All artwork copyright 2022 Old Shanghai Game
Game Rules
Welcome to the Barbary Coast sailor! It’s 1868, and you just dropped anchor in San Francisco Bay – time to hit the wildest stretch of bars, brothels and gambling dens this side of the wide Pacific. Just watch yourself, in this town everyone plays the Old Shanghai Game!
Object: Don’t get shanghaied! The last sailor in the game wins.
Cards:
Shanghai!
This is the card you don’t want to see! Always put back in the deck after the turn is over. If you escape the Shanghai, you put the card back. If you are Shanghaied, the shanghaier puts the card back.
Heart of Gold
Player start with one Heart of Gold. These upstairs ladies have a soft spot for handsome sailors. Use this card immediately if you draw the Shanghaied Card. Discard after play.
Drink Up!
These cards let you skip a turn. Play them before (and instead of) drawing a card. Discard after play.
Old Shell-Back
These old salts have been around the Horn a time or two. They can see a Shanghai coming, long before it might hove in view. Draw two cards, and after viewing, return one to the top of the deck.
Drunken Sailor
What shall you do? Play this card on your turn against any player. You draw a card from their hand and they then draw a card from the top of the deck. Play starts again from your left.
Rowing Gangs (Southenders, Sydney Cove, Dragons)
Shanghaiers need White Hall row boats to get their prizes out to the ship. A gang of bare-knuckled toughs are always standing by to row a pitiful sailor out to the deep water boats. Play these in matching pairs against a player that has drawn the Shanghai card to finish them off. Discard after play. If the Shanghai is a success, draw two cards from the Shanghaied players hand.
Boss Card
At the top of the ladder was the Shanghai Boss. San Francisco had a few, but the most famous was Shanghai Kelly. Larry Marr was also a legend, famous for “the Big Five Gallon Jar” of drugged punch he served from! A Boss Card can be played in place of a pair of Rowing Gang cards – just this card alone is enough to send a player out of the game. Remember, even the Boss had to watch out for the Harbor Patrol. Boss Cards always go back on top of thee of the deck, then the deck is cut.
Harbor Police
There was some law and order, but not much. Keep this card a secret, because it will end a Shanghai after one of the other players has played tried to Shanghai you. After you play this card, draw 2 cards from the player that put down the Boss or Gang Cards.. Serves them right!
Set-up: Put aside one Shanghai! & one Heart of Gold for player in the game. Shuffle the rest of the cards and deal five cards to each player and one Heart of Gold. Each player places a Shanghai card back in the deck. Shuffle and cut the cards again. Pace the stack in the middle of the table.
Play: The player who has most recently been on a boat plays first. Players draw a single card from the deck each turn. Turns should be taken quickly and proceed in a clockwise direction. If a player draws the Shanghai card they say “Shanghaied” and place the card face up.
The following actions can take place at this point:
If the Player who drew the Shanghai has a Heart of Gold, they may play it to stop the Shanghai and stay in the game. If they play the Heart of Gold, they discard it and place the Shanghai card back in the deck anywhere they choose. You do not have to play a Heart of Gold- if no player can finish the Shanghai then it fails. Play continues to the next player.
If the Shanghai ‘d player does not have a Heart of Gold, it’s time for another player to jump in and help complete the Shanghai. Play a matching pair of Rowing Gang cards or a single Boss Card, they place them on the table. The first player to put down the card(s) is the Shanghaier. Now is the time for the Shanghaied player to use their Harbor Police card if they have one. Harbor Police cards end the Shanghai, and the player who drew the Shanghai may take two cards from the player that put down against them (the Shanghaier).
If no player puts down then the Shanghai fails They place the Shanghai card back in the deck anywhere they choose. Play continues to the next player.
If they do not have a Harbor Police card, they are Shanghaied and out of the game! The Shanghaier can draw two cards from the Shanghaied players hand. All played cards are discarded except any Boss Cards which are placed on the bottom of the deck, and the Shanghai card is placed back in the deck by the Shanghaier.
If a player wants to skip their draw, play a skip card. Skip cards have an anchor in the corner:
Drink Up! You play this card instead of drawing, and play continues to the next player. Use Drink Up! cards when you are sure the next card is the Shanghai card!
The Old Shell-Back card lets you draw two cards on your turn, choose one, and put the other back on the pile. If both cards are the Shanghai, bad luck for you!
Drunken Sailor. You play this against another player. First take a card from their hand. Then they take your draw. Play starts again from your left.
Remember, you can’t play a card after you draw, only before. Only Heart of Gold and Harbor Police cards can be played after the Shanghai card comes up.
By the end of the game, most remaining cards will be Boss cards or Shanghai cards. Skip cards in your hand become very useful at this point. The game ends when only one player is left in the game.