For those lazy days of summer when you wish you were sitting near the ocean or a lake, what’s the next best thing? Playing a game that reminds you of the beach, of course! As luck would have it, I have recommendations for ages 8+ and 14+ with different levels of complexity and playtimes. If you have any questions about any of these, feel free to drop me an email at marsha@rainbowresource.com.
Seaside by Randolph Games comes with a sturdy bag to hold the 70 wooden tiles that depict items found in the sea and on the seashore. Once you learn the rules, you need only grab the bag and head out on your trip, as its portability, size, and easy-to-learn rules make this game perfect to bring with you anywhere! Play either solo or with up to 5 people.
To start, choose an area of the table to represent the sea and a space in front of each player to represent their seashore. Place the number of tiles designated based on player count into the bag. Each tile has two sides: One side depicts an object or creature found in the sea, and the other shows something found on the shore. Each turn, players draw one tile from the bag, decide which side they want to play, and apply its effect. Although the goal of the game is to end up with the highest stack of tokens on your seashore, you gather many of those tiles from the sea. For that reason, it is important to see how seashore tiles create habitats for sea creatures; placing those creatures into the sea enables you to collect them later and place them in their seaside habitats for end-game points.
Once no tiles are left in the bag, the game ends. Players stack up all the tokens from their seashore, and the player with the highest stack wins! For 1-5 players with a 20-minute playtime. ~ Marsha
