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Kelp is a two-player asymmetrical game that offers players a unique opportunity to delve into the natural world of Pyjama Sharks and Common Octopuses, set in a South African kelp forest. Hide and seek meets bluffing and manipulation. Deck builder meets dice bag builder.
As players take on the roles of these iconic sea creatures, they will discover that the gameplay mechanics closely mirror their real-life counterparts. Each has a unique path to victory. The Octopus, known for its cunning and adaptability, sneaks around the board by playing cards and managing their hidden and revealed blocks, channeling the creature's remarkable ability to camouflage and deceive. On the other hand, the Shark, embodying the ruthless and determined predator, patrols their territory and attempts to hunt down the elusive Octopus by rolling dice and using special abilities to mitigate their luck, showcasing the creature's natural instincts and predatory behavior. The game is a thrilling mix of deck-building and dice bag building, as well as hide and seek, bluffing, and manipulation.
There are 3 ways the game can end:
The Shark wins by successfully attacking the Octopus.
The Octopus wins by surviving until the Shark is exhausted or by eating all four seafoods.
- Clear visual setup and teaching flow
- Engaging asymmetric design
- Accessible entry point for new players
- Rule complexity can be heavy for first-time players
- Components count may be overwhelming
- Asymmetrical pursuit with hidden information and block manipulation
- Underwater kelp forest, asymmetric predator-prey interaction between a shark and an octopus
- Educational, step-by-step teaching with emphasis on how each side operates
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric play — Two players have distinct objectives and tools (shark vs octopus) with different win conditions
- block placement and movement — Blocks are moved or swapped on a grid-like board to create opportunities
- Card-driven actions — Players play cards to reveal blocks, move blocks, or gain advantages
- dice bag and resource management — Shark uses a bag of dice to generate currents, search, and strike actions; managing dice as energy
- eat card mechanic — Eating blocks requires matching cards and adjacency; eating blocks advances win conditions
- grid movement — Blocks are moved or swapped on a grid-like board to create opportunities
- growth track — Growth tiles and tracking stimulate shark power progression
- hidden information and reveal — Octopus can see hidden blocks; shark reveals blocks when appropriate
- hunger track and risk — Shark energy and hunger track determine end conditions and buying power
- Simultaneous reveal — Octopus can see hidden blocks; shark reveals blocks when appropriate
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the game is designed by Carl Robinson
- we'll be teaching you how to play kelp Shark versus Octopus
- you win the game by either outlasting the shark or by feasting on all four food blocks
- the octopus will take the first turn
- the four food blocks one shell block one double shell and these three traps
- if you don’t want any of the cards you can decrease one of your energy dice by one pip and refresh the row