One of the most popular types of holidays at the moment is cruising. What is better than one giant floating hotel that allows you to see many different places without ever having to change transport, and with all the food and drink you can consume on board, why not chill on deck with a good game! With so many options going from the UK you don’t even need to worry about luggage allowance or weights so why not drag that second suitcase along and fill it with some of your favourite games. Some of the bigger liners are even starting to provide their own board game libraries but what games would be a good fit for the open seas?
Stomp the Plank
What does being out on the ocean waves say more than … pirates! Or specifically pirate elephants! 2024’s Stomp the Plank may look like a kiddy activity with its lovely plastic miniature elephants and its clever magnetic planks that stick to the box itself as it transforms into your pirate ship, but it is as entertaining to those under nine years old as it is to those over ninety. The premise is simple. Each player starts with their elephant standing on the inner edge of a plank and on your turn you must flip treasure tiles and if you ever draw a replica of something you have already drawn that turn, you bust and must move a step forward in your plank. If you decide to stop before you go bust then everyone else must place barrels on the opposite end of their plank. It is a push your luck dexterity game. But why push your luck? If you manage to draw all treasure tiles without busting then you win the game immediately! And pirates love some risk!
Deep Regrets
You can’t talk about boats bobbing over the deep sea without exploring the art of…fishing! Deep Regrets is about fishing. But this is the kind of fishing that might well give you…well…regrets. On your turn you are flipping over cards in order to see what you have hooked and then depending on your dice, you get to reel it in. Each fish is worth a certain amount at sale and some will offer you a boost if you ‘eat’ it’ but despite a decent amount of the fish we all learn about at school, there is also a whole array of foul, lovecraftian monsters. The most interesting element of the game is it’s madness tracker. It would not be Lovecraft inspired without madness! The madder you get, the more dice you can have which means you can fish for a lot longer. It also means that these foul fish are worth a lot more money whilst the fair fish are worth less. You can also spend a day at port where you can buy rods, reels and extra supplies that offer big bonuses. And the art…wow! The artwork is fintastic. Funny, whimsical and often truly grotesque. If tuna or sea bass aren’t your thing, and mermaids and kraken get your rods a-reeling then you will feel no regrets about getting this game.
Unfathomable By Sophie Jones
One of the unexpected joys of cruising, beyond the endless relaxation and all-you-can-eat buffets, is not having to worry about luggage weight. With no strict suitcase limits, it’s the perfect excuse to bring along that big box game you’ve been meaning to get to. When the ship’s out at sea and the weather isn’t quite sun-lounger worthy, there’s nothing better than settling in with a longer game that really lets you sink your teeth into it. Enter Unfathomable, a brilliant blend of hidden roles, horror, and high-stakes survival set aboard a ship eerily similar to your own. Set in the 1920s, Unfathomable throws players onto the SS Atlantica, a passenger steamship bound for Boston. But all is not calm beneath the waves. Eldritch horrors from the deep are rising, threatening to sink the ship, devour the passengers, and drive the crew to madness. Working together, players must fend off the monstrous Deep Ones, manage dwindling resources and steer the ship to safety. The twist? Not everyone is on your side. Some players are secretly Hybrids, agents of the Deep Ones hiding in plain sight, waiting to sabotage your every effort. Whether it’s subtly failing skill checks or launching full-blown attacks, these traitors turn the game into a tense battle. With a runtime of two to four hours, Unfathomable is perfect for a lazy sea day. It fills the time, draws everyone in, and gives you a story to talk about over dinner. Just keep an eye on your fellow passengers, you never know who might be plotting against you.
Into the Blue By Pete Bartlam
Cruising – the High Life on the High Seas. Maybe somewhere warm and exotic where you can go snorkeling into crystal waters with pretty shells and find chests of treasure!? Well, maybe not the latter, but you can by playing Into the Blue. This little masterpiece from Reiner Knizia sees from 2 to 5 divers push their luck through fickle dice throws to gain treasure on ever-deeper levels and maybe an elusive chest. Everything about Into the Blue exudes beauty and quality: chunky solid blue dice: glowingly bright-coloured clam shells; double-layer board to hold the prizes and the glorious artwork, everywhere, even inside the box lid that doubles as a dice tray. Each dive you roll 6 dice up to 3 times keeping the ones you want, re-rolling the rest. Any sequence from 1 lets you place one or more shells on a level, deeper the better. Achieving a perfect 1,2,3,4,5,Chest means opening a Treasure Chest! When all chests are gone or one player has used all their shells, each level’s prizes are awarded to the diver with the most shells there. Great fun and excitement in quick games for everyone. Go on, take the plunge!
Oceans By Ian Paczek
Oceans is an engine building game from NorthStar and lives in the same universe as their Evolution games – Evolution: Climate, Evolution, Evolution: Flight, Evolution: The Beginning. All of them and Oceans and the forthcoming Nature are illustrated by Catherine Hamilton in a style and with a colour palette that scream out “eyepoppingly vivid”. I love the art. In fact my games room has two framed prints – leaping swordfish and a pair of clownfish. So far so pretty, but how does it play? You play cards, which represent certain traits, to create or upgrade a species, then use one species to feed from the reef or attack an opponents’ species to steal population from them. Population is represented by fish tokens. Take care not to overpopulate! After feeding or attacking, your species age by putting tokens into your score bag. If you can’t age a species, it goes extinct, so there’s a balancing act here. If the reef runs out of fish, you need to discard a card to repopulate it from the oceans. When all three ocean areas are depleted, the game end is triggered and finally the player with the most populous bag of fish tokens is declared the winner. The attack mechanic makes for a lot of player interaction as you evolve your sea creatures to defend against your opponents’ creatures. It plays quickly and is really gorgeous – did I mention the artwork?
Sea Salt & Paper By Tim Evans
Whenever I think of holiday gaming I think of something which can be versatile with player count, suitable for the whole family, an easy teach for those new friends you make along the way. And with the notion of a cruise holiday, a nautical theme is a definite must. Sea Salt & Paper captured the imagination of the card gaming space back in 2022 with a beautiful set of 58 cards, all of which picture a unique set of nautical origami shapes. It’s a simple game to learn with enough options for push your luck, some strategy and card powers to keep everyone entertained. All cards can add to your point totals, in several ways that reflect the commonality of the card you’re holding, but pairs of certain types can activate a power which can help you or hinder your rivals. A round is a race to stop everyone when you have at least 7 points, and with points being relatively plentiful, each round will play fairly swiftly. A game is another race to between 30 and 40 (depending on player count) whilst making sure that at no point does any of your rivals have all 4 mermaid cards (auto-win chance anyone?!). Even at 4 players this game takes only 30-40 minutes once everyone has the rules understood. For those of us looking for something to play poolside, or bar-side on ship days, this could easily be another small package wonder to slip into the mix. Whilst baggage is less of a concern on a cruise, anyone with a fly-cruise or just wanting a small and light gaming stowaway, this could be a hit!
Pacific Ocean By Favouritefoe
Cruising is a brilliant concept. It’s like your journey and your destination came together and decided to co-op. Fed up of competing for brownie points, the floating city moves you to where the sights and sounds you came for are located. But in a lot of ways, you need never get off the boat. A myriad of rooms, activities, and adventures await on board. And most importantly, the marine life and seascape is all around you all of the time. Thinking about the marvellous sights under the sea, Pacific Oceans is a tiny tin which celebrates the enormous beauty and wonder of various species that call the sea home. Just 18 cards altogether and only 6 turns are what you have to attract some fine fish to your own sanctuary, so this game is tight. Every decision counts. In multiplayer mode, it is fun “I cut you choose”, set collection gameplay, and each card can either be used for its icons or as a scoring condition which requires said icons. There’s also a great little solo mode where you play against a prescribed AI player using die rolls. Portable and perfect for travelling, this game would make a great cruising card game!
So wherever your destination, there are plenty of options to stick into your suitcase for a temporary life on the seas!
