“In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.”

So starts the poem used to teach about Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas.

It’s hard not to think about sailing and searching out lands when you’re playing the clever tile-laying, puzzle game Land vs. Sea by designer Jon-Paul Jacques and publisher Good Games Publishing.

Players work to create completed land masses or completed seas depending on the roles they’ve taken. The player or team who does this the best by the time the final tile is played will be the winner!

 

How to play Land vs. Sea

Land vs Sea is mainly a 2-player, tile-laying board game. Players use the scoring disks to determine who will be the Land player and who will be the Sea player. The Starting tile is placed in the center of the game area and the Volcano / Whirlpool tiles are aside for later use.

The bottom half of the box is then set near the playing area as it will be used for keeping score. And the 2 scoring tokens, used earlier, are placed on the “0” space on the track.

Players then take the remaining tiles, shuffle them, and create two equal-sized draw piles.

Finally, players take turns drafting a tile from one of the two stacks until each player has two tiles in hand. Tiles are double-sided and are kept facing the same way as when they’re drawn. The backside of the tile can only be looked at in secret by the player who drafted it or when placing it.

The game can also be played with 3 or 4 players and the set up is slightly different. I’ll outline that later in this review.

 

Playing:

On a player’s turn, they’ll look at both sides of the 2 tiles in their hand and decide which tile to play. They place the chosen tile adjacent to a tile already in play, matching the edges of the existing tile(s) with the one being placed. For example, land next to land and sea next to sea.

If the player played a tile with an action icon on it, they also take the associated action now. The two possible actions are Play Again or Steal a Tile. These actions play exactly like they sound.

Once a tile has been played and the actions have been resolved, players score any closed-off areas. A closed-off area is where either a land mass is completely surrounded by water or a body of water is completely surrounded by land.

The Land player will score 1 point for each tile that makes up the closed-off landmass and the Sea player will score 1 point for each tile that makes up the closed-off body of water. There are also bonus points printed on some of the tiles. The player who adds the last tile that encloses the area will score these points.

The Volcano / Whirlpool tile is played when one player has formed a hole in the map completely surrounded by either sea or land. If this happens the Volcano / Whirlpool tile is placed in the hole on the appropriate side. This tile adds bonus points for the player who closes the section that contains this tile.

 

Finally, the player draws back up to 2 tiles in their hand. The next player now takes their turn.

Play continues until all tiles have been played. The player with the most points wins.

 

Variations in Play

The game also has a few different ways to play and additional scoring options:

Waypoints

At the beginning of the game, each player takes an additional scoring token of their type to use as a Waypoint during the game. A Waypoint is placed by a player after placing a tile and scoring any closed-off areas. It must be played on a tile that hasn’t scored and does not already have a Waypoint on it. It then acts like an additional bonus point during scoring. At which point it is returned to the owner. It may also be returned if the tile it’s on gets surrounded by 6 tiles but not part of a closed-off land or sea area.

Mountains and Coral

Some tiles contain images of Mountain Ranges and Coral Reefs. When a player places one of these tiles so that the mountains are directly adjacent to other mountains or the coral is directly adjacent to other coral, that player immediately scores 1 point per tile with the matching feature directly adjacent to it.

Caravan and Ship

Some of the tiles have images of Wagons and Ships. Whenever a player places a tile with a ship or wagon next to another tile with a ship or wagon, this creates a Trade Route and they immediately score 2 points. At the end of the game, check each trade route to see which player holds the majority in it. If there are more wagons in the trade route than ships, Land will score 1 point per wagon. If there are more ships than wagons, the Sea player scores 1 point per ship in the trade route.

3-Player game

In a 3-player game, one player will be the Land, one player will be the Sea and one player will be the Cartographer. When setting up, it’s recommended that players sit Land, Sea then Cartographer. The draft works as normal and the turns also work as normal.

When scoring, Land will score for the landmasses created and Sea will score for the bodies of water created. Bonus points still get awarded to the player who adds the final tile that encloses an area. This is how the Cartographer earns most of their points.

When using the Mountains and Coral variant, only the Cartographer will score these points. When using the Caravans and Ships variant, the in-game scoring stays the same with the player placing the tile earns 2 points. However, at the end of the game, the Land will score for trade routes with the most wagons, Sea will score for trade routes with the most ships and the Cartographer will score when trade routes have an equal number of wagons and ships.

 

4-Player game

In the 4-player variant, players play as teams: 2 for Land and 2 for Sea. When setting up, players must sit alternating seats Land and Sea. Players draft tiles as per the normal rules and take turns as normal.

 

What we like about Land vs Sea

Although Land vs Sea has a very simple game mechanic of tile-laying, how and where you lay those tiles is what this game is all about.

While players are trying to close off land and sea areas, they can also score points from the closing bonuses, adjacent mountains and coral features, and trade routes. Players can also keep other players from closing off their areas which can be very frustrating. In fact, during a 4 player game it’s wise not to talk out loud to your partner about your plans so the other team doesn’t block you.

The game is very easy to learn and easy to teach to first time players. Adults and children alike can pick it up easily and have a good time playing it. Especially if you play the standard game and then ease into the different variants.

The components are also great.

The tiles are a good thickness and the scoring tokens are heavy wood. The fact that the box doubles as a scoreboard is very clever and a great use of the space.

The artwork is super fun and each tile has a lot of neat illustrations to be discovered. In addition to the Mountains, Coral, Caravans, and Ships there are many whimsical land and sea characters roaming around.

 

 

How does Land vs Sea score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

I really enjoy tile-laying games like Carcassonne, and Land vs Sea definitely hits the mark on this. The world created by the end of the game is very appealing and fun to explore.

Not only is it a fun tile-laying game, but it also plays quickly (the box says 40 min.). There is no set up to speak of so it’s up and running in no time. And cleanup is a breeze.

Land vs Sea ranks very high on our “Let’s play again” game meter and will see a lot of playtime in my BG Stats app.

If you like tile-laying games, grab a copy of Land vs Sea for your family.

 

About the Author

Dane is an Advertising and Layout Manager for a national magazine by day and a husband, father of four, and board gamer by night (and mornings). He has a passion for board games and believes board games help bring families closer together while providing kids a unique way to learn many diverse skills. And he thinks they’re downright fun!!!