Sockeye follows the life-cycle of a Sockeye Salmon. It is designed to be a fun educational exploration of salmon information.
Players begin as salmon eggs which hatch into fry. The fry grow into fingerlings in a lake and then proceed to the ocean. This course is reversed as the salmon returns to the same spawning bed were it was born. Along the way there are many hazards to the growing salon; from river dangers to being eaten by animals and people.
The game is a standard roll-and-move variety. The frequent hazard spots move the player back or forward a number of spaces; make a player miss a turn; or require a particular number to be rolled before continuing. The last hazard, three spaces from the finish, is particularly nefarious as it sends the player all the way back to the beginning.
The game comes with a map of the Sockeye spawning rivers of BC Canada and a detailed description of the life-cycle of a Sockeye Salmon. The game artwork is beautiful, from the board to the fish-shaped playing pawns.