Under the sea is a beautiful, majestic world where so much can be seen and explored. In the world of board games, we have seen quite a large number of different types of games explore this vast area and today we are going to look at another one. Let’s explore the Oceans together!
Oceans is a new game from Northstar Games Studios. The game is designed by Nick Bentley, Dominic Crapuchettes, Ben Goldman and Brian O’Neill. Art director Ben Goldman with Catherine Hamilton and various artists covering the art in the game.
Game Setup and Review
Oceans is a 2-4 player game that can scale up to 6. Setup is played at the beginner level and then you can ramp it up by adding Scenario Cards and The Deep. So first time players are given the “Reef Variant”.
The Reefs and Ocean boards are set in the middle of the table with species boards placed between them. A deck of Surface cards are shuffled and each player receives 6 cards to start. The population tokens scale up in camp based on the amount of players. A bag of reserve population tokens are placed to the side for the end game. Both the Reef and the 3 Ocean zones get about a fourth of the population tokens. Each player takes a player screen and based on turn order a bonus token that they place behind it to start the game.
Oceans requires you to have species that can thrive in the ecosystem, searching for food and avoiding predators that fill the seas. You will evolve and grow your species and find ways to gain population to feed. The end of the game kicks once all of the population in the ocean is gone. 1 point is scored for each population and the winner is then determined at that point!
Each player will take turns going clockwise, with each turn consisting of 4 phases.
1-Playing Cards
2-Feeding
3-Aging
4-Drawing Cards
In Playing Cards, players will play one card from their hand to either evolve a species or migrate a population. You can play a trait on a new species, taking a species board and placing it in front of you. Placement to other species matters, so determine where you want it to be in regards to your others. You may also play it to an existing species you already have by placing it next to already played cards on the left of the board. Each species may have a maximum of 3 traits.
To play a card for migration, you use the number in the bottom left corner to move that many population to the Reef from the Ocean or from the Ocean to the Reef.
In Feeding you will chose one of your species to feed. You can do this through Forage or through Attack. In Forage, you add up all the green circle icons on your species and take those from the Reef. In Attack you will take and add up all the red icons and attack another species-it could even be your own. Any traits with a small yellow shield will block that amount of an attack as well.
In Aging each of your species is required to consume 1 of your population you acquired during the feeding stage for each of your species. If the Cambrian Explosion has started, place 2 population from each of your species into your score area. If you do not have that to put behind your player screen your population will die and you will lose the board along with all the traits from in front of you.
Finally you will Draw Cards from the deck. You can discard any number of cards from your hand and then draw up cards to your max hand total of 6.
Ramp It Up
With the addition of Scenario cards and the Deep cards you can ramp up your gameplay of the Reef Variant. Scenario cards create changes in the environment that your species will have to navigate as it evolves. Some are ongoing and some are instant but they do change up the game when you play. They are triggered when the Ocean Zone they are under is emptied.
Deep cards bring in some mysteries that lie jut below the surface-they are massive, scary and sometime bizarre-these are the creatures of The Deep. Each brings some very factual biology and some are just imaginary and amazing. To play a Deep card, you pay the cost of the migrate number on the card from your scoring pile to the Reef or Ocean Zone. These Deep cards are placed like any other trait on a new or already existing species in front of you.
The last round of the game happens when every Ocean zone is completely empty of population. Place the 60 population tokens from the bag of reserve fish into the 3rd Ocean zone and continue playing as normal.
The game ends when the final player in the turn order completes their turn, even if there is still population in the Reef. Scoring occurs as follows:
- 1 point for each population in their score pile.
- 1 point for each population on their surviving species.
- the points listed on their Bonus Token.
Impressions
What could be better:
Variety. If you play with the base cards only and not The Deep cards, you aren’t going to enjoy it as much after you have played a few times. The right combos start to become easy to find and a little predictable. The Scenario cards definitely help that, but on its own the variety of the base cards would be better with a few more.
Fish tokens. They are hard to pick up and move around as the cardboard ones. I really would like to have a little more heft to them, or have them be wooden/plastic personally.
What I liked:
The Scenario and Deep cards. These cards really add in some great extras into the gameplay and kick this game up to high gear. I love how well The Deep cards create these crazy mash-ups on the species themselves. The Scenarios really help flex the game in different directions as well, creating a different experience each time.
The art. This game is just straight-up gorgeous. The art is some of the best I have ever seen in a board game. The box with both sides just screams to be displayed prominently on your shelf. I would hang up an art print of this work it is so good. And The Deep cards add even more unique pieces of art that are great to look at as you play. Visually this game is amazing.
Gameplay. I love the style of game this brings to the table-there is a strong component of building up your species so that they get big but not too big they overpopulate and not too small that they go extinct when they don’t have enough food. I also enjoy the attack/defend aspects of this game that has you jumping back and forth between all players.
Player Count. This game scales really well from 2-6 players and doesn’t feel bogged down on player count. I like the speed the game moves at, the pace never feels like there is an excessive amount of down time between your turns and with everything that goes on in this game you really need to pay attention to what other players are doing on their turn as well.
Overall
Oceans is one of the more beautiful games on the table I have played in quite some time. The art will draw you in but the gameplay will keep you there. I have been really happy with both versions of the game and all the different player counts we have had play it have enjoyed it as well. There is a lot of replayability when The Deep and Scenarios are in play. Fans of Evolution will see the similarities but I think really enjoy how different it plays out.
An exploration of the Oceans is definitely in order for anyone who enjoys a game full of strategy and interactive gameplay that stays moving the whole time. The pace is smooth and the player interaction every turn keeps this game immersive for everyone at the table. I enjoy playing this one and really look forward to diving deeper into it with more games in the future. Do yourself a favor and grab Oceans today-you won’t be disappointed in this one!
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