The Perfect Wave (2023)

About this game

Grab your board, paddle out, and try to put together the most impressive sequence of tricks on some of the most iconic waves in the world. Show your skills better than your rivals, and you’ll ride the perfect wave to victory! The Perfect Wave presents a very fun and unique challenge. You’ll need to successfully create a wave by drafting Wave cards to construct a sequence, earning points for runs and sets of numbers. Play Trick cards to show off and score bonuses. But you’ll also need to simultaneously focus on paddling far enough out in the water to actually catch, surf, and score the very wave you're creating! And here’s the twist...the more time spent creating your wave, the less you’ll be able to paddle out...and the more you paddle out, the trickier it becomes to create your wave! You’ll need careful planning and expert timing to balance these goals and win the game! The Perfect Wave was the winner of the 2021 Cardboard Edison Award.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 4.
• Rules load. At 2.0/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.