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That being said, the game does well to wrap the mechanics in a theme that is both appealing and universally understood. The coral reef serves as an effective metaphor for the game’s core mechanics of growth, expansion, and pattern creation. It’s easy to imagine yourself as a master reef architect, strategically placing your coral pieces to create the most stunning underwater panorama. Soon multi-turn plans form in your head, can you put together just enough cards before you opponents do to play a few pieces into you reef to build it up to a point where you can play one single card for mega points at the end? Maybe, or, maybe not. There’s a certain frustration baked into this game – players simply need to deny themselves something every turn, whether that’s the card with resources they need, or the chance to play our resources this turn. The game only ends when one of the colours has run out, so those who are ahead can attempt to race through pieces and trigger the end of the game. Reefis very much a game about efficiency, every card you play gives you two coral and then scores you based on what you have present, but almost none of the cards give you the type of coral you need for the card's scoring rule, so you have to try and combo your cards. In an ideal world you'll manage to string them together so that each card sets up the next, but in reality you often have to play several cards to set up your next big score. It feels so satisfying when things go right, and equally frustrating when the cards you want just aren't appearing.
Attention: You have a hand limit of 4 cards. If you already have 4 cards in your hand, you cannot take another card. You must perform action B instead. B. Play a card from your hand to grow your reef and (if possible) score a patternYet, despite the strengths in component quality, the artwork is where Reef might fall short for some. It’s undeniably clean and easy to understand, but it doesn’t quite capture the teeming biodiversity of a real coral reef. Sure, the vivid colors and shapes hint at the wonder beneath the waves, but there’s a lost opportunity for richer thematic art here. For those who favor a more illustrative approach to board game art, the functional design might come off as somewhat sterile. Despite this, the components and artwork work cohesively to create an engaging and visually appealing tabletop experience. Gameplay Experience
If patterns show wild pieces (a 4-colored shape) with printed numbers, only the height of those top pieces is relevant, not their color. Reef is a simple game to learn and play. Players try to score the most points by adding colorful coral pieces to their growing reef and scoring patterns. In the realm of abstract strategy games, Reef often draws comparisons to games like Azul and Splendor for their shared emphasis on aesthetics, simplicity of rules, and depth of strategy. Yet, each game carves out its own niche in the genre. Which means there’s a fair amount of planning ahead and strategizing that may be difficult for younger players to grasp. In fact, it may also take older players an initial play or two before they really get the synergy of play. The card artwork is fantastic, with lots of vibrantly coloured sea creatures popping spectacularly off the cards. Mesa Schumacher’s skill as an artist for a range of anatomical and biological publications has leant itself to the game’s art design. Additionally the size of the cards have actually been increased by something like 50%, making the images a bit bigger and clearer. They are also a bit easier to handle for shuffling, dealing and passing between players. In my opinion, the artwork of the original just inches above Coral Reef, but the bigger card size is a major bonus. In the previous game, one criticism I had was the gloss texture to the cards. In Coral Reef, though the texture is the same, the increased card size means that everything is much easier to see, shuffle, and pass around.Moreover, the player interaction, while subtle, also contributes to the game’s replayability. The shared card draft allows for indirect competition as players vie for the same resources. There’s a satisfying tension in trying to anticipate your opponents’ moves while also focusing on your own strategy. Diving deeper into the game, the components of Reef are where the game truly shines, invoking the vibrancy of a coral reef in full bloom. This isn’t a game of muted tones and drab tiles, it’s a visual feast, boasting chunky coral pieces in a multitude of vibrant hues. The game’s coral pieces are durable and visually pleasing, with four different colors – yellow, purple, green, and red – and unique shapes for each. Timing is crucial. Sometimes, it might be worth delaying the scoring of a card to allow for more optimal placements.
Once the game ends, you get one last chance to score any cards that you still have in your hand. This works like scoring during the game except that you can only count each pattern once no matter how many times it may show up in your reef.
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This also means that if a pattern on a card shows pieces with no printed numbers within them, your top pieces' heights do not matter when completing that pattern. This sounds like a lot of patterns, and it is. This is the most difficult part of Reef to learn when first playing but thankfully there are plenty of examples in the rulebook book for each of these patterns if you find your group having difficulty recognizing them all. I actually suggest you play your first few games open-handed and that way the person teaching the game can show how each card type scores as it comes up. Each turn in Reef you do one thing: you either take a card from the market or play a card from your hand.
Currently, Reef doesn’t have any expansions. However, the standalone game itself offers enough replayability and strategic depth to keep players engaged. Keep an eye on this space for future updates. Comparison to Similar GamesYet that’s not the only reason we enjoy playing Reef. The biggest reason is because it’s a colorful and fun game to play.
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