There’s lots to be explored beneath the oceans surface. Reef & Ruins is a roll and write game designed by Carla Kopp and published by Weird Giraffe Games. Over the course of eighteen rounds, players will invest in three unique sheets, gaining bonuses and enchantments along the way. Let’s dive in and check it out.
Diving Deep
Good things come in threes in this game. Reef & Ruins leans into the number three which represents the three heads of the hydra on the games box cover. Each round will include rolling three standard dice and using the numbers in a variety of ways across your three player sheets. Each player gets the following sheets:
Ruins sheet – There are six unique ship wrecks on this sheet that each have to be unlocked by spending a specific die number. The ship wrecks all have unique scoring rules and each has there own level of difficulty.
Enchantments sheet – This sheet sits to the right of the ruins sheet and includes a line that shows how it’s linked to each of the six ship wrecks. You’ll have to spend two dice to start claiming the enchantments on each of the rows. The biggest draw on this sheet is the multipliers that are available for each of the ship wrecks.
Reef sheet – Players have a choice between the Bewitching Barrier Reef or the Arcane Atoll Reef. Players will decide which reef everyone will play on before starting the game.
Rounds are tracked by a cute otter token that will move along the eighteen round numbers. Some rounds will start with a bonus that all players will take before the dice are rolled. Once the dice are rolled, players simultaneously spend dice across these three sheets, trying to make the most of the numbers shown and bonuses that are earned.
Exploration
Let’s start with the ruins sheet which sits all the way to the left in front of the player. This is I think the most tricky area of the map to engage with. Each of the ship wrecks on this sheet have to be “unlocked” by spending one of the dice and only stays unlocked for that round. For instance, the first ship wreck is labeled with a one and requires three matching pairs of numbers in order to score the full eight points.
I have to spend a die with a one on it just to get the opportunity to write a number in this section of the sheet. Just writing a number in any of these ship wrecks means that you have to burn a die during a round. It almost feels like you have to spend the other two dice when you spend a die to unlock one of these ship wrecks. Each wreck has a different die number from one to six and they all score in different ways.
My first game of Reef & Ruins was a solo play through and wow did I mess that up. I tried so hard to fill every one of these ship wrecks and it ended up wrecking my score. I’m learning that you’re not going to be able to focus on all of the ships effectively in a single game.
Magic
The middle sheet in front of the player is called “Enchantments”. On this sheet, players will combine two die numbers to create a number between seven to twelve. Each of these sections line up to the ship wrecks on the Ruins sheet.
As you assign dice to these enchantment lines, you’ll start multiplying the score you earned on the wreck that is connected to the line. There’s a nice balance to this sheet that gives the player plenty of bonuses while ultimately seeking those high number multipliers. Players need to be careful not to waste dice on rows where they are are scoring low numbers of points on the connected ship wreck.
The right most sheet in front of the player is the Reef sheet. On the Bewitching Barrier Reef, players can use a die to cross off a connected number on the reef at the top of this sheet. You’ll earn pearl bonuses by completing rows and columns along with crossing out any green corral on the reef.
The Arcane Atoll Reef is another sheet that players can play on which includes a polyomino tile game that has shapes associated with the different die faces. No matter which side you play on, you want to earn pearl bonuses to maximize your points.
A Polished Pearl
Pearl bonuses can be triggered on the Enchantment sheet or the Reef sheet and are incredibly important. Pearl bonuses are shown at the bottom of the Reef sheet and can give you free die numbers, end game victory points (coins), or free enchantment upgrades.
The free die numbers and enchantment upgrades are the biggest way that you advance on the Ruins and Enchantment sheets without spending two dice to write a single number. The die number that you get from the pearl bonus doesn’t require you to burn a die to “unlock” a ship wreck. This is the most efficient way to fill in the numbers you need to finish the various wrecks. Players can also modify a die number by spending a shell for every pip they want to adjust. These shells are earned in sets in various areas of the player sheets.
I honestly feel like each time I play Reef & Ruins, I get more efficient and better with my dice allocation. The three sheets are all unique in their approach. I think that having to spend dice to unlock or pair together makes this game a tricky efficiency puzzle that I really enjoy.
While the front of the box has this awesome looking hydra on it, the game never feels like the magical theme that it’s described as. There are very few roll and writes that actually FEEL like the theme they are going for. This is true of Reef & Ruins as well. It could have the theme of ocean exploration or treasure hunting under water and it would have felt more connected to the game play.
Final Thoughts
Like many roll and writes, there is little player interaction throughout the eighteen rounds. Reef & Ruins is really straight-forward in its delivery and can be punishing when you try to do too much across the three player sheets. The slight variability in “High Tide” and “Low Tide” is nice and the two different reef types play totally different, adding to the replayability.
The biggest endorsement for Reef & Ruins came when Erin shared how much she liked the gameplay. She rarely plays any of the heavier roll and write games in our collection because of the sheer number of combos that you have to keep up with as the game advances. Reef & Ruins feels like a step up from your standard roll and write but doesn’t overwhelm the player with cascading bonuses that make you feel like you’re filing your taxes (I actually really like these).
Reef & Ruins is a great roll and write that straddles the line between light and medium weight game that kept us engaged during its thirty minute playtime.
Reef & Ruins is available at your local game store, through the Allplay webstore, or online through Amazon today.
This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.
Highs
- Three unique pages to allocate dice
- Earning pearl bonuses allow you to complete more sections
- Different reef sheets add nice variations
Lows
- It’s easy to tank your score by focusing on too many areas
Complexity
Time Commitment
Replayability
