Teach the Game

A script to read aloud: the goal, the boards, a turn, the end and every way to make or lose money.

How you win

“Container is a shipping economy run entirely by the players. You own factories that make containers and warehouses that store them, and you sail a cargo ship. The twist: you can never buy or ship your own containers — someone else has to buy them from you. After about an hour, whoever has the most cash wins.”

To win you need cash. Cash comes from three places:

• Selling — other players buy containers from your factories and from your harbor , paying the prices you set.
• Delivering — sail a full ship to Container Island and auction the cargo . You get the winning bid and the same amount again from the government.
• Containers on Container Island — the ones you win in other players’ delivery auctions score at the end, at the values on your secret scoring card.

The loop in two sentences: factories make containers, harbors resell them, ships carry them to the island and auction them off. Every step is a sale to another player, so the money keeps moving around the table — your job is to sit where it flows.

The boards

Your player board has a factory district (bottom) and a harbor district (top). Letters as in the rulebook’s picture:

• A Scoring card and B hand — secret.
• C Factories — up to four, all different colours.
• D Factory lots — $1–$4: the price of what you produce.
• E Factory limit — 2 containers per factory.
• F Warehouses — up to five.
• G Harbor lots — $2–$6: the price of what you resell.
• H Harbor limit — 1 container per warehouse.
• I Docks — opponents’ ships moor here to buy from you.

In the middle are two islands in an ocean:

• A Ships and B the ocean — two Sail actions per trip.
• C Scoring areas on Container Island — one per player.
• D Bank lots — three container lots and three cash lots up for auction.
• E Bid tiles and tokens — used to bid at the Bank.
• F Holding areas — containers you won at the Bank wait here.
• G Loan cards — $10 each, at most two.

Full tour: The Boards and the Supply Chain.

A turn

Turns go clockwise. On your turn:

1. Pay loan interest — $1 to the Bank for each loan you have.
2. Win your Bank auction — if your bid on a Bank lot survived a full round, you win it.
3. Take two actions — the same one twice is fine, except the two marked :

Action	What it does
Build	Pay the supply for your next factory (new colour) or warehouse.
Produce	Pay $1 wages to the player on your right; each factory makes one container; price them.
Factory Purchase	Buy any number of containers from one opponent’s factory lots; put them in your harbor and price them.
Harbor Purchase	Docked at an opponent’s harbor: buy from it and load your ship (max 5).
Sail	Harbor/island → ocean, or ocean → harbor/island (free Anchor action on arrival).
Reprice	Rearrange the prices in one district.
Call Bank	Start or raise a bid on one of the Bank’s lots.

Free actions any time on your turn: take a loan (even on other turns), repay a loan. Sailing to Container Island starts a delivery auction and ends your turn at once. Details: Actions and Auctions.

How the game ends

When the supply runs out of two colours of containers, the active player finishes their turn and the game ends. Open Bank auctions go to their current high bidder. Then everyone scores:

1. Discard your most common colour on Container Island (it scores $0).
2. Score the rest with your secret scoring card.
3. Score leftover containers: $3 on your ship or in your Bank holding area, $2 in your harbor, $0 in your factories.
4. Pay $11 for each loan still open.

Most cash wins; tie → most containers in your factory district. See Game End and Scoring.

Ways to score

Source	How and when
Sales from your factories	Opponents’ Factory Purchases pay your factory prices ($1–$4 each).
Sales from your harbor	Opponents’ Harbor Purchases pay your harbor prices ($2–$6 each).
Union wages	+$1 each time the player on your left produces.
Delivery auctions	The winning bid plus an equal government subsidy (none if you buy the cargo out yourself).
Bank auctions	Win a cash lot by bidding containers.
Container Island (end)	$10, $6, $4, $2 per container by colour on your card; the two-value colour scores $10 if you have all five colours there, else $5. Your most common colour scores $0.
Leftover containers (end)	$3 each on your ship or in your Bank holding area, $2 in your harbor, $0 in your factories.
Building costs	Factories and warehouses cost cash, paid to the supply.
Wages, purchases, bids	$1 wages per Produce; purchase prices; winning delivery and Bank bids.
Loans	$1 interest per loan each turn; $11 per loan still open at the end.

What each resource is for

Resource	Why you need it	How you get it	How you use it
Cash	It is the score — and pays for everything.	Sales, deliveries, subsidies, wages, Bank cash lots, loans.	Build, wages, purchases, bids, interest.
Containers	They are the goods; only island containers score big.	Produce (yours), buy from factories/harbors, Bank container lots.	Sell, ship, deliver, bid at the Bank.
Factories	More containers per Produce, bigger factory storage (+2 each).	Build (cost on your track).	Produce; you start with one.
Warehouses	Bigger harbor storage (+1 each).	Build (cost on your track).	Hold more containers to resell.
Your ship	The only way to Container Island.	You start with it.	Carry up to 5 containers; never enters your own harbor.
Scoring card	Tells you what island containers are worth to you.	Dealt secretly at setup.	Bid high for your $10 colours, avoid your most common colour.
$0 bluff cards	Hide how much you bid.	Two each at setup.	Mix into delivery bids; take them back after.
Bank loans	Quick $10.	Free action, max two at a time.	Pay $1 interest each turn; repay $10 later.

Teaching tips

• Start with the rule that surprises everyone: you never buy or ship your own containers. Then follow one container from a factory to a harbor, onto a ship and into an auction.
• Say early that the goal is cash, not containers — new players over-invest in buildings and island containers.
• Explain the delivery auction before the Bank: the subsidy is where new money enters the game.
• Deal the scoring cards face up in a first teach to show how values differ, then deal real ones.
• [More] Teach the base game first; add the More Containers modules one at a time.