An unexpected addition!
Underwater Cities was a game I considered complete. I really loved the New Discoveries Expansion with its upgraded player boards along with new cards and modules. I was therefore quite surprised and delighted to find out that a new expansion has just come out - Data Era, which seems quite late given that Underwater Cities came out in 2018 but I was excited to dive in (pun intended) and find out what was in the box and how it might change what has been one of the best, and in my mind underrated, Euros of the past few years.
In case you aren’t familiar with Underwater Cities, it’s a wonderful mid to heavy Euro style game about building a city underwater over a number of rounds, and utilising a combination of cards and action selection to help you gain the resources and actions you need to hopefully win you the game, In my mind it shares some of the same DNA as games like Terraforming Mars, but I much prefer Underwater Cities.
Coming in a much smaller box than New Discoveries, the main idea behind the expansion is that Data Era contains a brand new resource in data discs, as well as data structures and dome as a new building type and upgraded resources for the main game.
How does it change the game?
I’m going to come straight out and say that I already thought Underwater Cities was an amazing game but this expansion elevates that original experience and brings the game more in line with modern Euro games with the introduction of the Data Discs as well as introducing more end game scoring with the new structures.
What are they I hear you ask? Well they act as a new flexible resource and they come in both half and whole denominations and they have multiple uses in the game. Firstly, they can be used to play additional cards, which really opens up some more opportunities and strategies for the game with a different cost to play yellow, red or green cards. You can also use the data discs to draw additional cards at the end of your turn, or to trade resources.
At its core, this new resource is a bit of a game changer and the added flexibility the Data Discs bring really elevates the game as well as bringing it more up to date with a mechanism that can be found in some other similar modern Euros.
Once the game ends, you now have Data Centres to add to the scoring mix, so you can score up to 4 buildings on each construction site through the game giving you some additional end game points to aim for. It’s not a huge change but it’s something nice to add, although the new stacked buildings are a game changer for those that continually knocked over their stacked discs previously while leaning across the board.
Overall Impressions
For a small, and relatively inexpensive expansion, I would say that if you are already a fan of Underwater Cities, this is an absolutely must have purchase. The new Data Discs are a brilliant addition, with the only downside being that it probably elongates what is already a longish game by maybe another 10 minutes per player with the additional decision making and card play that it brings but in my mind that is definitely worth the pay off that Data Era brings to the table. If I were to have one other minor gripe, it is that I can’t fit everything into the core box with both expansions, so I now use the Data Era box to store some of the core game components as well as those from the expansion. Overall, Data Era elevates and expands upon what was already a brilliant game and ensures that Underwater Cities will remain one of my favourites for many years to come!
