The Great Sea Preview - Conquest or Commerce...The Choice Is Yours
Transcript
Hey there gamers. Welcome back to the Board Game Co channel. And today we have a preview of The Great Sea. Hey there gamers, it's Professor Meg here and welcome back to the Board Game Co channel. Today we have a preview of The Great Sea by Garfield Games. Now this is a current crowdfunding campaign, so you can check out the link down below for everything that they have planned. This is a sponsored video and this is also a prototype copy in front of me, so all rules, components, things like that are subject to change. Now, before we dive into it, uh there are two things for you to know. One is that there are two games in this campaign. So, there is the Great Sea and there's also the Towers of Sifos. And if you'd like to learn more about that, there will also be videos on the channel about that. So, be sure to check that out, but it is in the crowdfunding link down below. Also, if you'd like to see exactly how The Great Sea plays, there will be a three-player gameplay on the channel between AP, Alex, and myself, so you are able to see exactly how the game plays out competitively and what that looks like. Because at its heart, The Great Sea is going to be a competitive game for two to four players with multiple paths to victory. This is going to be one of those games where you trigger the endgame condition and you are you win you are victorious uh immediately. So, in trying to do so, there are multiple ways for you to achieve that goal.
You're able to increase your trade and gain victory or or closer to victory that way. You're also able to battle and get points that way, but you're also able to pay homage to these different temples by having presents or trade routes there. So, you are trying ultimately to work with the temples because those are going to be the most beneficial for you as far as trying to hit that endame trigger, but you're also going to be working on the other two things, which I will show you in just a moment. Now, currently in front of you, you have a three-player game set up with only one player board showing. So, this area over here is set up for a three-player game, whereas this is just one player's area. And the scoring that I was just talking about is going to be this track down here. So what you are trying to do is to get one of your markers from this side here, whether it is your battle or your trading one, and have it cross with this temple track. So for example, if a player were to have this over here, as well as this over here, they would immediately trigger the endgame condition and win. So whatever player is able to have one of their tokens meet their temple token is going to just immediately win the game. And with that, I'm going to explain the general layout of everything that you see. But then after that, I'm going to walk you through the different actions that players have available because I think that's going to show you the best pacing of what you're trying to do. So, as I said, this is the main board that all players are going to be interacting on. So, you're going to be tracking your progress on these different tracks down here. And all of these different areas are regions where you're going to be
able to accomplish these different actions. So, players have their different ships. And your ships are going to be three different sizes. So, you have your small, your medium, and your large. and they are going to have different stats not only when they start but throughout the game. So you are going to have your different ships available and as you can see players do start with some ships on the board as well as some of your buildings and a trading outpost. Now one final thing to know is that these tiles are available for players to purchase and normally they would be stacked above this area here. So, as you can see, there's a 5 4 3 and two coin cost. And normally, these would be above it, but I wanted the camera a little bit closer for you all. So, that's why they are displayed over here. So, now I'm going to walk you through the different actions that you have available to you as a player on your turn, because I think that's really going to show you not only how you're maneuvering around the map, but also progressing on those different tracks that we talked about, because ultimately that's going to lead you to victory. So, there is some general setup that players are going to do where you start off with some resources, some upgraded cards, as well as some pips on your die, which I'll show you exactly what that means and why you would do that in a moment.
But on a player's turn, you're almost always going to have two workers to place as actions on your turn. So, you always have those two actions, but sometimes you are able to gain a third bonus worker. It's only for that next turn. It's use it and then lose it. So, sometimes you can get an extra action here and there, but normally you're almost always going to have these two actions available where you're going to be selecting what you want to do for the turn and then passing on to the next player. Now, these cards down here are going to be those actions that you are taking. And those pips that I mentioned are going to be the dice that are placed on these cards. And that's going to be important because it's basically powering the level of the action that you're taking. So, first and foremost is develop. And that one's going to be very important because here it shows dice may not exceed this dice value. Meaning that this one is currently a two. So none of these other dice would be able to be a three until this one is raised higher.
So that's going to be the challenge is moving up your develop die to be able to keep all of your other dice uh able to move up as well because that is going to control how these actions behave. So with develop, if you choose to do that action, you would place your worker there. And this first action is that you're going to upgrade a die. And then you're able to choose to either upgrade again or you can pay two wood to upgrade twice or you're also able to pay the money here to upgrade these ships. Now, I'm not going to get really into every detail of the iconography. But just know that upgrading your ships is going to make them cheaper for you to proder for you to upgrade to the next level. It's also going to cost less wood in different instances where it's going to be less wood resources for you. And the ships do provide certain tags for you during combat. So that can also be augmented as well. And additionally, your fleet size will change. So normally in one area, you're only able to have a fleet size of eight, which is represented over here. So with that, you are only able to have up to eight worth of a fleet size in that particular area.
So to show you exactly what that would look like, the larger ships are already a size five. So, this one is a size five here. Meaning that right now, this medium ship would not be able to move in because that would make it a nine uh size fleet and you can only fit eight. But this little one would be able to enter in there because that is an eight total. So, that's going to kind of limit how many ships you are able to move around and attack with. And that is going to be the develop action. So, next we are going to have fortify. And with that, you're going to be placing out these two different building types, which are going to increase your income for respectively what you take. So, you'll either be able to increase your coin or your wood income. And in order to do so, you have to have control of that region, which means that you have at least one ship or fort present and also own the trade post or being the only player present. And finally, this symbol here is going to be very important because that is this token over here. So that's your trade token and that's going to be determined by this chart here. So depending on how many trade routes you have out on the board, which is going to be these tokens here, you're able to increase this. So for example, if we had three out here on the board, we would look here, see that it's three, and then only move up once.
However, if we had to have that if we happened to have that fourth one out, we'd be able to move up twice instead. meaning that you're increasing how fast you're able to move up on this track here. And as I noted, once this disc meets this one, uh, these tokens, you are able to win the game. So, that's going to be one of the things and one of the ways that you're trying to move this forward, but that is going to move up based on how many of these trade tokens are out. So, fortify is going to be placing out your different uh, buildings. And, as I noted, the dice are going to limit you to that number of actions. So where this one is a one, you're only able to build the ones, meaning that if we did want to fortify, this dice would need to be at least a two because this is the two dice column. And so that is where those current buildings are. If we wanted to build a 3, four, five, etc. This dice would have to be that high. And therefore, our develop dice would also need to be that high because they would need to match.
Now next we have the trade action, which is how you are placing these out to begin with. So when you take the trade action, you're able to take two actions of these three available. So one and two are both going to be taking income. So as you start placing out buildings, your income will increase. So if you chose to take coins and you had to out, you would be getting those four coins there. So that's a reason why you might choose to take either coins or wood because coins are going to be buying you upgrades, whereas wood is going to help you place out your different ships, which we'll get to. But the third action is going to be placing out a trade post. So that's going to be taking one of these here and placing it somewhere that you have presents. So you're going to be able to place it into the trade slot there and it will be face up because you are able to flip them over for these start of turn actions at the beginning of your turn. Now they're going to let you do a couple things which I'll go over at the end of the player actions, but placing these out are going to be really beneficial for you because you're going to be able to trigger these abilities.
You have other things that will flip them back over when you use them. And you're also going to be able to maximize how far you are moving up on your trade track. Next, we have research. And this is where you're going to be getting your upgrades for your different ships. So, as I noted, you have your three different ships. And you might have seen that there are different symbols underneath all of them. So, all of these ships have different stats even at the beginning depending on what they are. But when you research, you're able to buy these tokens here to upgrade them even further. So where this die is only a one, we're only able to spend one pip in this area. But as this die increases, you're able to spend a pip to reduce the money cost. So for example, if this was a three and we only wanted to buy one card, you could choose to use one pip to buy and then two pips to reduce the cost by two. Now, additionally, the middle option is going to be discarding the top one to have a better options of what is below. So, for an example of what this would look like with only one, you could buy one upgrade. And again, as I noted, the costs are 2, three, four, and five coins. So, if we wanted to perhaps buy this one here, there are a few things that are going to take place. So, this one currently costs three money, but it does have a discount because of this particular symbol here. So, as you can see, the ones that affect the buildings that you can do are going to have a reduction. So, where this was three, it's only costing us two money. So, we're able to spend our two coins and then place this onto one of our ships.
So, it does slot into that particular type of ship. So, as you can see, this one used to have only one speed in the back, and now it has a speed as well as a shield, as well as this ability here, which shows that you are able to build ships where you have your different outposts. So, that's going to be really beneficial for this player to be able to build their middle ships. Now, finally, when you do use these for these different abilities, you will be flipping them over. So, you're only able to really use them once. But this research ability is going to have you flip it back over for you to be able to use it again. So, for example, if we did use this as the purple player where this is flipped over, we would be able to flip it over to be available now to be used again. Next, we have construct, which is where you're going to be building your different ships. So, again, where the pip is going to be based on the actions that you're able to do. You're able to spend one to reduce the wood cost by one. Again, meaning if there was a two here, you could spend one to build and one to reduce the cost.
But you're also able to spend one to build a ship. So, for example, if this was a two and you had six wood, you would be able to build two small ships because you would have the two build. So, you're either able to take the discount or the building, but you still need the pips available to do the build action there. And then finally, after that, this is going to allow you to increase a die. So, this is the other card besides develop that lets you increase something, but this, especially if it's the first action that you're taking on a turn, you may choose to use this to increase a die that you want to use next. Now, finally, we have mobilize. And this is how players are going to be maneuvering around the board and attacking. So ships are going to have specific speeds. The smaller ships start off with two speed, whereas the bigger ships start off with one. As you can see, you are able to upgrade your ships to have two speed. But this is going to have you per pip move ships either as many ships as you can into one spot or from one spot out. So you're able to, for example, here move them all out of that spot or you're able to move something in. Uh but you also have to pay attention to that movement. So for example, in this instance here, if we were to move out from this spot, this ship can only move one, whereas this ship would be able to move two, landing them in different areas. So that is going to be how movement is going to work. And then if players happen to be in the same area as another player, you're able to spend a pip only once to engage in combat. Now, I'm going to go
over combat completely at the end of this so that you can see what that would look like, but that's how you would start off that combat. And then finally, this pip here is going to have you be able to add a symbol to that particular combat. So again, I'll show you what that will mean when we go over that. But before that, I want to bring us back to the general pace of player of what players are going to be doing on their turn. Now, the final thing to know is that your outposts as well as your strongholds are also going to have specific abilities. So, at the beginning of the game, you're going to start off with the ones that are on your board, meaning that your outposts and your strongholds each have one health each. They do provide some symbols during combat, and they're also going to gain you the bonuses when you build them. So, this token here is an upgrade that you're able to purchase. And when you do that, you're able to place it somewhere into your board. And then when you place one of these buildings, you're going to be able to place it. And because there are two, I would get double that bonus.
So normally a lot of these are going to provide specific symbols for you either for combat, for health, for movement or increasing your um different sizes for how many ships you can have there. But some of them are going to provide this for you where you are increasing that benefit of where you are choosing to fortify. So that's something that players are going to be able to do and then rely on these different abilities based on where those buildings are for them in play. And finally, regardless of what type of upgrade you choose, when you do take the research action, at the end of your turn, the entire row is going to shift. So, for example, where we chose to buy this particular upgrade here, we are now going to take this stack here, move it over, and all of these are going to change. Meaning that the stack that you chose from is now going to become the most expensive, and everything else will get a little bit less expensive. Now, those are going to be the core actions that players have available to them on their turns. You're going to be using these different actions to maneuver around the map, build out what you are able to, and you're also going to be attacking. But the thing you have to keep in mind is your develop die as well as pips on all of your dice. So, your develop die has to be the highest. Everything else cannot exceed it. So, you need to make sure that you are increasing that to be able to increase your other actions. But with that, you definitely want to increase your other actions because sometimes it's making your actions a bit better. But sometimes it's just gaining access to that action at all. So for example, for fortifying, you're only able to fortify up to your level with
the dice. So if you're not a high enough level, you're not able to place those buildings out. So a constant thing that players are going to be managing is how they're able to increase these pips on their dice in the best way possible so they have better actions available. So with that, let's take a look at combat. Now, this might sound like it's a bit confusing, but it is pretty straightforward once you are playing the game. But when two players do engage in combat, the first thing that you're going to do is set their statistics based on the ships that are there. So, for example, the red player has their largest ship, but it's one without upgrades. So, it would be like this, meaning that it currently has two of the arrow symbol, which is going to be this, which is their attack. So, if they were to have some upgrades, if we uh wanted to pretend that it was the black ship over here, then we could give them these upgrades here, meaning that they would only have one attack, but they would also have one agility as one as well as one strength. So, we are or sorry, one mobility as well as strength. So, depending on the stats that you have available with the ship that is there, you are going to adjust that. So, for the sake of this example, I'm going to use the stats on both of the black ships, but it is the purple and red player fighting off against each other.
So, for this purple ship, which would be the center one, they're going to have everything available here. And oh, sorry. So, this one would also have uh the two power from this. So, they would be up here in power because it is their bigger, more powerful ship. But, this one here is going to have one power for the purple player as well as one shield with the green. and they're also going to have one attack. So that is going to be what is played for both players. But then after that, players are going to have cards available to them. Now, depending on what version of the game you're playing, either the basic or the advanced cards, you're going to have different ones available, but these are the advanced battle cards. So, as you can see, they're going to have actions on them, but they also have some uh symbols at the bottom. So each player is going to choose one card to play for that particular battle. And you can choose to use it either for the top ability or you can play it just for the symbols at the bottom as well. So with that, I'm going to choose just two cards for each player to see how that will adjust things for them. So taking a look here for the red player, I will have them choose to play this card. And again, these are both chosen secretly and then revealed simultaneously. So players wouldn't have knowledge of what you're choosing to do ahead of time, but this player is going to move up two in mobility as well as to an attack. But this player over here is going to try to uh really move up in that mobility as well. So they're going to play this one instead, which is going to give them a
whopping four mobility as well as the two flames. Now, to walk you through exactly what this is going to look like, you'll go through the order of the symbols here. So, first you're going to look at mobility and that player is going to be able to attack first. So, this player does have more mobility and they're going to be able to assess their attack damage. Now, they are only attacking for one, but this player does not have any shields at all. So, the red player will then take a damage. Now, to be able to show that, you have these green boxes, which is your health on your ship. So, it's going to be placed there to represent a damage. If it was enough to destroy the ship, the ship would be destroyed. But players are also able to allocate their damage as well. So that is going to be placed there. And then to go through what this player currently has, they do have three attack, but this player does have one shield. So they're only going to be attacking for two, but unfortunately, as you can see, there are only two green boxes, and that is enough to take this ship out. So the red player was able to take out the purple player uh and remove them from the map. Now at the end of this power is what is going or sorry strength is what is going to be able to determine which player wins if both survive. So if the purple player was able to survive in this particular region then it would look at power and the red player does still have more power. So they would still win. Now when you win a combat that's how you're going to be moving up on this track here. So,
you're going to move up over to here. And then after that, the player that lost is going to be able to choose a benefit. So, one benefit that they're able to do is flip over one of their upgrades to make it even better because all of your upgrades for your ships are able to upgrade to a better side. You're also able to take one of these upgrades or you're able to increase a pip on one of your dice if that's what you'd like to choose to do instead. Now, finally, that player also gets to keep their card that they played. So the purple player would be able to keep the combat card that they played, whereas the red player would lose theirs. Now, finally, looking at this track here, as players move up, whenever you cross a certain threshold, you're going to get that bonus. So this player would gain two wood, but as it goes on, there are better bonuses, even getting an additional worker for that turn. Now, where combat can be pretty straightforward with seeing what ships are available, and you also know that players can only move in so many ships because of their fleet size limits. So, you do know some information, but those different cards that players are playing are really going to change everything about the combat. So, it's honestly a constantly a push and pull of trying to determine what you think the other player might play, what they have available to them, and how you can get ahead. Because depending on what different stats you're able to play into, perhaps they are playing shields, but you play flames, so it's okay because you're getting rid of them. Or sometimes you need to be able to be the one to attack first, so you need to make sure you have the mobility to be able to do so. But combat is going to be one of the ways that players are able to not only get ahead in the game and increase on that particular track, but also
you're taking out your opponent's units that they're using to maneuver around and start using those other actions such as placing out their trade posts or their strongholds. So, you're not only helping yourself by taking them out and gaining points in one way, but you're also stopping them from doing future actions in areas where you don't want their ships. Now, finally, players are trying to also move up on this temple track. And the temples are going to be determined by these numbered discs here. And you're going to be able to move up on this track in a couple of different ways. So, one of them is going to be that if you are in that region with the shrine, you're going to be able to build your trading post there, and that will give you one point for that particular shrine. But because you have a presence there, you're also able to move up again. So, if this player were here and chose to move out, they would actually lose this. Uh, but this is going to be a way for players to move forward. Now, another reason why players want to gain control of these different areas is because if you are there, you can see that there is a three token here and you're going to be able to increase that particular action. So, here we're able to increase our trade to be a bit better and you can see that it is the shrine version for uh that action. But when you lose control of that area, someone else might take control of it. They will upgrade their cart instead. So this track is constantly going to move forward and back depending on your current control. Whereas these tracks will only move forward for you. The Great Sea is going to be a game where
players feel constantly competitive because you're all working in this shared environment. So you are constantly looking at your pips and your developed eye to make yourself stronger, but all the actions that you're doing are working within this shared area. You're trying to build up your fleet to have ships in as many areas as you need them to be able to perform different actions. You're trying to place out your different outposts and strongholds. You're trying to also play out place out your trade posts. And you're all trying to increase on these different tracks. So, as I said, your shrine one is going to be your most powerful one, but it is very difficult and tricky to keep that because it's one that you can lose control of as well. Whereas, trying to move up on your trading track or your battle track is going to be a bit more consistent for you and provide those rewards. So, you are going to get those rewards as they're happening, meaning that you're going to get stronger and stronger as you're able to progress along those tracks. Now, as I said, if you'd like to see exactly how this game plays, there will be a gameplay on the channel, so you are able to check that out and check out the crowdfunding link down below, not only for the great sea, but towers of syphos as well. Thank you all for watching the board game channel.
I've been Professor Meg, and I'll see you all next time. Bye.