One as simple as this will always be an exercise in basic probability, but once you get past the initial learning curve of understanding DSA’s particular cadence, the number of interesting decisions shrink. The small box contains a submarine, a marker for air, 6 player pieces and several ruin chips (treasure) tokens and markers.

Contents: 2 Special Dice; 6 Explorer Pieces; 48 Artifact Chips; 1 Submarine Board; 1 Air Marker; Instruction Manual. This is actually going to be on my “New to Me” post for November, as I just played it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The ‘treasure’ are triangles (0-3 points each), squares (4-7 points each), pentagons (8-11 points each) and hexagons (12-15 points each) and are placed face-down so you cannot see their exact value.You could do objectively better than another player (collect more high level pieces than them) but then have been unlucky and gotten all low value treasure where they got higher values.

The triangles are nearest the surface and the hexagons are on the ocean floor (it’s always the way, isn’t it?While great for casual play (anyone might win if they are sensible) there isn’t a lot of scope for improving skill or strategy. As you go further and deeper, the treasure gets more lucrative, but you have to lug it back up to the sub before the oxygen runs out or you don’t get any points at all. Once a player is carrying treasure, their movement is slowed by one point for each treasure they carry. I really enjoy the aesthetic, but it would have been cool to have art on the Ruin tokens or something. Deep Sea Adventure’s box is jam packed with cardboard and wooden bits that you’ll set up in a semi-freeform manner (no “board” in this board game).