SURVIVE: Escape from Atlantis!

Atlantis is sinking! And as the legendary island sinks beneath the waves, you the players must get your explorers to the mainlands before being eaten by sharks, bothered by whales or obliterated by Sea Serpents. Do you need help? Don’t expect any from the other players – it’s every tiny wooden explorer for themselves.

The board is set up so numerous terrain tiles represent the fabled isles’ beaches, forests and mountains. Players take turns putting all their little explorers out on the island, and note that each explorer has a number on the base, representing how many souls are saved should they make it to shore – basically, how many points they’re worth.

Your turn consists of four actions: playing a tile – you don’t have any at the start, so we’ll come to that later – moving explorers/ships, removing a terrain tile and finally move creatures. Removing the tiles represent the island slowly being submerged, as first the beaches, then the forests, then the mountains are removed, all literal representation of Atlantis disappears. On the other side of the tile are little benefits to assist you in your efforts to get to safety, either played immediately, or optionally on a future turn – kept secret for now.

The thrust of the game is the second action: movement. You have a movement value of three, and moving an explorer or ship a single hex is one movement. You can move your own explorers only, across the island or into ships, and any boats where you have the most explorers present – ships will carry three in total. Getting into the ships is important. Although it is possible to swim to shore as well, you’re unlikely to make it because of the move creatures action – here, dice are rolled and the plentiful sharks whales and serpents threaten – or maybe just end – your possibilities of escape, as the active player chooses where to move the beasties in question. It’s this action that both makes the game – without it, everyone can escape; it would just take a long time – but also defines the type of experience it is: despite the collective desire to get to safety, players are actively sabotaging each other’s attempts.

The reverse of one of the mountain tiles shows the volcano – as soon as this is removed the game will end instantly, with any explorers still on the island or at sea considered lost. Players now reveal the numbers on the bottom of their escaped explorers, and add them up: the player with highest total (-not necessarily the most saved explorers!) wins the game. Anyone with no explorers left to move before the volcano still takes turns, so can continue to play havoc with everyone else’s chances of survival!