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In Atlantis Rising you are one of the citizens of the stricken island Atlantis. However, hope is not lost, a mystical portal of 10 components can be built and save the island and all its inhabitants, but fail to build it in time and the island will sink forever under the waves, lost to legend.
Atlantis Rising is a fully co-operative game in which the players must race to create a cosmic gate before all of the island tiles have been destroyed. The gate's components are variable and determine the difficulty level of the game - Easy, Normal, Hard, or Cosmic. The players must also contend with the continually escalating threat of their Athenian enemies, who may destroy one or more island tiles each turn if insufficient Atlanteans are allocated to the island's protection.
Each turn players can choose to place their Atlanteans in any of eight different areas - with placements closer to the sea being more rewarding, but subject to a higher risk of flooding (and the subsequent loss of the associated action).
After placement of meeple but before gaining resources 'misfortune' cards are drawn per player indicating which areas of the island sink, any meeple stood there have a long swim back to shore and do nothing for their turn.
Players have limited 'mystical energy' which they can use to predict or prevent certain misfortunes and cards are available from the libraries that offer powerful one time use effects.
From the back of the box:
Will you send your Atlanteans to mine the untapped veins of precious resources at the very tip of the island, hoping to reap great rewards before the oncoming waves smash into the shores? Or will you remain in the relative safety of the island’s center, where resources have grown scarce? Perhaps you will tap into the power of the mystic energy source - the lifeforce of Atlantis and key to its advanced technology. You may even seek refuge in the vast libraries of the Lost City, hoping to find some tome which will lead to salvation for the doomed isle. Beware though - even as the island sinks into the sea, the Athenians continue to assault Atlantis, hoping to plunder its riches before it disappears beneath the waves.
- Tension builds as tiles and events unfold
- Clear arc from exploration to endgame rescue
- Can feel heavy and long for some groups
- Rule book confusion across editions can hinder setup
- cooperative engine-building with timing-driven endgame
- Atlantean civilization rising to the surface
- pacing-driven, with island and civilization building
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Game — Players jointly attempt to avert disaster and escape the island
- cooperative_play — Players jointly attempt to avert disaster and escape the island
- set collection — Collect resources and triggers to enable big actions
- set_collection — Collect resources and triggers to enable big actions
- tempo_management — Pacing shifts between early exploration and late-game escalation
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The arc is this strange cadence to it.
- And so it has this sort of the arc of the game is in these interesting spurts of attention and ignorance that players throw each to each other's ways.
- The arc has such strong story beats to it, especially with the new stuff.
- Desperation. We're all going to lose.
- It's a nailbiter like it gets right to the edge.
References (from this video)
- great art
- robust engine
- complex for new players
- engine-building + worker placement
- mythical island of Atlantis
- strategic
- Agricola
- Caverna
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — using cards to trigger actions
- worker placement — place workers to gather resources and build a rising city
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I love Loney Labs
- I love the flux
- I am excited about Imperium Horizons
- We love Christmas romance movies
- Atlantis Rising monstrosities
References (from this video)
- interested in playing more
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- sick kids hospital saved my life I wouldn't be here to give you these games if it wasn't for Saint Kitts hospital
- most of them are projects yes this is our Shelf of haven't put away yet
- we have a lot of prototypes we have some prototypes of games that were never released
- you're probably not even supposed to mention some of these but you know what we never said an NDA let's do this
- we can't do this I'm working all the time and I just can't get them done seven days a week 24 hours a day
- I was very upset with that because it was confusing it was because yeah I didn't read the all in
- he's like I'm done I'm gonna walk away you tell me what happens at the end
- it's a turntable yeah it will use the Lazy Susan and we did one of those like uh That 70s Show
- the loudest thing on the planet like it was a big Hollow 10 year old the dice
References (from this video)
- Beautiful components, thematic tension
- Difficulty for new players
- cooperative exploration with exploration and resource management
- Ancient mythic underwater city
- high-stakes teamwork under pressure
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative_play — Players work together to prevent catastrophe or lose.
- resource_management — Manage resources to build and advance Atlantis Rising.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Dice Masters the whole dice Master System is getting the board game coffee seal of approval
- it's dice building and dice are so much more fun than cards
- Tuscany is a must-have
- Wingspan is one of those games that's kind of like it's broken that barrier of people who like I don't play a lot of games before but have you heard of wingspan
- Mysterium is an amazing amazing cooperative
References (from this video)
- thematic and forgivable misfortunes
- great five-player dynamic
- engaging combined actions
- cooperative elements can slow pace
- some may prefer stricter competitiveness
- Cooperative-ish resource gathering with misfortune elements
- Islands sinking while seeking fortune
- Atlantis Rising
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative tension — Players coordinate under a looming crisis, with individual goals.
- scenario of misfortune — Islands sink; players must respond to deteriorating conditions.
- worker placement / resource gathering — Send workers to islands to gather resources and build improvements.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- zero downtime
- tons of interaction
- cringe shot
References (from this video)
- Thematic and tense throughout the game
- Cooperative tension with a nail-biting endgame
- Push-your-luck elements can frustrate some players
- People working to build a cosmic gate before the island sinks
- Mythic Atlantis rising from the sea
- cooperative build-and-survive arc with tension
- Pandemic (cooperative, global threat framing)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative resource management — Gather materials and build to prevent the calamity
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "This is Spooktacular. It is spectacular and spooky."
- "The theme is very well integrated into the story that you're playing through."
- "You can feel the humanity of the ghosts and the dream transitions."
- "It's like Ford versus Ferrari for fashion."
- "The alien gets on board and starts growing. It’s iconic."
- "This is Mad Max on a board. Thunder Road Vendetta is fantastic."