Deep Shelf (2023)

About this game

Breakthroughs in deep sea mining technology have ushered in a modern gold rush as corporations’ position themselves to extract the oceans riches of rare earth metals. As corporations seek to exploit the wealth of the ocean, ecologists and research groups see the expeditions as an opportunity to study and catalogue rare lifeforms never before encountered. An uneasy collaboration has formed as scientist make use of the vast wealth of industry and the industrialist depend on the breakthroughs provided by studying the vast and hostile deep-sea ecosystem. Deep Shelf is an game of deep-sea exploration, exploitation, development, and research. Players take on the role of competing corporations seeking to find and develop resource nodes, extract rare earth metals, transport them to the surface and research the unexplored deepest reaches of the ocean. As the leader of your corporation, you will decide whether to expand quickly and strip mine the ocean of its wealth, or take a more eco friendly approach and learn as much as possible about the wonders of the deep. Players must be cautious of mining too greedily, or delving too deep, as such actions will damage the natural ecosystems of the ocean, hastening the end of the game, and not everything in the deep is friendly. —description from the publisher

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 4. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 3.7/5 this is a heavy game — read the rulebook before people arrive.
• Age. The publisher suggests 12 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.