The sea is roaring with trade and wealth and you are its captain.

Across the water lies many cities and towns ripe for plunder. On second thought, they may be interested in joining your nation without the use of cannon and gunpowder. Or perhaps they’ll need encounter to a sea monster or two before they join your cause. All the while, treasure waits to be claimed. But by who?

Islebound: Emerald Edition is a special edition of Islebound with some altered components and rules. It's best to think of it as a variant of the game, rather than a 2nd edition.

The original game, Islebound, is part of the World of Arzium games, including Above and Below and Near and Far.

Take command of a ship and crew. Sail to island towns, collecting resources, hiring crew, and commissioning buildings for your capital city. There are many routes to success. Will you be a ruthless conqueror, careful diplomat, or shrewd merchant in your race to the top? The player with the most wealth and most-impressive capital city will win the game! What kind of captain will you be?

This edition of Islebound removes the book resource from the original game and replaces it with emeralds. Emeralds have different uses than books. You collect them when visiting a player-owned town and when you are taking over a town. Emeralds must be used to buy building cards, and they can also be used to perform special abilities, such as keeping pirates and serpents after combat! The building deck is revised to account for this resource change. It includes altered building cards from both the original game and some from the Metropolis expansion. The Metropolis expansion is not compatible with this version.