Does Sharks & Reefs level up Finspan? -TCbH Review
/pic4458123.jpg)
Transcript
Some expansions are there to fix a game. Some expansions come along that completely change the way through which you do play the game. And some expansions exist to kind of enhance your experience by adding new dimensions to what you already love. And then some expansions are just straight-up more content. Well, Finis Spans, Sharks and Reefs is a combination of those latter two. You get some slight variations on what you've already been doing, changing the decision space just a little bit, but in the end what it really comes down to, it's a bucket load of new fish. Let's take a look. Within Sharks and Reefs, the biggest noticeable change is that players get new overlays where you accumulate reef tokens color-coded to the three column types. By default, you get these anytime a diver passes below the sunshine action where you can pay the listed resource for a reef, then proceed on. But of course, there's more fish than you can slap a tuna at included in this expansion that give you more of these reef tokens. Importantly, each are worth a point at the end of the game and you get a fat bonus for completing all six in a column, but the more interesting part is that some new fish have reef prerequisites to play or even cooler, conditional powers. I dig these. And as promised on the tin, there's a butt ton of sharks here which are, well, kind of
just sharks. Not much altogether new. Some interact with the reef, several allow you to freely play fish of other types, and many cause you to scatter a school which is a cool new school effect where you break apart a school into four, yes four, not three, but four fry tokens into different spaces on the board which can in turn form schools themselves. It's cool effect and introduces a ton of possibilities, but because these are usually one-time effects, it's relying on a lot of setup to have the school token, to have the shark in hand to play, the things to play it, the strategy, the reason, the conditions so that it makes sense to play it. It's super cool when it does happen, but don't expect it to be something happening all the time from here on out.
And that's about it. Well, actually, there's a nice new tray for organizing your stuff, which is nice to get everything into the box, but altogether this expansion is barely noticeable. For super dedicated enthusiasts, I'm sure you'll feel it more. There are slightly new tensions, slightly new opportunities, and I definitely felt like the percentage of cards with requirements has gone up, which creates a little bit more logistical concerns, but ultimately this expansion just feels really safe. Welcome? Yes. Easy to integrate? You bet your fish bones. And on that note, I love the integration instructions at the front of the book, which could be a running expectation for all board game expansions from here on out. But nothing [clears throat] about this particularly deepens or even widens the game, even if the point ceiling will be noticeably higher.
So yeah, light touches on the fringes of this ecosystem, but in the end just a lot more fish. And if that's what you want, then that's exactly what this expansion delivers on. That said, for me it feels like it's a little safe. I would have preferred something more ambitious, something that fundamentally ratcheted up the tension of the game, gave you new ways to care about the fish that already existed and new avenues to intersect with these things. And that's not something Stonemaier is unaccustomed to. While I think some of Wingspan's expansions fell into this just kind of more content realm. The vast majority of them, I think, genuinely change up the structure of that game in interesting ways. And don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't appreciate the new fish. I love the new fish, especially little weirdos like the armored sea robin, which if this guy comes up, I don't care what strategy I'm going for because me and this guy, wherever we're going, we're getting there together. But on the whole, it just feels like more and not absolutely necessary. So, I can't really recommend this unless you're getting it at a steal of a deal or you are such a big fan of Finsman that you got to have everything in your ocean. Now that I have it, I see no reason play without it, even with new players, but it's not
like there was a Sharks and Reefs sized hole in Finsman to begin with. So, that's the review. That's it. There There's nothing much else to say. It's more not necessarily different and not necessarily better, but just more Finsman. And if that's what you're looking for, that'll get you going there. And that's our review. But let me know, what is your favorite more content expansion? I can think of a few games where the lack of content to begin with really stifled the variability and replayability where more content expansions were actually exactly what was needed in order to make that game have the dynamism that it needed. I'm looking at you, Eldritch Horror. But put it in the comments below, and as always, thanks for watching, thanks for supporting, thanks for being such a great community.
You know that I've been Jack for The Cardboard Herald.