Dec
14
Submarine
Theme Week: The Fewer, The Better
Games by designer Leo Colovini tend to be more strategic and less chaotic when played with the fewest number of people listed on the box. (Some argue that his games are most fun when played with zero players, but we’ll ignore those sourpusses.) FAB has already reviewed Colovini’s Cartagena and Familienbande; this week, seven more games from Signor Colovini.
Designer: Leo Colovini
Publisher: Rio Grande Games/Winning Moves Germany
Year Published: 2004
Price: $27.95
Playing Time: 45 minutes
Number of Players:
2
3
4
5
Age Range:
Teen
Family
10-up
Game Type:
Set collection
Many of Leo Colovini’s games have themes that are only an inch deep. They provide players with some mild story to wrap around their actions and give them meaning, but for the most part, they’re disposable.
Despite the name, Submarine also boasts a shallow theme that you’re unlikely to think about while playing. Players are leading underwater expeditions to recover artifacts from the recently discovered world of Atlantis, and whoever recovers 12 artifacts first—or possesses the most artifacts when the game ends—wins.
The board depicts a waterline and an ocean view of some civilizations’ remains, but more importantly for game play is a grid overlaying the picture that’s six boxes wide and five tall. Each player has a recovery ship that will move from left to right in the top row of boxes across the waterline. Players also have a number of bathyscapes that they take turns placing in any of the boxes on the second row. Each box in the second row holds one artifact token; artifacts come in twelve types, and each type of artifact is available with five differently colored borders. Boxes in the third row hold two tokens, boxes in the fourth row hold three, and the bottom row has four tokens in each box. (See, lots of talk about boxes and none about sections of the sea.)
Players are dealt a deck of cards and draw three cards for a starting hand. The cards come in five colors, matching the borders of the artifact tokens.
On a turn, a player first moves his recovery ship across the waterline from left to right, stopping in any column in which you have one or more bathyscapes. Next you must take at least one action, and you may take one action for each bathyscape in the column. The actions are to either move a bathyscape or collect an artifact.
Moving simply involves moving the bathyscape to an box in the same row or in the row immediately above or below the current one. Collecting an artifact requires a player to remove a card that matches the artifact’s border color in his hand from the game; what’s more, the player must transfer a card from the top of his deck to the deck of any player with a bathyscape in the same column that’s at the same height or higher. (Perhaps these opponents are spying on you, and you’re spending resources to throw them off track so that you can collect the artifact unimpeded?) You can collect up to three artifacts a turn, but you must pay cards for each one you grab. At the end of your turn, you draw cards until you have three in hand again.
Playing Submarine is all about knowing when you can afford to throw away cards to opponents. After all, if you run out of cards, you can’t claim any more artifacts until someone has to pay you cards. If you think someone might be giving you cards in the next turn or two, then grab the artifact and hand over the cards. Making this move might even cause the other player to feel more secure about giving you cards, so forming mini-alliances is a good way for both of you to come out ahead of other players.
Wait a minute—other players? Isn’t this “The Fewer, The Better” week. Yes, indeedy it is, and Submarine does play better with three players than with four or five. With more players, you run a greater risk of sitting around waiting after running your recovery ship off the right side of the board. You also are more likely to have opposing bathyscapes above and around you, forcing you to pay out more cards. Each player does start the game with a joker that lets you grab one treasure without paying cards—and duplicate artifacts also serve as jokers—but cards are your oxygen supply in Submarine, and with fewer players you can better plan out future turns.
With more players, the game is more likely to end due to all the artifacts being claimed from one column, which means you have fewer turns to play and consequently less control of your success.
You can search underwater for a copy of Submarine, but you’re probably more likely to find it at online retailers like Funagain, Boards & Bits, Time Well Spent, and Thought Hammer.
The graphics on this game are nothing short of stunning. The company has created a formation of a testing environment and an enjoyable, feature rich classic. I know that this one will definitely do well and make the company proud.