Whirlpools destroy all moving objects (but not land) from the same space and adjacent spaces. The whirlpool is then discarded. Spinning phase The winner is the player who, at the end of game, has succeeded in saving the most of their own villagers. Rule variations Part of what allows players to remain fully immersed in the world created by The Escapement is the way in which they can receive help, should they need it, so I am intentionally going to be rather vague on this point as I would like to leave players to discover the magic of Atlantis for themselves. When teams are struggling, the games master has the ability to adjust the clues accordingly, but it begins with subtle changes that seem to emerge organically from within the game itself, gently guiding players along the correct path with whispered nudges, and things that could be interpreted as perhaps just slightly more blatant signposting. Of course, if subtle cues just aren’t cutting it, there is always the option for the GM to chime in with a more overt “clue,” but even those would be in keeping with the narrative. Any terrain tiles that you remove that are green-edged must be revealed immediately. Green-edged tiles can reveal anything, from a shark, to a whale, or even a whirl-pool. There are different restrictions on movements of explorers depending on where they are located on the board. If they are still on a landscape tile then they can be moved to adjacent tile or move to an adjacent ship. Explorers on land can move up to three spaces, however, if an explorer is in a sea space (known as a swimmer) then they can only move 1 space per round. An explorer can move into the sea or onto a ship but they cannot return to land. A swimmer can only move into a ship if it is sharing the same space. Once the game begins; explorers can share the same spaces and occupy the same tiles. Ships

Play a red-edged tile in your hand. At the beginning of the game this action is skipped since no one has any red-edged tiles. The building that houses The Escapement in Broadstairs is impressive from the outside, but once you’re inside, it becomes truly special. The theming for Atlantis spills out into the reception area, and it’s here that we sat with Lewis, Mica, and Mochi (the most amazing dog on the planet), chatting about all things Escape Rooms and Escapement, before it was time to board the submarine for an underwater adventure. Bonus picture of Mochi – because look at that face! IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN You then take it in turns to covertly place your different value meeples onto an unoccupied terrain tile around the island. Once your meeples are in place you may place two boats into the surrounding waters of Atlantis. Think hard about where the boats go, because you don’t want your highest value meeple hanging around waiting for a lift. Difficulty is always subjective when it comes to puzzles, but the challenges throughout Atlantis (mostly) fell on the easier side for us. This is in part due to experience, but mostly due to the fact that everything just made sense, with clear and clever signposting. At various points, Atlantis presented multiple puzzle paths that could be followed simultaneously, but even with this, the game still managed to flow effortlessly from one thing to the next, pushing the narrative. The puzzle design combined with the multilinear structure makes Atlantis achievable for newer teams, but still utterly enjoyable for escape room enthusiasts, and totally perfect for the necessary team size of 4+.

Rule variations

In terms of villagers, each of a player's 10 pieces have a hidden numeric digit from 1 to 6 located on the bottom. This value represents the point value earned for rescuing the given villager. Once placed on the board, players are no longer able to reference which villager token has which number, even if the piece leaves play. As a result, it can become difficult to remember where the most valuable villagers are located, and furthermore, the values of other players pieces are never known. Strategy dictates that the most valuable villagers are often the ones leaving the island first (on boats), so they are typically the most valuable to go after with sea monsters. At the end of a game, the player with the highest surviving point total wins.

Sea serpents can only move one space at a time, if they move into a space with a boat or a swimmer then they are completely removed from the game. Shark The winner is the player who, at the end of game, has succeeded in saving the most of their own villagers. The first thing to note is that the artwork on the box is lovely, always a good start. Inside, everything is neatly organised and can be kept neat even once you’ve got everything out of the little bags. The components are great: from the board all the way to the meeples.

Rules

This action is not able to be taken on the first go but in subsequent turns this is the phase that you are able to play any special abilities that you have gained from tiles. You are able to play one tile per turn during this phase and take the appropriate action. Action 2 – Explorer / Ship movements