Youtube - Game Overview

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In Salvagers, 2 to 4 players take on the role of a licensed spaceship salvager, racing through a debris field to build the most valuable ship before anyone else can. Each player starts with a unique vessel and a captain with a one-time special ability, then spends the game scavenging, upgrading, and fighting their way to 10 ship points.

Build your ship, your way. Every turn, you scavenge cards from the draw pile and use them to upgrade your ship with Primary Systems like Weapons, Shields, Engines, Life Support, and Storage. Each system improves a core stat and adds to your ship's value. Upgrade them further across three levels to become a force to be reckoned with. Slot in hidden Accessories for surprise bonuses in combat, or to quietly rack up extra ship points that only reveal themselves when you claim victory.

Fight for the scrapyard. Salvaging is not a peaceful profession. Use your Actions to attack rival ships, trigger powerful cards, and disrupt your opponents' plans. Roll-off against your target, factor in your skills and any activated accessories, and watch the sparks fly. Land a hit and deal damage that chips away at their ship's value. Take too much yourself and you will be scrambling to repair instead of build.

No two games are the same. At the start of each round, an Event card shakes things up for everyone, from pirate attacks and solar flares that disable weapons, to subspace rifts that send everyone's hands flying to the left. Captains each bring a unique ultimate ability that can flip the game at just the right moment. And with a varied roster of ships that each start with different strengths and weaknesses, every session plays out differently.

Race to 10 ship points. The first player to reach 10 ship points wins, but the math is never simple. Damage knocks points off your total, hidden accessories can catapult a quiet player into the lead, and Feats reward clever long-term strategies like building one of every system or accessorizing your ship to the nines. Stay sharp, stay adaptable, and get to the scrapyard before everyone else does.

Rules Overview:

Goal: Be the first player to build a ship worth 10 ship points.

Setup: Each player is assigned (or chooses) a ship and a captain. Draw cards equal to your ship's Hand stat. The player who most recently pet an animal goes first.

On Your Turn:

Event — If you hold the Event token, flip an Event card. It affects all players until your next turn. Draw — Draw cards equal to your Draw stat. Build/Repair — Either install one Primary System or Accessory from your hand onto your ship, or remove 1 Damage. Actions — Take a number of actions equal to your Action stat. Each action can be playing an Action card or making an Attack. Scrap — Discard down to your Hand stat. Primary Systems (Weapons, Shields, Engines, Life Support, Storage) each boost a stat and add ship points. They upgrade across three levels, with the old card replaced when you level up.

Accessories sit face-down on your ship until used in combat, or face-up if they grant bonus ship points.

Attacking: Both players roll a D6. The attacker adds their Attack stat and the defender adds their Defense stat. A win deals 1 Damage to the defender's ship. Each Damage token is worth -1 ship point, and the damaged system is weakened until repaired.

Reactions can be played by any player in response to Action or Reaction cards, and can be chained.

Feats offer bonus ship points for milestones like building all 5 system types or having the most accessories.

Captains each have a one-time Ultimate ability that can be used once per game as an action.

Base Game

Salvagers comes with everything you need to jump into the scrapyard:

Ships (6+1): The Jalaxian Freighter, Anjell Fighter, Anjell Bomber, Hylen Scanner, Fennith Spanner, Space Whale, and the Kickstarter Exclusive Zephyr Cradle. Each ship starts with its own unique stats, giving every player a different playstyle from the start. Each ship comes with its own history, building the lore of the universe.

Captains (10): Betty Keetes, Mad Eyes Elton, Beta Drone #8008, Daltom Ryker, Harvey Marlowe, Leeroy Waylon, Qostic Scrunz, Tyron Boon, Lana Craft, and Byz Nass. Each captain brings a unique one-time Ultimate ability to the table, as well as fun backstories for each.

Primary System Cards (45): Five system types across three upgrade levels, Weapons, Shields, Engines, Life Support, and Storage.

Accessory Cards (30): Fifteen unique accessories with combat bonuses, point boosts, and sneaky tricks.

Action Cards (67): A variety of cards for drawing, stealing, building, attacking, and causing chaos.

Reaction Cards (14): Cards for canceling, redirecting, or blocking the actions of other players.

Event Cards (13): Random round modifiers that keep every game unpredictable.

Dice, Tokens, and Damage Markers to track combat, ship points, and feats.

How to Play

Each Player chooses or is assigned a ship and a captain and each gets a reference card. Captains provide a one-time ultimate ability that, if used at the right time, can turn the tide of the game in your favor. Ships provide the starting stats.

Every player gets their starting hand based on their Storage stat.

Each Player takes their turn

Flip Event - If it is not the first round and it is back to the first player's turn, draw a new Event Card. Event cards can help, hurt, or just cause chaos. Some are one-time effects, while others affect the rest of the round. No new events are drawn until the the game returns to the first player.

Draw Phase - Your engines determine how quickly you can zip around to pick up parts. Draw as many cards as your Engine stat. Build/Repair Phase - You can either build 1 ship system, either a primary system or an accessory. Or you can choose to repair 1 damage to your ship. Primary systems boost your ships stats. Accessories provide one-time boosts for combat or act as hidden ship points for that surprise victory.

Action Phase - Based on your Life Support, take actions. Actions can either be an action card or making an attack. If you have multiple actions, you can mix and match action cards and attacks. Making an Attack - If you choose to make an attack as one of your actions. - Choose who you are going to attack. - Each player has a chance to activate a relevant accessory before they roll their die. - Each player rolls their die and adds either their Attack or Defense stat. If it is a tie, re-roll. - If the defender wins, nothing further happens and the attack is complete - If the attacker wins, the defender takes 1 damage token and places it on one of their primary systems. - A damaged system reduces that system by 1 level, so the associated stat and their ship points are reduced by 1 until the system is repaired. Scrap Phase - Discard down to your Storage stat if you have more than that. The next player takes their turn, and the game continues on until a player reaches 10 ship points. That player then wins.

No AI Art

All art in the game was drawn by hand in base Inkscape as SVG art. Jake learned a lot while working through the art. None of the art was made by AI.

About Us

Jake is a Systems Engineer based in Madison, WI. With a degree in Physics and a love of Science Fiction, this game was a natural progression of those passions.

Self-proclaimed as not an artist, Jake found that SVG art made it possible to power through with little artistic talent. Although it was a slow process, being able to manually define points, shapes, and curves and make slight adjustments made the art possible.

When Jake is not working on this game, you'll often find them spending time with their partners and their beloved dog Buddy.