Arcane Wonders Aquatica: Cold Waters Expansion

My husband & I game...a LOT. This is a great addition! Very easy to get started. We like that you don't have to continually track resources-you use them with each turn. Also, this type of game where you don't know who won until the end is something we like. It keeps you motivated to keep trying and not give up! As with card games, it helps to know the card verbiage so as you play more, this is easier. Now, the strategy! You could have your next 2 or so moves figured out, and another player does something to mess you up! So, it's a game where you're constantly thinking, analyzing and evaluating your moves. It's also based on cards that you acquire...but you can select, unlike some games where it's a 'blind draw'...we like the selection. Very few minis...again, less to track! Our only complaint...the ink on the 'wild' mantas...it's just too dark. We will find a bright permanent thin sharpie to write over them. Other than that...well-designed and great replayability! Once you get the hang of it (by the 2nd game for us) it plays reasonably quickly for 2 people. Have not tried with more than 2 yet or the solo. We already want to try the Cold Water expansion (we own already), and just ordered the Reef today as we like it that much!! If you're new to gaming, this is a great, entry-level game with good mechanics!

Tom V. of the Dice tower channel on YouTube does an excellent review of this game and I would highly recommend you look at this if your on the fence. Below is my personal review. Fantastic engine builder and stunning beautiful artwork on the cards. This game is extremely simple to learn. I will probably use it as a go to game when children are running around because it doesn’t require a huge amount of attention but still engaging enough for competitive board gamers. Pros: Easy to learn Art work on the box and the cards are absolutely stunning The manta tokens are really really nice (3D) Everything fits in the box very well Truly 40min-1hr play time Cons: 1. I wished there was more variety in the cards you can recruit. - Everyone starts out with the same 5 cards and then you start to buy different characters which gives it an asymmetrical note, however there are duplicates of the characters everyone can buy (about 2 each) and there are only about 10 or so different characters. The expansion to this game will help this but I still am left wanting more. 2. The cards are a bit lacking in quality. - although many many many boardgames don’t have the same material of cards that this game does I wished they were a little sturdier. Especially the location cards. I can see the edges getting bent or damaged if someone doesn’t take card inserting the card into the player board. I bought card sleeves for the character card but the location cards are a different size of card so there’s not much that can be done to protect the thin material. 3. The game could become stale after 10 or 15 times of playing - there isn’t a massive amount of depth to this game (pun intended) so for those looking for a drastically different game every time you won’t get it here. More character cards would solve this problem to some extent and there is 1 expansion with the hope of more. All in all I love this game. The cover is beautiful, the components are fantastic (with the exception of my high expectations for card material) and the game is easy to jump into. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone looking for a simple game that has elements of engine building and card and timing management.

This game is very easy to learn and highly immersive. It involves strategy which can be shared with friends or played solo. The artwork is great and the playtime is anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, so it makes a fun little fill type game with your group or your family. The card keeper is unique and truly goes with this theme. After choosing your sea king you must strategize to gain the most points from a combination of the mantas and gaining points from conquering or purchasing locations. All of this with an underwater theme. This is definitely a gameboard essential.

Bought this for my BF for Christmas, and we enjoyed it. Have only played it twice, but it is a nice game, and the images are really nice. It is not too hard to pick up after a game, and I like the fact that it is competitive without being directly set against each other. For the money, I think it is a fun thing to add to a collection if you like these sorts of games.

Fun expansion set for the original Aquatica game.

We added both expansions, but I might buy a vanilla copy just to be able to play the base game without having to take all the expansion stuff out every time. It's a great game, not super hard, but also, engaging for the experienced gamer. I love the cover as well, easily in my top 5 game covers of all time and I've owned at least 500+ games. Unfortunately, not all the art in the game lives up to the box cover, In particular I find the location cards too different than the rest of the game's art for my liking and the characters are totally different than both that art and the cover. The coral reef expansion replaces the board, which also replaced the cover art with art that I found very inferior to the original, which is too bad. It's a great game though, accessible easy to play, quick to set up, fun decisions, makes it to the table often.

First of all- you need to know that this is NOT a standalone game. It REQUIRES a copy of Aquatica to play- but you probably already knew that. What does this expansion do? It eliminates the one end-game trigger of putting the manta rays on the accomplishments at the top of the board (eight cards in hand, all of your slots filled, etc.) and adds new cards with unique and strong powers to utilize. If you prefer to keep the game more as it was originally but want more variety, it also includes new accomplishments to replace the originals. AND it comes with a fifth player board and cards. Some of these cards include new powers to exploit. There's even more. If you like Aquatica, it's a strong possibility you'll like it even more with Cold Waters.

Game is fun, but I knocked off two stars for deceptive advertising. We specifically bought this to play 5 players (we own the base game), and the box says on it "with this you can play 5-player games". Even some of the reviews on Amazon say this. HOWEVER they fail to mention that this expansion does NOT include an additional player board or the pieces needed for the 5th player. You get a larger community board that everyone can play on, but each player still needs their own individual player board and tokens to play. A fifth player board is SOLD SEPARATELY as part of the "Cold Waters" expansion. If you don't have Cold Waters, the only other option is to maybe make your own player board and tokens out of whatever you have around the house.....

In dieses Spiel kann man sich nur verlieben. Anleitung zwar auf englisch. Aber leicht verständlich und gut bebildert. Die wenigen Sätze auf den Karten wiederholen sich und sind auch leicht zu übersetzen. Wer Set Collection und Deck Building mag ist hier genau richtig. Sehr schönes Kenner-Spiel.

it's one of the few games I've ever played and wanted to immediately play again when it finished, lots of competition, decision making, and quick setup make it exciting to bring to the table

This is the most Complicated & Boring piece of garbage we as a family ever played. We had a genius with us and even she was bored to tears. No wonder this game is on everyone's shelf. It should stay there, on the shelf, forever. One Star because the Game looks pretty but run for the hills, this is madness in a box!

The game is interesting, thinky, and the combos were fulfilling. Components were premium (esp. the layered boards) and the insert is well thought-out. Definitely want to play this often.

El juego no necesitaba una expansión, pero lo que agregó lo mejora en muchos sentidos. Primero lo de quinto jugador no me importa. Agregaron más cartas de océano que te dan más variedad y aparte un tipo nuevo que si la tienes en tu descarte te da beneficios. Ayudan a conseguir más dinero o poder de conquista. Y esto involucra al módulo más grande nuevo que trae, las tribus. En vez de objetivos usas tribus que te dan puntos al final del juego o habilidades inmediatas/continuas durante el juego. Estás cuestan mucho dinero y es por lo cual hay más cartas de océano para aumentar esa cantidad. Si han jugado mucho Aquatica, recomiendo ampliamente la expansión.