Shipwrights of Marino is a simple economic game for 2 to 5 players. Players are building airships using resources from an ever-changing marketplace: Metal, Wood, Crew, Food, Rope, and Canvas. Prices for these resources fluctuate constantly, and your goal is to buy them cheaply, and finish with the most profit.

Along with basic resources, you can also invest in shipping expeditions that bring resources into the Market. Investors get the best deals on new deliveries, but sometimes those ships can bring back almost nothing!

Every contract earns money and launches a ship, which may grant a special effect or ability. Collect the right mix of abilities, and your shipyard can work faster, racing ahead of the competition.

Buy the Deck and Board: You can order the 54-card Shipwrights deck and the one-page game board from DriveThruCards. You will also need some other basic components, listed below.

• Shipwrights Deck at DriveThruCards

• Shipwrights Board at DriveThruCards

Printing Files:

• Shipwrights Rules, PDF Version 3.5, 11/29/23

• Shipwrights Market Board (One Page), V 3.5b, 2/5/24

• Shipwrights Deck (54 cards), 3.5, 11/29/23

• Play the TTS version (V 3.4.1, updated 9/15/23)

Components: To play Shipwrights, you will need to print the board and cards above, and you’ll also need the following:

• Resource Tokens: 20 each in Black, Red/Orange, Blue, Green, Yellow, and White

• Dice: Six 6-sided dice

• Pawns (Explorer Ships): Six pawns matching the resource colors, and two more of any other color

• Money: Paper money or chips, roughly $100 per player

All of these items are pretty basic and easy to find. See below for our Lego explorer ships. For the resource tokens we’re using Koplow chips, though those can be hard to find in orange (or brown), which is why Wood is a reddish orange, and red chips are a suitable alternative. We also love the micro poker chips from Discount Poker Shop, though they don’t come in white.

Lego Models: For fun, we’ve also created instructions for the Lego sailing ships and airships used in playtesting this game:

• Lego Sailing Ship (PDF)

• Lego Airship (PDF)

Videos: For help in assembling the game components above, James has made some helpful videos.

• How to Make Cards: Video showing three ways to make your own deck of cards.

• How to Make Game Boards: Video showing several ways to make your own game boards.

History: Where Did This Game Come From?

Shipwrights of Marino has been in back-burner development since October 2017, and was one of the precursor ideas that led to After the Fog (through several major revisions). This game is set in the Dew Point Universe, which you can read more about at World Anvil and also at the Library.

Old notebooks reveal an evolution from this core concept, which was first imagined in the Arsenale in Venice, into a game focusing on the exploring ships as they traversed the continent, and finally a game about territory control in the Highlands. Shipwrights is a return to the first of those concepts, After the Fog is the last, and the middle game called “Against the Sky” is stalled in early development.

You will see elements of traditional engine-building games in Shipwrights, with cards that work together to give players an advantage. You will also notice specific elements from another James Ernest game called Fish Cook. If you like the style of the marketplace in Shipwrights you should check out Fish Cook for a different take on the same idea.

What Happens Next?

Before the end of 2023 we hope to offer a spiffy version of this game at Drive Thru Cards, including cards and board. The rules and cards are very close to finished.

James is always trying to get publishers to pick up his games, so you might also see this game picked up, re-branded, and re-themed. It might end up being set back in Venice, or in outer space, or the North Pole in the time of the dinosaurs. Anything is possible.

In the meantime, please enjoy the print-and-play version, and please send us your feedback. If you enjoy our print-and-play offerings, you can support Crab Fragment Labs by becoming a backer on Patreon.