Setup
Remove the 4 all-water reserve tiles before shuffling reserve stacks.
Before the game begins, find the 4 reserve tiles that contain only water and set them aside separately. Do NOT shuffle these into the regular reserve tile stacks. They are kept available exclusively for filling surrounded areas later in the game.
Setup
Shuffle sea tiles and reserve tiles into separate face-down stacks.
All sea tiles are shuffled together and formed into face-down stacks. All reserve tiles (minus the 4 all-water tiles set aside) are shuffled together into separate face-down stacks. Sea tiles and reserve tiles are never mixed into the same stack.
Special
An area is surrounded if it has 1 empty space enclosed by tiles or board edges.
A surrounded area is created (Condition A) when exactly 1 empty space on the board is completely enclosed by already-placed tiles or by any side of the board. When this condition is met, the gap may be filled with a reserve tile of the active player's choice.
Special
An area is surrounded if all of its land-accessible sides are blocked by tiles (no dotted-line ship access).
A surrounded area is also created (Condition B) when an empty region is enclosed by tiles on all sides that feature land connections, meaning there is no dotted-line water path through which a ship could reach the empty space. The only way to place a tile in such a region is with reserve tiles, not ship exploration.
Special
When an area is surrounded, fill it from reserve tiles including the all-water tiles.
When a surrounded area is identified (via Condition A or B), any player may look through all reserve tiles — including the 4 all-water tiles set aside during setup — pick the tile(s) needed to fill the gap, and then shuffle the remaining tiles face-down again. The player filling the area chooses which reserve tile to use, allowing for tactical placement.
Turn structure
Instead of exploring by ship, a player may explore with a scout on an island by drawing a reserve tile.
On your turn, as an alternative to ship exploration, you may choose to explore with one of your scouts that is currently placed on an island. Scout exploration targets adjacent tiles connected to the scout's current island by land (not water). When you explore with a scout, you draw 1 reserve tile (from the face-down reserve stacks). You may only perform 1 exploration per turn (either ship or scout, not both). You cannot place additional scouts during the same turn in which you perform scout exploration.
Turn structure
If a scout-drawn tile cannot be placed, it goes in front of the player and the turn ends.
When exploring with a scout, if the drawn reserve tile cannot legally be placed in the target adjacent space, the tile is placed face-up in front of the player (added to their personal hand/display). The player's turn then ends immediately. No penalty is incurred.
Restriction
Scouts cannot cross water; they only explore land-connected adjacent tiles.
Scouts explore by land connection only. If a placed tile is split into 2 separate small islands (i.e., the land areas are divided by water on the tile), the scout can only explore the side of the tile on which it is currently placed. A scout may not cross water to reach a separate land mass, even on the same tile.
