Game Info
Year
2005
Collection
Mechanic profile
Percentile rank vs. all games
Vibe profile
Not enough video data yet
Description
A board game for 2-5 players. Each player controls a group of Rangers, who are working on nature and industry projects in Australia during the 1920s. The game board shows 6 states, which are divided into 24 land or water regions. Every region contains a face down industrial counter and a face up nature counter. On the borders, you find bases (camps or ships), where the players place their Ranger pieces to score points. At the beginning, every player receives a number of Rangers, which he keeps on his own player board, a plane, and two cards. The back of a card shows how many Rangers you can place in a base and how many dollars you receive. The front of a card shows the region where this base should border on.
The active player must perform two actions from the following three possibilities:
1) A player may fly his plane to a region and turn up an industry counter (if available).
2) A player may play a card to collect money and/or place Rangers in one base. Should this card have the same color as the region where his plane is, placement is free. Otherwise, a fee of $3 is collected from the player.
3) A player may remove up to four Rangers from the game board back to his or her supply.
Note: A special move is allowed to move any Ranger on the board for a cost of $4.
You score points by completing nature or industrial projects. Nature projects are completed as soon as the last free base in this region contains at least 1 Ranger. The player who completes the project receives 3 bonus points. Every player with Rangers in a base in this region receives 1 point for every Ranger (2 points for Rangers on a ship base). Industrial projects are completed as soon as the industry counter is turned over and the surrounding bases contain the required number of Rangers. These projects also provide 3 bonus points and 1 point per Ranger (2 points for Rangers on a ship base). Points are registered on a scoring track. At the end of the game, each dollar is an extra victory point.
The game ends when all card piles are exhausted and at least one player has played his last card. The players add their remaining dollars to their scores. The player with the most points wins the game.
Note: the English rules for the basic game may have an errata. It says draw 9 cards to make stacks, when the non-English rules say draw 8 cards, and the Advanced English rules say draw 9 instead of 8 cards.
Advanced rules
A windmill is introduced. When an industry counter with a windmill symbol is turned over, the windmill moves to another region and will add 1 point to its value. Whenever a region is scored, the nature or industry counter is placed on a windmill track. When the windmill track is filled, a windmill scoring round takes place. To score at the windmill, players need to place Rangers on a special Ranger track (instead of placing them in a base, as they normally would do). The player with the most Rangers on the Ranger track receives the value of the windmill in victory points. The second place receives half, the third place receives half of the second place. After the windmill scoring round, the counters on the windmill are removed and the players have to take half of their Rangers on the Ranger track back. Several windmill scoring rounds are possible. At the end of the game, an extra windmill scoring round takes place.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 10
This page: 10
Sentiment:
pos 8 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–10 of 10
Video Y4nJc-0ZwOM
Top List at 20:50 sentiment: positive
video_pk 67594 · mention_pk 163743
Click to watch at 20:50 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Has a little bit of many different mechanisms
- Fun dice drafting
- Clean and fun dice battle system
- Creates big emotional and memorable moments
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Exploration and resource management
- Oceanic region
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Drafting certain colored dice allows players to place coral in areas.
- Dice combat — After actions, players engage in dice battles where the lowest roll is eliminated each round.
- dice drafting — Players draft dice of various colors, which grant different special abilities and actions like placing coral for area control, moving a turtle on a stream, or getting cards for engine building.
- engine building — Drafting certain colored dice allows players to acquire cards for engine building.
- track movement — Drafting certain colored dice allows players to move their turtle forward on a stream.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- These are lighter strategy games.
- I love strategy games that have interesting decisions but still play in an hour or less.
- if I have four hours to play games, I would rather play three games than one single game.
- it has a little bit of everything in it.
- The dice battle system is really clean and fun in this game.
- it makes for those big emotional moments
- This is a really silly and unique game.
- you will build a bunch of cards and be feeling pretty good about your engine. And then all of a sudden, a lot of bad cards are going to get added to the deck.
- It makes me laugh every time I play it.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video QSce5R48sRA
Unknown Top 10 List at 6:17 sentiment: positive
video_pk 66404 · mention_pk 161679
Click to watch at 6:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- strong ocean theme
- looks great on the table
- multiple paths to victory
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- dice-driven action selection and oceanic exploration
- ocean-themed island voyage with sea life
- adventure-forward
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card-driven progression — drawn cards enable actions and scoring opportunities
- Dice rolling — dice-driven actions with luck and control elements
- Push Your Luck — decisions about which route to pursue for payoff
- push-your-luck or choice-based strategy — decisions about which route to pursue for payoff
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hello and welcome to 2026. So this year I am doing four lists for my top games of 2025.
- This is the medium box game list.
- What would you put in this category? What do you think of my choices?
- Parks and Potions. This is a wonderful game. It looks amazing.
- I adore this game. I cannot wait for the expansion to come out in 2026.
- The artwork on this is incredible. It is really, really fun.
- This game for only being in a box this size is a table hog, but it is really cool.
- Obviously, I enjoy an ocean theme.
- There’s a ton of amazing tiny components in here with no lid.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GwJ965omBgI
Meeple University Discussion at 1:09 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 64855 · mention_pk 158431
Click to watch at 1:09 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Northern areas are good for farming after the initial rush.
- Airships can be used for sniping points.
- Four-player games are easier against monsters.
Cons
- Southern areas can be dangerous early on due to monster activity.
- Players can lose farms if monsters wake up near them before they are prepared.
- Lower player counts can be tough against monsters.
Thematic elements
- Dealing with monsters and building infrastructure
- Australia
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Airships — Airships have a range and can be used for reconnaissance and attacking distant monsters.
- Combat/fighting — Players fight monsters to gain points, and later-game monsters are stronger.
- Farming — Farms can be built for points but are vulnerable to monster attacks.
- Monster awakening — Monsters have wake-up patterns that differ based on location and game progression.
- Railways — Building railways is a stated action that can be done by players.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Hopefully you send me other tips video that I've done and find them useful otherwise check them out here so check the description of this video before I get into it please write in the comment sections below what you think of the episodes and if they are games you want to be featured in this strategy series or if you just want to say hi to me
- I am kind of aware of certain patterns that if you only played it once or twice you might not be aware of but there are things that you can use to inform your strategy
- It's like sometimes certainly on the lower play account it can be hard very tough against all was tense be you see the more place if you're playing a four player game it gets a lot easier I think
- The AYGO variant shortens the rounds from 12 to 8 start you off nicely with a couple of monster parts boosted stats and a pair of charged Leyden jars
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video muNT7_MWBAo
kovray Playthrough at 0:18
video_pk 63835 · mention_pk 157350
Click to watch at 0:18 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- turtles navigating currents; dice drafting
- East Australian Current / ocean
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice drafting — players draft dice; score points for drafted dice
- end-of-round dice tournament — end-of-round tournament where the last one standing scores additional points
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This game is super fun and it's a little bit chaotic.
- Now, here we're turtles trying to navigate our way through the East Australian current.
- Now deep dive was the one that we ended the night off to stick with the theme and this is a push your luck game where you're essentially flipping tiles to create sets of sea creatures to score the most points.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video iu2JNXYWNLA
Ryan and Bethany Board Game Reviews Review at 0:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 62227 · mention_pk 154741
Click to watch at 0:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Easy to teach and family-friendly
- No bad turns; all actions progress your engine
- Rich oceanic theme with engaging visuals and flavor
- Strong synergy between drafting and engine-building
- End-of-round dice combat that appeals to kids and adults
- Good balance for family play; accessible yet engaging
Cons
- End-of-round combat can feel thematically odd to some players
- May be light for those seeking heavier engine-building
- Variability in combat may favor certain dice types depending on cards drawn
Thematic elements
- marine exploration, ecosystem management
- Australia and coral reef ecosystems, ocean currents
- lighthearted, family-friendly
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Place coral tokens to influence area-based scoring on the board.
- Card limits and duplicates — No more than three identical cards per color and no duplicate cards per color, encouraging diverse strategies.
- Combat: Dice — At round end, dice from players contend in a battle to determine additional points and food resources.
- Coral area control — Place coral tokens to influence area-based scoring on the board.
- dice drafting — Players draft dice of different colors, each color provides distinct actions that contribute to building an engine across turns.
- drafting dice — Players draft dice of different colors, each color provides distinct actions that contribute to building an engine across turns.
- Elimination in combat — In the round-end combat, players with the lowest dice are removed from the battle until a winner remains.
- End-of-round dice combat — At round end, dice from players contend in a battle to determine additional points and food resources.
- engine building — Drafted cards boost dice values or unlock effects that synergize with future turns, progressively strengthening actions.
- engine-building via cards — Drafted cards boost dice values or unlock effects that synergize with future turns, progressively strengthening actions.
- First-player token — One die effects who starts first in the next round, impacting pacing and turn order.
- Fish/food resources — Fish serve as a scoring resource and contribute to scoring opportunities during combat and rounds.
- player elimination — In the round-end combat, players with the lowest dice are removed from the battle until a winner remains.
- Turtle track movement — Move a turtle along a track to gain points and act as a tiebreaker between players.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The awesome thing about this is that there's no bad turns.
- A rising tide lifts all reefs.
- This is unbelievably fun.
- The kids absolutely love it whenever we do one of those dice combats at the end of the round.
- It was just a huge hit with the family.
- This game was provided to us by a publisher for in exchange for a fair and honest review.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video gg0YtYPNKdI
Jamie, Tabletoptiktok Review at 0:03 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61434 · mention_pk 154106
Click to watch at 0:03 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Beautiful components and turtle theme
- Accessible and quick to teach
- Engaging, with points scoring every round
- Flexible strategy with balance between luck and planning
Cons
- Luck element in the phase three dice roll
- Fish point values may lack sharp differentiation
Thematic elements
- Marine life, coral reef abundance, turtle migration
- Underwater ecosystem around the East Australian current and coral reefs
- Abstract/educational sea-life exploration
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area majority — Who has the most coral in each reef scores more points.
- Area majority scoring — Who has the most coral in each reef scores more points.
- Card-based in-game benefits — Ability cards provide various in-game benefits when slots are filled.
- Compound Scoring — Points accrue each round based on current position, coral, and fish; final round uses dice with elimination.
- dice drafting — Players select colored dice each round to determine actions.
- dice placement — Chosen dice indicate movement of the turtle on the current and trigger effects.
- dice placement / action selection — Chosen dice indicate movement of the turtle on the current and trigger effects.
- End-round scoring and phase-based scoring — Points accrue each round based on current position, coral, and fish; final round uses dice with elimination.
- Multi-use cards — Ability cards provide various in-game benefits when slots are filled.
- set collection — Collect fish and coral; feed fish to gain points; coral reefs score by majority.
- set collection / resource management — Collect fish and coral; feed fish to gain points; coral reefs score by majority.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It is beautiful.
- I think this is a great game for all ages and ability levels.
- I am a big fan of Australas.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video BKRv9Jdqd2c
Totally Tabled Top List at 1:18 sentiment: positive
video_pk 42882 · mention_pk 130331
Click to watch at 1:18 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Innovative time-track mechanism adds timing pressure
- flavorful Lovecraftian theme with engaging combat
- solid solo play that translates well to a one-player context
Cons
- Not as under-the-radar as the title suggests
- Top 200 positioning on People’s Choice indicates some visibility
Thematic elements
- Lovecraftian horror intersects with conventional warfare/resource management
- hex-map world plagued by Lovecraftian horrors expanding into war zones
- thematic clash of fantasy horror and military logistics
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Combat resolution via card flips — Combat outcomes are determined by flipping a card to see hits; unit effectiveness varies by type.
- Hex-map movement and engagement — Movement and battles occur on a hex grid with various units and targets.
- Resource management — Resources are spent to perform actions like building units (tanks, soldiers) and deploying assets (zeppelins).
- Resource-to-action economy — Resources are spent to perform actions like building units (tanks, soldiers) and deploying assets (zeppelins).
- Time track — Actions cost time; the player furthest back on the time track goes next.
- Time track turn order — Actions cost time; the player furthest back on the time track goes next.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's crazy it sounds downright ridiculous but it's incredibly fun
- Time Track in order to determine turn order
- zombies are represented by wooden cubes
- the solo mode is very well done
- it's wild and crazy and swingy and really leans into the pirate theme
- you can screw yourself over you can have just an absolutely horrendous game
- it's one of my favorite rolling rights
- cooperative pick up and deliver puzzle that is deceptively crunchy
- this auction system is brutal but incredibly satisfying
- the zombies feel scary the system is just incredible
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video mPrAUhI1c6Y
TheGameBoyGeek - Hi Quality Hi Energy Board Game Reviews Top List at 5:50 sentiment: positive
video_pk 13645 · mention_pk 83215
Click to watch at 5:50 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- multi-layered mechanics in a family-friendly shell
- engine-building concepts introduced accessibly
Cons
- could be a bit dense for very casual players
- rulebook clarity could be better
Thematic elements
- engine-building and coral-reef competition
- Underwater scenario around Australia, sea life and currents
- educational yet light
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area control / scoring around reefs — end-round scoring around coral reef influence and card-driven bonuses
- dice drafting — draft dice with distinct actions and colors
- engine building — color-coded dice enable chaining abilities and bonuses when used together
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This game you're going to be basically dressing up uh the kids in different costumes.
- You're going to be mixing and matching or matching and placing them on different things.
- Waddle is kind of a meaner area control game.
- There's a little bit of everything here. There's pressure your luck. There's some planning and mitigating.
- Datoms is a crunchy puzzle to figure out.
- Ink is a lot nicer than Azul, I would say, uh because you can't really totally hoe someone by sticking them with tiles they can't have.
- Positano. Tons of interaction. If you like sort of meanness blocking with some secret auction, that is very interesting.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video _-KMAaYANZE
Chairman of the Board Top List at 22:23:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5115 · mention_pk 85042
Click to watch at 22:23:12 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
very_positive
Pros
- Excellent gateway-level design that blends multiple mechanisms into a coherent engine.
- Dice drafting with a strong turtle track mechanic adds exciting tie-breaking dynamics.
- Balanced combination of area control, drafting, and engine-building that remains accessible.
Cons
- Dice randomness can be off-putting for some players, though mitigated by engine choices.
- Production choices (cloth mats) can hinder usability and physical flatness on the map.
- Artwork variation could be richer to distinguish clans/themes.
Thematic elements
- gateway engine-building and dice drafting in a handcrafted island world
- marine/archipelago gateway setup with coral bays and fish schools
- accessible, modular, collaborative engine-building at gateway level
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card_drafting_and_engine_building — draft and tuck cards to build an engine that provides ongoing benefits.
- coral_bays — players deploy coral to bays; majority in a bay scores additional points.
- dice drafting — players draft four dice per round, with different actions tied to die faces.
- dice_drafting — players draft four dice per round, with different actions tied to die faces.
- fish_schools_and_food — collect fish from a pool; more fish plus required food cubes maximizes scoring from those fish.
- turtle_track — drafted dice determine advancement along a turtle track, providing passive end-round points and tiebreakers.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the tile placement itself is very easy.
- you can only build the colored buildings that are on the edges or the extremities of those particular columns.
- some of the tiles that you can claim are way more powerful than others.
- I'd rather play Carcassonne over this one.
- it's a full-blown game where it's going to take an hour and a half or so to play
- the game really embraces the feeling of kind of Vegas
- I enjoyed it and I can certainly see why people love this one.
- it's a very cerebral game. ... the best player will win.
- Yes, it's pretty much purely random.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Nu-vezJCHUE
Board Game Coffee Discussion at 18:10 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4044 · mention_pk 11825
Click to watch at 18:10 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- easy to learn and teach
- great strategy and tension
Cons
- visuals are brown-toned; not to everyone's taste
Thematic elements
- rail building with cosmic monsters
- Australia; rail network and monsters theme
- quirky and thematic
Comparison games
- Terraforming Mars
- Our Wedding Game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- route/track building — laying tracks to connect cities and manage monsters
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we are going to give away board games to you
- this is such a great game
- stronghold games thank you so much for supplying this
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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