Aqua Biodiversity in the Oceans Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Aqua Biodiversity in the Oceans, a family weight game published by The Op. Aqua Biodiversity in the Oceans is an easy to learn tile laying game with great art.

In addition to a lot of games being themed on nature, there’s also been a bit of a 80’s and 90’s renaissance so when I first heard about Aqua I wasn’t sure if this was about life around a coral reef or the Danish electronic dance band of the same name but I was intrigued either way.

Aqua is a game for 1–4 players aged eight and up and plays in about 30–45 minutes. It was designed by Dan and Tristan Halstad (coincidentally also from Copenhagen) and illustrated by Vincent Dutrait.

So come on Barbie, let’s go party.

Good morning Sunshine! Aqua is played over 17 rounds and the goal is to grow coral reefs attracting small and large animals. At the start of the game, you’ll select 6 ecosystem tiles (objectives) that you’ll randomly assign to one of each of the small animal tiles.

The game is played with a set number of tiles for each player count which is stated on the back of each of the four unique hot spot tiles which also double as each player’s starting spot.

Each round, the player with the snail first player marker draws a number of tiles equal to the number of players plus one. The first player puts the snail near these tiles and then chooses the tile of their choice or the snail. Any player that picks the snail will now pick last in the round but first in the next round and the last player automatically gains the sea snail if it’s unclaimed. The last, unchosen tile, stays in the pool and another set of tiles is drawn for the next round (except in solo mode where unselected tiles get removed).

A selected tile then gets placed in their reef. To properly place a tile one of the sides needs to match a side of the existing reef. If there’s a hexagon shape within that color of coral, you can add a small animal matching that color. If you have different small animals arranged in the shape of one of the