First Impression: Deep Sea Adventure
Treasure Hunting and Drowning
Admittedly, this is not the first time I've played this game. However, it had been over a year since I last played it, so it felt brand new. I hardly remembered any of the mechanics and described it to my husband as, "Like Atlantis, but smaller."
I was adamant about learning the rules and teaching my husband, as he is usually the one to read and teach me. He informed me he had played it before but it had been a while, so I reviewed the rules while we set it up.
To play, on your turn, you roll dice to determine how far you can travel. When you land on a tile (treasure), you may choose whether or not to take it. If you choose to take the treasure, the weight inhibits your travel. Thus, with every piece of treasure obtained, you travel slower. Every turn, the air available to all players also decreases. If players run out of air before they return to the submarine, they lose that round. Players who make it back reveal the value of their treasure to determine the total victory points gained in that round.
After five minutes of reading and setup, we dove in. My husband rolled low for a few turns, so I shot in the lead, diving deeper to where more valuable treasure likely awaited. Then he rolled high, thrusting forward into deep water and taking treasure. I thought nothing of it as I had already decided to turn around and head back. On his next turn, he took another treasure. Our air was running out quickly and my low rolling kept me far away from the ship. Then, he took another treasure. I hoped I would escape but alas, we ran out of air. Neither of us made it out.
Surely it wasn't greed that made both of us drown. Right? We played another round.
Drowned again.
By this point I assumed he found it humorous and was doing it on purpose. One last round to finish the game. This time, I would try to escape with just one treasure. Midway in the ocean, I turned around and began heading back. Once again, he grabbed a stack of treasure, depriving us once again of our precious air.
The next few turns were exciting as we pressed ever closer to the submarine with our air quickly depleting. On his last turn, he made it to the ship but his prior actions had already sealed my fate. I rolled low and with my last desperate breathe of air, I landed one space short of the ship.
Gurgle. Gasp. Blub, blub.
Drowned. Again.
I later recalled our game to River who responded that, "My husband drowned me," would be a great way to describe the game to people.
Overall, I had a great time playing the game and would be interested in picking up a copy for myself. With its compact size, it is great for travel and easy to play.
Summary
Players
Minimum: 2
Maximum: 4
It plays very well with 2 players.
Time
Setup: 5 minutes
First Time Playing: 20 minutes
Complexity
Easy. It is straightforward and the directions were written well.
Table Size
Very small. It could easily be played on a chair or nightstand.
Mechanics
Press your luck simplicity. Roll two dice to travel, grab the treasure, then get back to the sub before your air runs out. The player with the most treasure wins.
Art
I enjoy the minimalist approach. The uncluttered design makes it easy to see how much tiles are worth and how far you have to travel.
Play again?
Yes.
Its a great travel game. It packs into a purse, suitcase, or backpack. It takes little room to play. We'll play with 3 and 4 players to see how well it scales.
