I wasn't expecting a board game to unlock this primal fear of the sea within me, but here we are. Trapped beneath the waves and running out of oxygen with an armful of treasure weighing you down? Er, no, thank you. I'll pass.
Except I won't, as Deep Sea Adventure is a bloody excellent board game.
Developed by Oink Games (those of Scout fame), this aquatic board game is all about nabbing as much loot from the ocean floor as possible before running out of air – you're playing chicken with the sea, basically. It's clearly taken notes from the best travel board games, too; it comes in a tiny box, doesn't take ages to play, and is pretty simple yet very replayable.
UK: £19.99 £15.99 at Zatu
In this game for 2-6 players, you're down-on-your luck divers who have to share a submarine on their latest mission… along with oxygen. Your aim is to dive deep under the water for treasure that will earn you points, but everything players pick up reduces the air you all have left. (The more valuable the loot, the less oxygen there is.) If you don't get back to the sub before it's all gone, you've got to drop what you're carrying… and be left with nothing. While the pieces can sprawl across the table if you're not careful during setup, it's possible to make your board very compact – ideal for vacation, in other words.
The tricky part here is knowing when to call it quits. There are four tiers of treasure with increasingly high points values to choose from, but the most valuable gear sits right at the bottom of the ocean. Because this uses up the most oxygen to carry back, and the round ends once your shared air reaches zero, you've got to weigh up when to keep going or when to rush back to homebase. Plus, these treasure tiles being so far from the sub means you've got more ground to cover on your return journey. Seeing as you only move as many spaces as you can roll on two dice, going that deep is a risk – particularly late in a round.
Sure, luck plays a definite role – if you roll badly, you're in trouble. But that's why it's so important to judge when to stop. That's where the skill is; knowing your limits, as in many of the best board games.
I found this to be a really enchanting challenge. It's not difficult to grasp, but requires a lot of thought to come out on top. For me, that makes it a great choice for taking on vacation. OK, so I might not recommend it for a cruise – my nerves have limits, after all. But as a travel board game, it really cuts the mustard.
I'll just try not to think too hard about the imaginary divers who perished on our playtest sessions…
For more tabletop recommendations, don't miss the best family board games. As for something else on the go, you need this travel-size pirate card game.
