Endeavor: Deep Sea puts you in charge of a research vessel exploring the ocean both on the surface and at increasing depths. Recruit specialists, publish your research, and perform conservation activities while you are at it.
This game has been on my wish list since it hit the Hotness. It checked a lot of boxes. Strategic exploration? Yes, please. Modular board to add variety? Love that! Solos well? Where can I get it?! I really wanted to play this game and see if it was as good as I hoped.
Just a few days before Endeavor: Deep Sea was announced as the winner of Kennerspiel des Jahres, it hit the shelves at my local library. As if I needed another reason to think libraries are heaven on earth! I raced to the library, ignoring traffic laws, kicking little old ladies out of the way, and knocking small children to the ground. Well, maybe only the traffic laws part is true. But be warned, if you’re browsing my local library for games—I am not above dirty tactics. Was it worth it? Let’s see!
The soundtrack for this one was a YouTube video of a deep-sea aquarium. Burbling water was a great accompaniment, as was looking up and seeing sea turtles glide past.
Gameplay Overview:
The game plays multiplayer competitive, multiplayer co-operative, and solo. The only difference between competitive and co-op is the addition of bonus goal and setback cards in co-op and how you score. The multiplayer game is played in six rounds. Solo plays with co-op rules and one extra turn.
The board is modular with tiles depicting surface and depth zones. You build the board as you explore: starting tiles are detailed on the game mission board. Each game is a scenario (mission in game terms). Each mission has unique goals (4 for solo and co-op, 3 for competitive). Solo and co-op add 3 bonus goals as well. The mission board also functions as the impact board. Impact tokens can be earned during the game and are placed on the impact board to earn bonuses.
Round order: turn over a Bonus Goal (or Setback card in later rounds). Then recruit specialists, collect new action tokens, and retrieve action tokens spent last round. The strength of each of these actions is determined by your position on tracks on your player board. Recruitment track for specialists, Inspiration for action tokens, and Coordination to retrieve action tokens. A final track, Ingenuity, determines how far you can travel (horizontally and/or vertically) and how many vessels you have on the board.
Actions require spending tokens. To take an action, place a token on a specialist and activate their abilities. The action is performed on the ocean tiles. Submarine-shaped tokens represent your vessel; available actions are depicted on the tiles. Your vessel must be on the tile with the action you want to take.
Allowable actions are: travel, dive, sonar, journal, and conservation. Travel and diving require a single token placed on a specialist with the correct icon. Diving lets you collect a dive token, which provides resources. These are usually research points or alternatively advancement on your player board or actions.
Sonar requires two tokens. One token on the specialist card and a second on a sonar space on the board. Sonar is how you explore and add tiles to your board.
Journaling and conservation also require two tokens as well as research points. Journal spaces let you collect a journal card, which costs research points. Journal cards provide bonuses. Conversation actions require research points and provide a bonus printed on the board. Bonuses from journaling and conservation are often advancements on your player board, allowing you to access more powerful actions. They also add action or impact tokens and can promote your specialists.
Complete the goals (mission-specific and bonus) to win. Game complexity is based on the number of goals completed. Easy mode is the completion of four goals; Legendary completes all seven.
Game Experience:
This game experience is based on solo play only.
This is not a game where you take advantage of random events, hoping for the best. This is a game where you have to maximize every action. Every decision counts.
This game is really thematic, and that aids smooth play. Each game mission is described in a single sentence, setting the scene. The goals are all related to this text. There isn’t a lot of story, but if you read them in order, they do create a sequence of events. It’s not necessary, but it’s a nice touch.
The rules are thematically integrated, so for all the decisions you make, you aren’t losing time figuring out how to get what you need. Need research points? Dive. How else do we research the ocean? Earned bonuses are used immediately, so the order of actions is important. Play the right action first, and it makes your next action stronger, putting you closer to the goal.
For all the thinkiness of the game, you’re not overwhelmed with possibilities, just trying to make the most out of what you have in front of you. Early rounds can feel punishingly restricted, but stronger abilities make later rounds very satisfying. I feel brilliant every time I look down and see a stack of action tokens waiting to be used. When I find a way to sequence bonuses for just one more critical action? I feel like a genius!
Streamlined and smooth are the words that I think best describe gameplay. A lot is going on. But it’s all logical, it’s all linked. There’s no bot or automa interrupting the play or flow. Beautiful game, both in artwork and play.
Final Thoughts:
Was Endeavor: Deep Sea worth nearly committing felonious assault to lay hands on it? Absolutely! (Legal disclaimer: BGQ does not condone nor encourage illegal activity by either reviewers or readers.) Google translates kenner to aficionado. So I am calling Kennerspiele des Jahres the Gamer’s Game of the Year. I think that is the perfect description. This isn’t an entry-level game. This is a game where you’ve seen the mechanics and theme before. Everything pulls together into something that is a near-perfect whole; the art, the theme, the thematically driven actions.
Final Score: 5 Stars – Excellent game. Hits on every level. Definitely worthy of being Kennerspiele des Jahres.
Hits:
• Very clear iconography
• Theme guides everything without detracting
• Zero play changes between multiplayer and solo
• Can play in every iteration (competitive, co-op, and solo) with the same ruleset
Misses:
• Not already in my collection
• Legendary win conditions feel impossible
Source: Board Game Quest
