Who doesn’t love a peaceful cruise out on the ocean blue? Today we are going to take a look at a game that puts us all on a ship and sails out to find the most beautiful island in the land. Let’s see what happens when we go sail the open seas!
Tranquility is a co-operative game by James Emmerson and published by Lucky Duck Games. It is for 1-5 players and plays in 20 mins.
Overview:
Tranquility is a co-operative game where players work together to fill a 6×6 grid with island cards to connect the start to the finish. Everyone wins if you can connect all the grid cards but everyone loses if a player cannot play or discard a card on their turn.
The game comes with 80 island cards and 25 border cards. There are 5 start and finish cards that are in the deck also. The game is setup with the border cards placed in rows and columns for a 6×6 grid. All the island cards are shuffled with the finish cards. Each player gets and shuffles a start card in to their deck. All the cards are then divided evenly between players and each player draws a starting hand of five cards.
Players take turns one at a time moving clockwise around the table to play a card or discard two cards. Then players draw back to five cards in their hand. Cards played must be placed in numerical order from bottom left to top right. They do not have to be sequential but they must be numerical in order. Once placed you must discard cards equal to the difference between the card played the card already there.
Start cards re played to discard eight total cards between you and the other players. This is the only time you can communicate with your teammates. After discarding you draw back up to five cards. A finish card can only be played at the end to complete the grid.
Discarding two cards as a turn option is done if you have no cards to play or choose to discard. You then draw back up to five cards. You never shuffle back in a discard pile and it is kept face down the entire game.
The game ends and players win if you fill the 6×6 grid and play a finish card at completion. The player loses if you cannot take a legal action to either discard down, play a card or draw back up. There are also expansion cards that help change the game up a bit and make it a different experience.
Impressions
I really enjoyed playing this one right off the bat. It is a challenge and a puzzle that you must work together to solve, finding ways to get the grid finished. Normally my family does not enjoy games that involve cooperative play but everyone really got into this one when it hit the table. We were able to work together in ways that we didn’t even know we were doing at the time as you do not fully communicate despite the desire to do so!
This game is easy to set-up and play but it will take up some room on your table. The tiles are all good size and your grid definitely will use up room quickly. I would recommend everyone being spread out to be in a good spot because you need to see the different openings for this one as well. The teach will be quick and the game jumps right in fairly smooth, there is little prep or involvement for the teach on this one.
Overall I would recommend this one to families or groups with mixed levels of experience and knowledge on boardgames. It is likely going to be a game that you and your group will need multiple times to finish and “win” so the challenge will be there for just about any level of player. Check this one out and put your co-operative skills to the test!
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