In 1954, with an explosion over a hundred thousand times more powerful than even the wildest estimates, the Castle Bravo nuclear test obliterated the Bikini Atoll, and ruptured the Earth down to its mantle.
As water levels rose in the aftermath, the remnants of humanity fled their homes and took to the sea. World leadership came together to build a massive Flotilla, mankind’s last bastion of civilization.
Now, ten years after the disaster, the Flotilla is home to the very last of us.
Flotilla features two distinct and interwoven modes of gameplay, as you try to outpace your opponents in bringing prosperity to humanity’s new home. You begin the game as a “Sinkside” Fleet Commander, commissioned by world leaders to explore the new face of the ocean, scour the depths for resources, and rescue any survivors you come across. At any point in the game, you may choose to turn “Skyside,” by selling your skiffs, and leaving your seafaring life behind to now grow the Flotilla itself.
The choice of if or when to switch from a “Sinkside” explorer to a “Skyside” settler defines the very core experience of Flotilla. They represent two similar but distinct game experiences, utilizing the same game components, seamlessly intertwined among all players. If you switch, you’ll flip over all of your accumulated game components, watching your crew grow into new roles with new art for the same characters, while finding entirely new uses for your ocean tiles and resources, and beginning to trade with the “Sinkside” players as you go after new objectives. As players turn “Skyside,” different niches are filled, forever changing the game’s economy. Mastering this ebb and flow will be critical if you’re to shape the new face of humanity!
As a “Sinksider,” you will explore the ocean with your skiffs, pulling some of the 92 hexagon-shaped ocean tiles out of a bag, and arranging them to help you effectively collect resources, discover valuable artifacts from the sunken civilization, all while trying to avoid toxic radiation left from the disaster. You’ll dive for supplies, rolling a pool of custom dive dice that vary based on the depth level of your skiffs. You’ll also carefully manage your resources, trading them on the open market for the currency you can use to buy more skiffs and outposts, or stockpiling them for when you turn “Skyside.”
As a “Skysider,” you will use your resources to build an expansive network of watercraft and docks, using the “Skyside” of your ocean tiles. Your divers will also have new jobs as researchers, rolling custom, multicolor Research dice, to discover new technologies that allow the Flotilla to manage a growing population. You’ll also build Sonar stations, making life a little easier for the “Sinksiders” still out exploring the unknown, while earning quite a few points for yourself.
On both sides, you’ll also grow your relationships with the four different governing guilds, each giving you unique bonuses and more powerful crew. The players with the strongest relationships will also earn valuable points at the end of the game!
The components in Flotilla are unique, immersive, and interconnected. Your skiffs will be able to actually carry up to four resource barrels, and come in a unique shape for each player color. Artifact tokens slot into matching spaces in a double-layered hub board and art on the ocean tiles lines up to create a unique layout for your growing Flotilla each time you play.
In Flotilla, you’ll find significant strategic depth and variety, while giving players the freedom to tell their own story. Will you build the Flotilla by being the first to go Skyside, or stay Sinkside for the whole game, becoming the most powerful seafarer of them all?
- interesting dual-rule concept
- enjoyed Concordia-inspired design
- not yet talked about extensively; impressions forthcoming
- trading and city-building on water
- water-world with floating crafts
- Concordia
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dual rule-sets — two different rule systems that interact symbiotically
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Dimension was the one that I ended up keeping
- I'm booked up until January of 2020 because I need to make sure that I have you know my mental health at the forefront of things
- it's a pretty lightweight card game as you're trying to do a little bit of tableau building in front of yourself
References (from this video)
- Card-driven actions make the game streamlined.
- Complex despite streamlined actions.
- Features significant market speculation and manipulation.
- Action pool management is a highly praised mechanic.
- Two distinct phases (sink side and sky side) offer varied gameplay.
- Nautical/Water-based
- Water/Sea
- Concordia
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Player actions are driven by playing cards from their hand.
- area control/influence — Players build settlements on the 'sky side' of the board.
- Card Drafting — Players can acquire new or better cards from a guild.
- Set Collection — Collecting tiles from the first phase to use in the second phase.
- Stock Speculation — The game incorporates mechanics for market speculation and manipulation.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's fairly thematic I think so you work together you try to get like their different scenarios and different boxes top boxes that you can open like once you finish this next move the next one
- I really like that game like we play that true in a row and that's usually pretty rare for games that lets play two in a row
- I would put it as the best crunchy heavy type game of the year
- one of my favorite mechanics is a little bit like Concordia where your action is car driven so that's makes the game the whole games more streamlined
- I really like how how much market speculation and manipulation oh yeah you can make that whole game almost if you want to
- I always get suspected that's the thing I always get suspect because I'll draw this like scribble that actually silhouettes something that's oblique ley related to it and that's how I like to plan I'm always in trouble for it
- the tricky bit is that each people personality has got different things that they do for example the Jack pushes what to me pulls away or something like that
- that's why I preferred this than that one is because this is cooperative
References (from this video)
- great Concordia-style card playing mechanisms
- long playtime (around three hours)
- some aspects not liked
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Railroad Evolution is super cool and I want to play that one more
- there were many things I liked about the game and there were several things that I really didn't like about the game
- I just think brass is a better game
- the scoring for the way you put your stuff out seemed pretty illogical to me
- I really enjoyed this game
- it's like being a kid in a candy store
References (from this video)
- The game is designed for a minimum of three players due to its critical asymmetric mechanics.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- asymmetry — The game's asymmetry, where one side affects the other, is critical and is the reason it's a three to five player game and not designed for two.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I think the biggest thing for me is we play a lot of four player games four and five player that's sort of our the that's the best count for a lot of the games we play a lot of the heavier euro types of things mostly actually to four players I noticed yeah and where general we're kind of Care Bears when we play really we don't like the big area control sort of things all that much compared with resource building and we're not that take batty or vindictive about things and one of the well there are some exceptions but carry on and I think one of the bigger things in a three or four player game is that I don't like singling out someone to attack or singling out someone to block just for the sake of it and that's a key part of tactical gaming is blocking people out from things when you're playing with higher player counts it for me it's time to do it kind of like I know what you mean though it's like it's about a bit like King making as well especially if somebody is ahead and do you attack that person or do you attack the person that is I don't know that you think that always wins in the game or but is it based on the strategy or is it based on that particular game or you don't want to attack your partner because you're scared that you gonna get kicked out and sleep in the spare part anyway sorry carry on yes okay King making or the need to for the collective team to block each other equally is something that it's something I don't enjoy and I like when I like in a two-player game you strip all of the complexity of that away and a lot of the games that I find scale best to two players or that I like best as two players bring you down to a point where it's just as valuable to block somebody else as it is to forward your own game and that forms a critical part of the strategy so for me that's what I like in a two-player game particularly one that scales down is one where I've got a very clear way of responding to what my opponent is doing
- I think one thing that I like it I like it when a game recognizes that even though it could technically mechanically scale down to two players when they realize that they don't do it very well and they just leave that off the play account all right I think raise an example is flotilla it's a three to five player game I don't I don't believe there's any mechanic reason why you couldn't play that with two players but because it's got the sink side sky sky nezam and you need to what one side is doing affects the other yes that asymmetry is critical to the game and so they just drop two players off you're right I always wonder I haven't thought about that further why doesn't has to be minimum of three players in flotilla is because of that balance that needs to be you know you know strike for the sink site in the side side thank you
- I find treating it as a dual and responding more directly to mice I think it's two things firstly it's responding directly to my single opponents cards if I know they're getting a lot of attacks I'll go and get a lot of moats or whatever the defensive one is if they look like they going a fast game I've got to adjust my pace to that I find that a lot cleaner at two players and four players and the fact that the game almost always ends from the provinces being empty rather than the the decks being out I think that also to play it turns it into a race and I just find that works well for plays yes out of all the minions that you have well this this attacking one I hate I play this you get a curse god and although there's a other type as well that affects others I think I can I haven't played all of the minions played most of them I play more than your thing in Dominion there's a van cart and things like that that probably might change it a little bit but you're talking about the basic good just just any of the well the ones I've played certainly I've enjoyed it a to players and that's how we usually play it
References (from this video)
- One card allows copying the top action from an opponent, offering flexibility.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action pool management — Uses the same mechanic as Concordia where playing cards performs actions and builds up an action pool.
- Hand Management — Managing cards in hand is essential for action selection.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- For me it's quite important let's say you find out about the game or somebody suggests it to you a game you know that you know just like in this game have you heard this my automatic response would be to go to war game get calm page and then look at it and in my eyes guys from the title do the I remember it's on the on the desktop anyway I think on on the mobile phone or mobile the fastest different the title and obviously the picture make sure it's the right game and then my eyes go to the right down for mechanics first thing every time before going through the description
- Mechanics for me it's the quickest one of the quickest way to find out what's the game's about
- The mechanics are less important than the the tightness of the game
- A giant tableau eventually breaks my brain
- I think the perfect engine builder is is the one where you're basically winning or losing not on the quality of your engine but when
- Mechanics for me it's the quickest one of the quickest way to find out what's the game's about.
- I think overall for me the mechanics are less important than the the tightness of the game.
- You want the actions that other players are taking to have a significant impact on your options or the profitability in your options.
- Simultaneous action and turn order drafting.
- Colome is another one I can see up there on the shelf with simultaneous oh yes he's got that same happy pigs thing yeah where you don't want to pick the most popular action and you've got a look at what around what people can do because again you can you can get yourself stuck in a situation where there's only one obvious thing for you to do and if that happens it's that's it I don't want to lose that for nobody so you gotta feed that into your strategy.
References (from this video)
- Nicely produced components and layout; 'very nicely put together to play a game'
- Engaging two-player interaction with tight decisions and opponent awareness
- Thematic flavor within the Flotilla universe; art and world-building noted
- Specialists and 'Genius' provide flexible, strategic options
- Tabletop Simulator implementation improves over previous session
- AP and intense decision-making can slow early turns
- Scoring and board state tracking on Tabletop Simulator can be hard to read
- US-only giveaway; sometimes global availability varies; pre-release physical copy may be delayed
- building and placing structures on floating tiles with ships, ports, and resources
- Sea/underwater world within the Flotilla universe
- Flotilla
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Academies and specialists — Academies hire specialists with one-off abilities; some specialists provide immediate benefits
- Build actions — place Shipyards, Academies, and Ports on four flotilla tiles; costs are resource-based and bonuses apply
- Cleanup tokens — cleanup tokens can be converted to resources or used to score points depending on cards
- Diving action — dive actions enable additional build actions and resource effects; post-dive resolution involves movement and bonuses
- End Game Bonuses — game ends when a flotilla is full or when cleanup tokens run out; additional rounds follow
- end-game triggers — game ends when a flotilla is full or when cleanup tokens run out; additional rounds follow
- Genius specialist — Genius lets you resolve one of three powers, providing flexibility
- Investment — after a dive, you can gain two resources via the Investor option
- Investor action — after a dive, you can gain two resources via the Investor option
- Lock/Swap mechanics — resources can be locked and swapped; lock tokens on tiles affect scoring and options
- Point Salad — port tiles grant bonuses and points, including points for hoarding fish and adjacency bonuses
- Ports and scoring — port tiles grant bonuses and points, including points for hoarding fish and adjacency bonuses
- Resource Management — resources include Fish, Kelp, Metal, and Artifact; ports interact with them
- Resource types — resources include Fish, Kelp, Metal, and Artifact; ports interact with them
- Shipyard bonuses — Shipyards let you play ships; building off an opponent's ship yields bonus resources; placement can be cheaper
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "we love it"
- "it's relaxing kind of like thing"
- "this game is all about constructing buildings on these four flot tilers"
References (from this video)
- Made the host's top 10 of the previous year.
- Has a good solid three-player experience.
- The dynamic market system works well in a three-player environment.
- Playing at five players is a mistake and takes too long.
- Playing with a new player and being rusty after a year made the five-player game difficult.
- Space trading and market manipulation
- Water and sky worlds
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Engine Building — Building up capabilities to gain points.
- Flipping board/mechanic — Can flip between water world and sky side mechanics.
- Market manipulation — Players can influence market prices.
- Resource Management — Managing resources to trade.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this one i can't recommend enough
- it was really fun it was just a lot of fun again
- man i really recommend this game especially when you get a good mix of players at the table four or five players and you can just really kind of slice each other's throat
- personally I prefer doing imperium because again it's got that nasty cutthroat you know throat slice to it
- it's not really fair to compare them because they're they're two different vibes although the mechanically they're very similar but the vibe of them is very different
References (from this video)
- Heard many good things
- Has cool elements
- Game has two halves
- Never got to the table
- Space Fleets
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Two-part game — The game has two halves.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The Morrigan Game Factory though, what a great escape room game. It might it's it's definitely in my top escape room games.
- Noobs in Space is one of my favorite little games that's so unique and interesting. You have a deck of cards, you deal them out to everybody. Everybody has cards in their hand, and then you just solve those cards by saying things out loud, working together to play cards, and hopefully you solve it. It communication is the key. You can say anything you want, uh but you just can't show cards. And it's hilarious and fun. Very, very enjoyable.
- If you really like what we're doing here at the Dice Tower, then there are different ways to support Dice Tower.
- Tell your friends about the Dice Tower.
References (from this video)
- fascinating, intricate system of checks and balances
- strong thematic integration of mechanics with artifacts and market dynamics
- two viable play paths (sink cider and sky cider) with distinct strategies
- card-driven turns resemble Concordia's action structure
- rules-heavy and lengthy to teach
- initial scoring/balance was unclear and contested by players
- artifact payout variance feels unbalanced
- five-player game can be lengthy and the box/box shape is awkward to store
- not as elegant as some other games; would rather play Concordia
- floating civilizations, resource trade, and political/economic jockeying between factions
- Earth is flooded; ocean-based civilization building with sink ciders and sky ciders
- Concordia
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- adjustable market — an adjustable market where selling goods affects prices; switching roles influences access to cheaper resources
- artifact drawing from a bag — matching three symbols yields artifacts with various payouts, adding thematic flavor but high variance
- Card-driven turns — each turn you play a card to perform its action; you can draw back all cards with one card
- diving with dice for resources — sink ciders dive to collect resources by rolling dice; some results impose penalties (radiation) at end of game
- dual-role progression — players can switch between being a sink cider (explorer) and a sky cider (city-builder), permanently changing scoring and play
- outpost/objective race scoring — outposts cost money and provide points via objectives; players race to complete them
- tile placement and district scoring — placing tiles to build flotilla districts yields points; colorfully scored districts matter
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a game full of rules; the rulebook is a pretty substantial overall
- it's one of the more fascinating games I've played in a long time
- I would certainly play it again
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- what happened when nuclear tests went wrong and obliterated the earth
- everything is submerged in water and well leadership came together to build our new home
- in this video we're going to take you through the full rules for the game
- there is a heavy market manipulation element to this game
- players decide independently when they're going to switch to the sky side
- The game ends once a set number of victory points have been collectively scored and the player with the highest score wins
- Switching from sink side to Sky side is a major turning point of your game it is the moment where you stop searching the ocean for resources and you start building your flotilla
References (from this video)
- Heavy market manipulation element.
- Players decide independently when to switch to the sky side, leading to different player phases.
- Founders explore new depths and draw/place ocean tiles.
- Delvers gather resources via dice rolls.
- Traders deal in transactions and market manipulation.
- Speakers gain influence with guilds.
- Captains rally and allow players to retrieve discarded cards and switch to the sky side.
- Sky side players build up the flotilla for points.
- Research allows players to improve technology.
- Guild track influence is important for scoring.
- The scholar card offers flexibility by copying opponent cards.
- If an artifact is not in the bag, gain 4 points instead of the artifact.
- Depletion symbols can deplete resources across the ocean, making hexes unusable.
- Switching to the sky side early gives more money for selling skiffs, but switching late allows building more tiles.
- When building an outpost without a construction site, it costs an additional $20.
- If toxicity marker reaches the final space, it returns to the first space, and a toxicity penalty marker advances.
- Rebuilding society on a flotilla of rubbish after a nuclear catastrophe.
- An alternative version of the 1950s where nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean have gone badly, destroying land masses and populations. Survivors struggle to live on a big flotilla of rubbish in the middle of the ocean.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — At the end of the game, players resolve majorities of guild seals on each of the four guilds for bonus points.
- Card Drafting — Players choose one card from their hand to play face-up into a discard pile to resolve actions, with new cards being added to hands from guild decks.
- Dice Rolling — Used for diving actions to gather resources, with different dice for different ocean depths, and for research actions.
- Market Simulation — Players can buy and sell resources, with prices shifting based on these transactions, and can score points for extreme market manipulation.
- Push Your Luck — Rolling dice for diving and research involves risk and reward, and advancing on the toxicity track can have negative consequences.
- Resource Management — Players gather resources (barrels) from ocean tiles and use them to build outposts or flotilla tiles, and can manage a personal reserve.
- Set Collection — Completing circles of matching artifact colors allows players to find an artifact, and advancing on guild tracks can involve collecting cards.
- Tile Placement — Players draw and place hexagonal ocean tiles during the sink side and flotilla tiles during the sky side, with adjacency and other restrictions.
- Variable Phase Order — Players independently decide when to switch from the sink side to the sky side, leading to different player states within the same game round.
- Worker Placement — While not explicitly stated as worker placement, actions are driven by playing cards from hand, and players can gain new crew cards from guilds.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- what happened when nuclear tests went wrong and obliterated the earth
- everything is submerged in water and well leadership came together to build our new home
- in this video we're going to take you through the full rules for the game
- there is a heavy market manipulation element to this game
- players decide independently when they're going to switch to the sky side
- The game ends once a set number of victory points have been collectively scored and the player with the highest score wins
- Switching from sink side to Sky side is a major turning point of your game it is the moment where you stop searching the ocean for resources and you start building your flotilla
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Trek 12 is a roll and write game.
- What's a roll and write game? If you'd asked me 2 weeks ago, which you did, I wouldn't have known what it was.
- the way it works is that you roll some dice, and then you write a result on your board.
- For every fixed line, so, for example, there's one through to five, you score the highest number plus the number of other members of the fixed line.
- Or for the zones, you score the high the number that's that the zone represents. So, this is a four plus the number of other numbers in there.
- The person with the most points wins.
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we haven't slept in a week
- we brought all the games up here
- sixty games, so it's gonna be an hour or so
References (from this video)
- Highly asymmetric engine with multiple viable paths to victory
- Satisfying flip mechanic that reshapes strategy
- Strong table presence and player interaction
- Rich synthesis of mechanics drawing on Concordia and Carcassonne
- Very heavy; long playtime and table-space intensive
- Steep learning curve due to asymmetric cards and tracks
- trade, exploration, resource management, dual-guild faction play
- Oceanic exploration with floating cities; exploration and resource networks governed by guilds
- asymmetric, double-sided components flip changing play state mid-game
- Concordia
- Caledonia
- Raccoon Tycoon
- Carcassonne
- Wrecking Tycoon
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice_drafting_with_toxicity — Dice rolls yield resources but risk toxicity and depletion
- flip_mechanic — Flip components to switch sides (sink/sky) with different rules
- hand_management — Asymmetric guild cards determine actions and scoring
- resource_market_and_transactions — Player-driven pricing and transactions affect income
- set_collection_and_scoring — Score via survivor, sonar, resources, and completed objectives
- tile_placement — Place ocean tiles to shape the board and resource availability
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the absolute coolest thing... flip all of the components you control and you can go from sink side to the sky side
- the most unique thing I've played in board games is the fact that you can flip all of the components you control
- you can flip all of the components you control and interact differently