Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7439416/beacon-patrol

Designer: Torben Ratzlaff
Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
Artist: Torben Ratzlaff

Beacon Patrol is a chill, fun, simple, puzzly tile laying game themed around the ocean, islands, lighthouses, and buoys. The theming is enjoyable, and the art is pleasant and fits the vibe of the game. While not being particularly innovative, the mechanics are familiar while still being different enough (and thematic enough) to make it unique.

In Beacon Patrol, you place tiles in the play area to maximize points by “exploring” various types of constructions (surround them with tiles). Each round, players lay tiles adjacent to their ship’s location. Once the new tile has been placed, the ship gets moved onto the new tile. This means you must ensure that the ship can move through water onto the next tile. This continues until all tiles are placed or discarded (occurs when there are no legal locations to play them). Each turn, each player also has access to a certain number of movement tokens (dependent on player count) that can help your ship move across the map.

Mechanically, there are two specific aspects I appreciate about this game design. The first is the ship movement aspect. Not only do you have to consider where to place the tile, but you also have to make sure your ship can move onto it. As the board expands, this gets trickier due to the increased surface area and the seemingly insufficient movement actions available. The other clever characteristic is that unlike most tile laying games, these tiles cannot be rotated. I find this twist (pun intended) to be fun and strategic in its own way. Often, it’s easy to get analysis paralysis when you’re staring at one tile and trying to decipher the best way to rotate it, but here, you don’t have that. It’s more straightforward in some regards, but it also means each placement decision carries more weight, and it can be more challenging to plan ahead and/or make good use out of each tile.

As this is a cooperative game, the solo implementation is nice and easy to play. There is a lovely fan-created solo campaign in the files on BGG that I highly recommend. I also greatly appreciate the two included mini expansions, as they add variety and challenge. After a few plays, I can almost guarantee you’ll be ready for the added complexity of the piers and windmill expansions. There is also an official expansion that was recently released I look forward to playing.

Overall, the componentry is nice, and the box is an appropriate size for the contents. The play time is also very fitting; it’s easy to predict and have control over, but you still feel pressed at the end to complete what you want to do.

For me, Beacon Patrol is a solid, middle-of-the-road tile laying game. It was less enjoyable to play it a lot in a short period of time (wouldn’t recommend), but I do look forward to future, more sporadic plays. It’s clever enough to be a puzzle my brain likes while not being overwhelming. It’s very approachable, easy to teach, and a great staple for any gamers that enjoy these style games.