Deep Sea Adventure Review - with Zee Garcia

Dive under the waves and recover the best treasure in this simple (and tiny!) push-your-luck game.
00:00 - Introduction
00:53 - Game overview
05:59 - Final thoughts
Buy great games at www.gamenerdz.com/
Find more reviews and videos at www.dicetower.com
BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1...

[@conillet]

The "group think" issue Zee criticizes is the very point of this game, and in my gaming group we see it as a strength rather than a weakness. It's hilarious when (almost) everybody drowns because some coward returned early, using up as much oxygen as he could on the way up.

[@tommyakesson8858]

Yeah. And its a tactic.

[@benl.9173]

Haha, I thought the same. That's the whole fun:)

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Does someone in the boat use oxygen? Once you reach the sub, you no longer use up other people's air, right?

[@stuartoleary7358]

Agreed. Some dice tower reviews are very odd.

[@conillet]

@@stuartoleary7358 In some cases one suspects that the reviewer didn't "get" the game in question. But that happens to everybody from time to time. Generally I find that the standard of the DiceTower reviews is very high and, above all, honest. That's why I keep watching them. :-)

[@michaelp6313]

we have a very fun time with this one. It's brilliant, tense, cut throat, hilarious. Those less than positive things Zee mentions are actually fun parts of the game. The game is fast so no one is dead long. If you dive deep and die I promise you will adjust your strategy next time.

[@tommyakesson8858]

Yeah, and the persons dying are active. So they dont get downtime

[@annoraner4696]

most of the people (of the meetup group in Antwerp) that I playing with it, drowns the first round, figure it out at the second round, (but does the same thing to shorten the way to the treasures!) and on the third round we all - most of the time - get some treasure. TO be honest, everything is great fun with the game. Even if people loose, they find it a funny game. As the cat. does say: it's a "push-your-luck-game". ))

[@DPDLC]

I don't see the issue at all that you are saying. Yes, my very first game of this I tried (just like most everyone I show it to) to go far down. Then I realized there are 3 rounds for a reason. You go to the 2 MAYBE 3 dots first (obviously depends on everyone else and dice rolls) then you come back. The next time those big treasures are closer to the surface. Finally on the last round they are much closer to the surface. I think that if people continuously are dying after 2 games of this it's because they didn't adjust and realize what the game offered/how it worked.

[@Nikolus]

I don't know what's weird about the winning strategy described. It's a push your luck game and choosing to mitigate risk is how you win such a game. This game is a delight and one of the best push your luck games I've seen because outcomes are dependent on other player behavior rather than sheer luck (like Quacks of Quedlinburg, for example).

[@simonmtkwong]

If people are constantly adjusting strategy this shouldn't happen, someone should clock on to get lower numbers and then suddenly there's a rush quick profit ...a lot of it is based on judgement of oxygen so perhaps people dont do that well enough?

[@leonard8510]

Just picked this up a few weeks ago and it has quickly become one of my favorite "small" games

[@ondrejhavelka1030]

I love how Magical Athlete is still there after the time... and the box is half opened behind Zee... That game rocks! :)))

[@SirPoonga]

New people tend to do that group think. But like any good game people are not experts at it on the first play. They will quickly learn the group think strategy is not a good strategy. Instead, what might happen is people will tank the first round on purpose. Go down and pick up as many low value tokens as possible just so in the next two rounds it is easier to get at the high value tokens. This is one of my go to quick fillers. Works with everyone I have played it with.

[@benrobsonthe3rd]

Absolutely. Every time I've played this game with new players they drown in the first round... but everything changes in the second round of the game. Since the game is short enough you can easily play two games in a row (even as a filler) and the second game runs more smoothly. Up to now no one has gotten discouraged by drowning at the beginning.

[@adambrass5163]

Played this for the first time last night at a local boardgame café. very fun game, Quick to learn and did not get boring.

[@TheMrE]

Why is it weird Zee? That sounds hilarious!

[@tommyakesson8858]

This game works quite well with my 5 year old. Just the right level of counting for her. 3+2 = 5. ... but then -1 so 4?

[@tommyakesson8858]

But the fact that she gets hella mad if she "drowns" kinda dampens the experience :)

[@malloc7108]

@@tommyakesson8858 this comment convinced me to get it for a pair of 5 y/os. Can't wait for the meltdowns.

[@allluckyseven]

Played it last night. We died a bunch of times, it was great! Seriously though, it was pretty neat. Despite the rules not being very clear (esp. for people reading it at 3 in the morning...)

[@andrewcabezas6658]

Wait... at 3:53 yellow rolls a 4 minus the 1 treasure they have makes it a 3. But you counted 3 spaces and counted the space red was on as a space. They should have gone up one more space no? Because just earlier at 3:16 red rolls a 6 and you skipped counting the spaces that blue and yellow were on, so really they moved 8 spaces. I am so confused now on proper way to move....

[@troyDM9330]

The red moved correctly he just made an error

[@eXGaming4u]

Bro didn’t skip over the red n he counted the space when he shouldn’t. Ruins the whole tutorial

[@GG4GJake]

It's a push your luck game. What do you thinks going to happen if you push it to it's limit every game?

[@brodieclapperton-craig898]

Maybe u play with super risktakers Zee, who also dont learn their r lesson after round one :P

[@boardgamebonkers]

That your group making the wrong choice with going too deep too soon. It’s part of the strategy you deploy. Will be picking this game up.

[@wolflarson71]

TMG needs to make a deluxe version. :-)

[@boardgameman6298]

I do like Zee's reviews. He's real and doesn't sugar coat it. If he likes it, he tells you. If he doesn't, he'll let you know.

[@wolflarson71]

This is a fantastic filler and the group think sometimes adds to the amusement ("you realize we're all going to die").

[@mrglwatson]

I think you should get more oxygen if more players

[@jeromedemeyere1002]

I'm making a big box game with a similar feel to it. Push your luck try to get out in time. My publisher won't let me kill the players who don't get out in time anymore... But it seems to me that's what makes it exciting like in this game...

[@AdamLindell]

This seems like a way better implementation of incan gold

[@AlexKrasnyPrime]

Hm curious why you say that... It's true it's push your luck but it feels pretty different.

[@XRay44]

I remember someone asking a US publisher if they would consider picking this game up for a US release and the publisher's response was a no because they said the game was broken. They never went into detail as to why, though. Any idea what they might have been talking about? I really dig this game, so I haven't encountered anything broken yet. Definitely a head-scratcher.

[@TheMrE]

Wes Ray That sounds like bs. This is such a light game that I can't imagine it being "broken" but even if it was I can't picture its intended audience actually "breaking" it.

[@XRay44]

I can't figure it out either. It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure it was Tasty Minstrel Games that said this.

[@MaxwellSchmalzried]

I still like and play the game, but I think the points on the tiles are broken. The deeper tiles are ALWAYS better, I think it would help the game if there was an amount of overlap between each level. That way going deeper is still better, but how much better?

[@tommyakesson8858]

But thats the point. The whole risk/reward. And it also adds to the importance of the later rounds, since they are easier to get by then.

[@XRay44]

I was wrong, it was Iello Games that claimed Deep Sea Adventure was broken, not Tasty Minstrel Games. Not sure if Tasty Minstrel Games has ever looked into Deep Sea Adventure or not.

[@nanorider426]

Wow. I gotta pick this up. This is a great filler. :)

[@chuckm1961]

Echoing your experience, Zee. I want to like this game, but every time I do, people die repeatedly and don't want to play again.

[@wh3elson]

chuckm1961 maybe not go so deep then? Sure that extra 5pts is really nice, but is it actually worth anything if you drown?

[@eXGaming4u]

Didn’t you say you skip a person but you didn’t skip on the yellow guy on his 2nd turn. Confusing?