I allowed to replace a mystery passenger by the eligible card?

• I am allowed to do it at any moment of the game, either if the eligible card comes up on the top of a line, or if it is part of the bunch I have just flipped. In the latter case, replacing the mystery passenger is considered as a success in setting up the passengers’ rescue.

 

Taking Action cards

When am I allowed to drawn Action cards?

• I draw Action cards ONLY when I fail in playing at least one of the passenger cards I have just flipped (except if I am Murdoch, Lee or Pitman).

Nobody draws an Action card when no cards are left during an attempt to draw passenger cards consequently a page is turned.

 

Collapsible Boat

When the Collapsible Boat is empty (all its passengers have been placed in Lifeboats), may I place new passengers from the lines on it?

• No, once the Collapsible Boat is empty, it is immediately discarded on the Discarded action pile.

When playing the Collapsible Boat, do I have to place on it necessarily a “17” or a “13”?

• No, when playing the Collapsible Boat, I have to place on face-up Passengers from one of the lines. It need not be a “17” in second class or a “13” in first class.

 

Reshuffling the discarded passenger cards

At what moment can I reshuffle the discarded passengers tomake a new passenger deck?

• I can do it if the passenger deck is empty AND I want to draw passenger cards. In this case, I must turn a page. If, at my turn, the passenger deck is empty but I decide to play an action card, I do not have to reshuffle the discarded passenger pile. Thus I do not turn a page.

May I move the eligible passengers after having turned a page and before drawing passengers?

• Yes, you can.

 

When to turn a page of the booklet

When do I ahve to turn a page of the booklet?

• You have to turn a page:

• each time you draw cards in the passenger pile, and no one matches with the different lines. In this situation, you get an extra action card)

• each time you have or choose to remix passengers discard and drawing pile (except if it’s because of action card “save time”). In this situation, you don’t get an extra action card

• if you are not in position to find an eligible passenger playing Come on or Come back

 

Andrew Latimer

Imagine we rescue characters in the following order (A = with anchor):situation one: 1-A 2-A 3-A 4-nonA 5-A 6-A 7-A situation two: 1-A 2-A 3-A 4-A 5-A 6-A situation three: 1-A 2-A 3-A 4-A 5-nonA 6-A How many action cards is the player of Andrew Latimer allowed to take in each situation?

• In situation one, Andrew Latimer can take one action when the card 3-A is placed in a lifeboat and one action card when the card 7-A is placed in a lifeboat.
• In situation two, Andrew Latimer can take action when the card 3-A is placed in a lifeboat and one action card when the card 6-A is placed in a lifeboat.
• In situation three, Andrew Latimercan take only one action card when the card 3-A is placed in a lifeboat.