As gamers, we are quite particular about our game components and keeping them pristine. Perhaps it’s how lovely many of them look, or, if you are like me, it could be because you grew up collecting comic books and “bagged and boarded” everything. So keeping things in tip-top shape is just part of your DNA.
The thought of playing a game at the beach, outdoors, or in an area somewhat near water is probably an anathema to most board gamers. It just isn’t done. Well, toss that all out the window as we get ready to play to Seaside. It’s a game about life at the beach that can also literally be played on the beach!
Gameplay Overview:
Playing a game of Seaside couldn’t be simpler. If you are playing with fewer than five players, grab a handful of tokens from the bag and set them aside. Boom, you are ready to begin.
On a player’s turn, they reach into the canvas bag and draw out a token. They then choose a side of it to play. Most tokens fall into one of two categories:
Sea Tokens: These are played into a shared central area and let the player take another turn. Most of these tokens are used by other tokens to score.
Seaside Tokens: These go in front of you. Most of them interact with tokens in the sea. Such as the Beach tile that lets you grab a Shell token for each beach you have, or the Rock token, where having two of them, allows you to scoop up all the Crabs in the sea (and also swipe one from a fellow player).
The only token that really breaks that mold is the Wave token. When played, it lets you flip one of your Beach tokens and apply the effects on the other side. Plus, at the end of the game, whoever has the most Wave tokens collects all the tokens left in the sea.
Turns continue until the bag has run out of tokens. Players then stack up all their collected tokens and whoever has the highest stack wins.
Game Experience:
The components of Seaside are what first caught my eye. I always want to check out games with interesting bits, and the lack of board, cards, or really anything other than discs and a bag seemed pretty novel. And those wooden discs go a long way into making Seaside what it is. Had this been a ziplock bag full of punchboard tokens, I think this game would have lost a lot of its charm. The tactile experience of drawing wooden discs, and hearing that satisfying clack as they stack is really satisfying.
Granted all the cool bits in the world wouldn’t help if the gameplay was trash, but I’ve found Seaside to be quite addictive. There is a simple elegance in the game where turns are lightning quick yet the decisions are snappy and important. A big part of the game is choosing which side of the token to play because filling the sea with tokens is vital for scoring points and lets you take another turn. Yet there is also a push-your-luck element here where while dumping tokens into the sea grants you that extra turn, if you don’t end up pulling a token you need to take some from the sea, you’ve just set up your opponent for a possibly big score.
So when you draw, you need to decide if the sea already has what you want and when you want to stop filling it up. And since tokens like the Crabs require two Rocks to collect, you have to do a bit of preplanning. I can take a Rock this turn, but if another player gets their second Rock first, they’ll scoop up all of those Crabs before I get a chance. Or taking a Beach tile now might be unexciting, as I only get 1 Shell from it, but later in the game as they stack up, I might be grabbing a handful of them.
The decision on whether to take a Wave token is also pretty interesting. Being able to collect all of the tokens in the sea at the end of the game can make a winner, but if someone happens to empty the sea towards the end of the game, you might only collect a couple of leftovers. Plus, the Waves flip over one of your Beaches, lowering the amount of Shells you can take. Seaside is full of press-your-luck moments like this that make it really interesting.
My only real complaint about the game is that the rules and player aid don’t quite fit the packaging. The box is tossed in the trash and everything is stored in the canvas game bag. However the rules and player aid don’t quite fit in there, nor are they water resistant like the tokens. Mine are already getting beat up from being stored there. The good news is I’ve played it enough that we don’t even need the rulebook or player aid anymore. But it would have been nice for publisher Randolph to have taken the “play anywhere” manta of the game throughout all of the components.
Final Thoughts:
Other than my quibble about the paper bits, I love Seaside. I’ve played it with my gaming group, my kids (age 6), and even my parents. Everyone has enjoyed it and it’s gotten to the table way more than I expected. It’s a perfect game for killing a quick 15 minutes here or there, or to take with you on a trip to the beach.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars – A great little game that’s made even better by its production values.
Hits:
• Quick gameplay with interesting choices
• Nice production values
• Easy to learn rules
• Take and play anywhere
Misses:
• Rulebook and player aid don’t quite hold up to the abuse
