Land vs Sea (Board Game)

Part puzzle, part game. Play as either Land or Sea (or the Cartographer in a3 player game). Each player plays with 2 double-sided hex tiles containing amix of land and sea shapes. They take turns placing a tile each to make a maptogether. Land places tiles trying to complete land areas, and Sea places tilestrying to complete sea areas. Completed areas score a point per tile; land areasfor Land, sea areas for Sea. Some tiles score bonus points for whoever completesthe area they are in. So players may decide to strategically completerival’s areas to gain their bonus points. Other tiles allow players to playtheir second tile, or steal a player’s tile – but not their last one!

Using 2 double-sided tiles (one side always revealed and the other alwayshidden until played) means there is partial information to plan around, and somesurprises too. Players replenish back up to 2 tiles from a choice of 2 face-uptile stacks.

The strategy of the game involves careful tile placement to score from asmany land or sea areas as possible, while minimising your rivals’opportunities to score from the tiles you play. Watch your rivals’ possibleplays, and control tempo strategically with Play Again and Steal tiles. Look outfor opportunities to score valuable bonus points in your and your rivals’areas. Carefully select tiles as you replenish your hand to prepare for yournext turn.

The game ends once the last tile is placed. The player or team with the mostpoints wins.

The basic Land vs Sea game is simple enough for light/family gamers. Afteryou have played the basic game, you can unlock more scoring options on the tilesto add surprising depth:

1. Mountain & Coral scoring – score for cumulative chains of connectedMountain (Land) / Coral (Sea) sections.
2. Caravan & Ship scoring – score for Caravans & Ships added toTrade Routes on the map, and score each Trade Route you have majority in (moreCaravans scores the Trade Route for Land, more Ships for Sea) at the end ofthe game.
3. Waypoints – bonus points you can place on the map to entice cooperation,or score for yourself.

2, 3 & 4 player modes:
You can play head to head with 2 players, or with 4 players in teams using thebasic rules and any of the additional scoring options. 4 player games useWaypoints to prevent alpha players directly instructing their partner.

The challenging 3 player mode uses all of the additional scoring options ina more asymmetric game. The Cartographer scores by connecting Mountain and Coralsections, and all players compete for bonus points and Trade Route scoring.

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