Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8797686/aquaris

Designer: Fernando Prima
Publisher: Titan Boardgames
Artist: Santiago Zanon

I’ve been in a bit of a funk recently in terms of print and play roll and write games, so to no fault of the game, I had some lower expectations for this one. Thankfully, my concern was for nothing – this one is fun!

Aquaris is a simple roll and write game about creating an aquarium. Each round, five dice are rolled and each player gets to use them to expand their aquarium, strive to achieve personal and shared goals, and ultimately, work to have the most points by the end of the game.

Each dice value has at least one use on the board, some more than one. 1s, 2s, and 3s can be used to place sea creatures in the aquarium, 4s and 5s can be used for ornaments, and 6s for seaweed. Additionally, 1s can be utilized in the filter section to help clean the aquarium, and 4s can be applied to the making of pearl necklaces. As boxes get crossed off in the animal, ornament, and seaweed sections, sometimes those boxes have benefits like pearls (can be used for the necklaces), stars (wild so can be used anywhere), and arrows that allow you to mark an additional box in one of the connected sections following the arrow.

Each game lasts exactly fifteen rounds, and then each player gets an additional two stars at the very end. Points are scored based on what’s in the aquarium, how clean it is, and how many pearl necklaces were constructed. There are also some bonus points that can be gained along the way in different boxes, and players gain points for any goals they accomplished.

Besides the variety of goals and the inherent variability that comes with a dice rolling game, there are also unique characters with specific starting resources and special skills for dice combinations that can be activated throughout the game. There is also an advanced mode variant that has a box to gain extra bonus points and use some dice slightly differently.

While being very simple, I actually really enjoyed this game. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly puzzly, as a lot of what you do depends on luck, availability, and goals, but it’s still enjoyable. The theming and artwork are very cute, and I appreciate the variability in goals and characters, and the inclusion of the advanced mode, etc. My other main complaint would be the replayability factor. There is quite a bit of variation from game to game, but with such little strategy, each game feels quite similar to all the others played. Even the advanced mode doesn’t add enough to make it feel more difficult or interesting.

Overall, this one is fun enough, but not a favorite. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the standard game better than the advanced variant. It seemed to add complexity with almost no increase in depth, so it didn’t feel worth it. The puzzle doesn’t get better or more challenging, so it doesn’t really seem necessary for me personally.