Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Secrets of the Sea is a fun memory/set collection/press your luck game by acclaimed game designer Reiner Knizia. As we enjoy every game of his that we've tried (Ingenious, Dragonland, Poison to name a few), picking up this one was a no-brainer. Recommended ages are 5+ which seems about right.
The object of the game is to collect as much treasure as possible and to be the player with the most "coins" at the end of the game. This is done by rolling dice, selecting a dive bouy to begin your dive and diving down the number of spaces rolled on one of the die. Each tile under each bouy contains either a treasure, seaweed, "plunder" card (allowing you to swap a tile with another player or keep the tile worth 2 coins) or a sea monster (which you must battle in order to keep the tile and the coins that it's worth). The neat gimmick to the game is that each tile has an invisible icon on its back that can only be revealed with a small UV light. As you dive, you look at the icon (opponents can too) and decide if you want to take that tile or dive further down in hopes of greater treasure. Beware, though! Roll an X and that die cannot be used for further dives during that turn. Roll 2 Xs and your turn is over and you come up empty-handed for that turn. In shallower water, you will find treasure and seaweed (sometimes the UV light reveals a treasure icon, but seaweed is found once the tile is flipped - seaweed is worth no coins by itself, but if you collect enough, you can take a special tile that will give you a few coins). Deeper water contains treasure and sea monsters (UV icon is a cave -- do you take a chance that it contains treasure? If it is a sea monster, you must do battle and roll the dice for a number equal to or higher than the number on the tile). Lastly, if your dive makes it to the sea floor, there are special "wreck" tiles to be collected which give you multiple treasures. During the game, if you collect enough of any one treasure (ie 5 barrels, 7 gold bars, etc...) you may collect the special reward tile for that treasure - worth 5 extra coins.
Our family had a great time playing this game - one of many "designer" games (this would be a eurogame) that offers so much more than many of the mass market games out there. Looking for a game that's "better than Monopoly" for kids? This is a good one (as are the others I listed above) - give it a try!
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