Game: Survive!

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

Furunkulus — 2008-07-30T06:20:16+00:00

I have shuffled with the 3-d version and it makes the island look really cool.

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

Harv — 2008-07-29T07:37:03+00:00

gamemark wrote:
Not suggesting this is "right" or "wrong" - but Escape from Atlantis has you build them as you suggested - rock/forest/beach.

Bear in mind that Escape from Atlantis has 3D plastic hexes, which makes true shuffling impossible. Shuffling sounds cool if you have the American Survive!.

Of course, I'm sure that Mark Hubbard would agree that building the island in the shape of Numenor is the only way to go.

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

Furunkulus — 2008-07-29T07:25:52+00:00

It is supposed to be played with all the tiles shuffled; having the lagoons makes for an interesting game element.

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amwiles — 2008-07-18T15:28:26+00:00

Box Back

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amwiles — 2008-07-18T15:27:54+00:00

Box Front - High Quality

Thread: Re: Tile Clarification

paracletus3 — 2008-07-08T19:56:00+00:00

On this one I gotta say that beach does not equal water, and therefore dolphins cannot take a swimmer onto land.
As far as #2 goes, I see it that anyone can move an empty boat, since no one has the majority of people on board yet. The exception to this would be once you've gotten all your survivng people to land, then it is forbidden for you to move empty boats per the rules.
#3: vacant=empty. No simpler way to say it.
I agree with you on 1&3, and part of #2.

#1: On p. 3 of the rules, under the heading REACHING A SAFE ISLAND, Sec. A:"...You may NOT place a boat directly on the island..."
how much LESS could a seagoing dolphin be allowed to go on land?
AGREED

#3: Agreed, as long as "vacant" isn't taken to mean the smaller "safe" islands...although, come to THINK of it, that would make an interesting house rule about the Sea Serpents as WELL as tie up some of the boats...hmmmm

#2: Agreed, except for the last sentence about NOT moving boats once you've landed ALL your meeples. Since THAT rule is on the 4th and last page, and is under the heading ENDING THE GAME, which occure ONLY after the volcano piece is revealed, I have played it (gamer's logic: volcanic action producing uncertain currents and unpredictable waves)that the boats couldn't be controlled by the deux ex machina actions of players who are already safe. Only the pieces still in the water would have a vested interest in where the boats are at. Or, optionally, we just houserule ignore this, and help or hinder with boats as we see fit...kinda depends on how cutthroat that group of gamers are!

I'm still quite fond of 'The Cauldron of Death' layout, which has all the beach pieces surrounding the central water space, the mountains at the opposite ends, and the jungle in between (just the reverse of the classic layout). Makes for a good high body count and all kinds of bargaining to save your own behind.
I like it! I'm using this next time the board hits the table!

BTW, whoever listed the rules, and whoever listed the inventory of pieces for this game back in 2003...bless you! Thank you! It's listed as N/A, but you know who you are. Again, THANKS!

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Salt-Man Z — 2008-06-29T21:15:15+00:00

Whales on the outside, Sharks on the inside!

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

citizen k — 2008-06-17T16:55:53+00:00

Place tiles in any order you like (I usually start in the center and spiral outward clockwise), but the nature of the tiles is TBD until you flip it into place.

ie. the tile terrain is random. Else why would you shuffle them?

Try using a cloth bag from some worthless game like Tigris & Euphrates to draw the terrain tiles from. With a little practice you can easily feel the die cut tile's edges and tell top from bottom so that you don't expose the underside (and reveal its secret) as you place it on the board.

So yes, you will get lagoons that form when beach hexes within the perimeter of the island sink, dumping your peeps into the water (from which they can't climb out).

If a shark materializes in the lagoon ... the fun really starts

Survive is a fantastic game - enjoy !

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

paracletus3 — 2008-06-17T09:32:32+00:00

As I used this game as a "gateway" game, I usually tried to place the pieces from the center out: rock, forest, and then beach, so as to give newbies some sort of reference to 'reality'. After 2/3 plays, most new players preferred not to mess with how they learned it.

Good question, but I hope the gamers don't fret about setup too much: I really appreciated playing this very fun game, since in the 80's my only other choices were M~poly, Risk, and Scrabble, when my fellow D&Drs weren't available.

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

gamemark — 2008-06-17T07:30:16+00:00

Not suggesting this is "right" or "wrong" - but Escape from Atlantis has you build them as you suggested - rock/forest/beach.

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

spaztian — 2008-06-17T03:25:08+00:00

I always shuffled the tiles, then just placed them randomly.

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

Henry Rhombus — 2008-06-17T03:18:31+00:00

Skadar wrote:
I think it should be random even though I realize that might cause a beach tile (for instance) to be land-locked. In that case I would simply allow the players to turn over forest tiles until the beach became available.

I haven't looked at the rules in decades, but that's how my brother and I always played the game: destroying all the available beach, then the forest, backpedalling for any beach that might be uncovered in the process.

One house rules we always used: When the island explodes, the game doesn't end. Instead, we just removed all the land tiles and threw everything in the water in the same hexes they were occupying. Lots of dudes became chum for the sharks, but that final race to shore was usually intense. Have fun with this classic!

Eric
Editor, http://www.BoardgameNews.com

Thread: Re: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

Dreadnaut — 2008-06-17T02:51:07+00:00

I just place the tiles randomly. I've never seen landlocked beach tiles, but I would do what you referenced (play forest tiles until it became free).

Thread: Just got Survive! Question about building the Island

Skadar — 2008-06-17T02:42:02+00:00

My wife just found a 1982 copy of this excellent game in her parents' attic a few days ago! It was complete! I just played my first game with my 6-year old son and we absolutely loved it.

It's got some of my favorite gaming features:

1) Hexes!
2) Tiles/Cards that have multiple uses
3) Pawns that can be in different states
4) Equal opportunity to help yourself or harm your opponents

Just one question about setting up the island. The rules ask you to "shuffle" the tiles and then build the island... but they don't mention exactly HOW to build it.

My wife thinks that you should build the island from center outwards (rock, forest, beach), but I think it should be random even though I realize that might cause a beach tile (for instance) to be land-locked. In that case I would simply allow the players to turn over forest tiles until the beach became available.

I'm so happy to have this game. Cheers!

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l10n0fjudah — 2008-06-14T17:20:34+00:00

Survive! Demotivational Poster

Thread: Re: Missing a few pieces....

pekin2121 — 2008-06-05T17:02:47+00:00

I only need the purple 4 now......anyone???

Thread: Missing a few pieces....

pekin2121 — 2008-05-27T01:26:15+00:00

Does anyone have any of the following pieces to spare?

(1) Red 6 person

(1) Purple 4 person

Thanks!

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l10n0fjudah — 2008-05-19T13:10:15+00:00

Having a blast

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l10n0fjudah — 2008-05-19T13:09:36+00:00

Meeple Under Stress - Island Sink In Progress

Thread: Re: Tile Clarification

Big Tiki D — 2008-05-16T02:50:50+00:00

Thread: Re: I don't quite get the Sea Serpent action

Big Tiki D — 2008-05-16T02:38:03+00:00

In the area of where the sea serpents start on the board, we've always started with 2 in the very center, and one stationed at each of the surrounding islands. We figured that there were 6 in the game when we got it, so we might as well use them all! Since there was also 1 extra shark and 1 extra whale, we got the bright idea to put 2 on the board whenever the first tile of that monster type is flipped. We have had people complain about this shifting the balance of the game and blah, blah, blah, but after taking them out back and roughing them up a bit, they come to see it our way. We enjoy the extra opportunity for carnage this option provides.

Thread: Re: Question about the "Whirlpools"???

Big Tiki D — 2008-05-16T02:29:48+00:00

Whirlpools and how you can use them has always been one of my favorite areas in this game to make up House Rules. The way I read the rules, you flip the tile, remove anything in the water spaces that border the tile, and the tile gets removed from the board. We've also had fun with playing the permanent whirlpool rule (the 'Down the Drain Rule') that you alluded to in your question. It can make getting boats, swimmers, or anything else from one part of the board to the other almost impossible. Using this House Rule almost forces you to the use the 'Kamikaze Rule', wherein, a player with control of a boat that has a player or players of other colors on board can steer the boat into one of the whirlpools, thus eliminating points from others as well as themselves. If using the 'Kamikaze Rule', it can also be used to rid the board of pesky sharks, whales, or sea serpents that may be lurking nearby. A mere roll of the monster die, and it's off to Davy Jones' Locker they go. Playing this variant really ups the screwage factor of the game, as well as sending the body count through the roof. It can be helpful, though, if you're looking to shave some time off the game.
A second variant we use on a regular basis is the 'Mega Suckage Rule'. The M.S.R. says that a whirlpool not only affects items in the water spaces around it, but the land spaces as well. If you want to use the M.S.R., you need to decide if you want to leave tiles as they are (terrain side up), or flip them when theyt are affected by a whirlpool. If you choose to leave them terrain side up, when a whirlpool tile is revealed, EVERYTHING in the six surrounding hexes is removed from the board (land tiles, swimmers, monsters, boats, your uncle Floyd, EVERYTHING). And, those darn terrain tiles stay face down. No peeking!If, in so doing, you remove the explosion card from the board (which you won't know until all the tiles are flipped or removed, the remainder of the game merely becomes a race to get as many of you people to the islands as you can, with the other players doing their best to stop you. If you decide to flip the tiles using the M.S.R., this enables the whirlpools to potentially cause a chain reaction as one reveals another, and another, and another.... This can lead to removal of massive amounts of real estate, and can make lots of points go bye-bye for everyone. If the explosion card is revealed in this manner, the island explodes (per normal rules), everything in the water is destroyed, and someone will usually whine about how unfair that rule is. Hence the name 'Mega Suckage Rule'.
As far as swimmers go (pardon the pun), jumping out of a boat or off of land and into the water counts as their one move for the turn, as we play it. If the land is removed out from under you, we also count that as a swimmer's one move for a turn. This does not, of couse, prevent the use of 'Dolphin moves a swimmer...' cards in any of these cases.

Thread: Re: Tile Clarification

spencer_myers — 2008-04-29T03:40:24+00:00

Here's my take on it, based on my own experience:

1. We played that the dolphin could only take you to water hexes. We figured that the dolphin probably wouldn't beach itself and commit suicide just to save a human. Although this is an abstract game, that always struck me as being too unrealistic.
So we played that the dolphin could take you to the water hex next to an island but your meeple would still have to spend a move to crawl onto it.

2. This was always debated at our house too, but we generally decided that "your" meant that you had to have a meeple on board to have control of any boat (or the majority of meeples, if someone else had a meeple on there too.) Thus did we not move empty boats in this case.

3. Agree with you here; vacant is vacant. If something is in the hex, then it's no longer vacant.

Thread: Re: Tile Clarification

Sphere — 2008-04-27T00:01:28+00:00

We play the same way on #2 and #3, but not #1. Our logic there is that none of the sea creatures can enter land spaces.

Thread: Re: Tile Clarification

Garafraxa — 2008-04-26T22:50:57+00:00

We set up with all the rock on the inside, surrounded by jungle, surrounded by sand. Our standard wouldn't allow for a sand piece surrounded by rock. We've never tried a totally random setup, seems like it would be difficult to turn over all the sand, then jungle, then rock in order without leaving a lot of little islets... Might be worth a try sometime, though.

I really like how the gameplay changes so much between a 2 player game and a 4 player game. We are thinking about getting some more meeples and building our own 5-6 player expansion pack!

Thread: Re: When all of one's people reach land...

Sphere — 2008-04-23T06:58:51+00:00

coolpapa wrote:
For the record, if all of your people reach land, your opponents are doing something wrong.

The rule says all of your surviving people. I'm sure that's what the OP was asking about.

Thread: Re: When all of one's people reach land...

coolpapa — 2008-04-23T06:48:59+00:00

For the record, if all of your people reach land, your opponents are doing something wrong. Or maybe you're just playing with not enough opponents.

Thread: Re: When all of one's people reach land...

garygarison — 2008-04-23T05:51:19+00:00

Oops, I overlooked that in the rules. Thanks much for clearing this up.

Thread: Re: When all of one's people reach land...

Sphere — 2008-04-23T05:30:12+00:00

From the back page of the rules under ENDING THE GAME:

"... it's possible you may have landed all your surviving people on shore. When this occurs, continue sinking land pieces and rolling the die on your turn until the game ends. Do not, however, use the movement part of your turn to move empty boats."

Thread: When all of one's people reach land...

garygarison — 2008-04-23T04:42:09+00:00

...does that player continue to play, flipping land tiles, rolling the die, and moving sea creatures? Or does that player just sit out the rest of the game till the end score tally? If that player does still continue to contribute, could he use the movement portion of his turn to move unmanned boats?

Thread: Re: Tile Clarification

mark5ok — 2008-04-22T21:52:14+00:00

I've played this game many times since we originally picked it up in '82!!!

Regarding your rule #1... While I've never actually played that way, your reasoning certainly makes sense, and probably doesn't change the game too much either... seems just fine to me!!

rule #2... I would say that the rules imply that as well... I've always played that you can do that, and I think most people would agree with that!!

rule #3... This one I have to say Ya... Duh!!! The token says vacant space... and vacant means vacant!!

How does your family go about "setting-up" the island?? The rules don't really say much about how you place the beach, forest, and mountain pieces... BUT, they do say that when you turn over a piece (it is supposed to be a piece which has at least one edge exposed to water)!! Well, what if there is a beach piece that is land-locked (surrounded) by mountain pieces!! Then, what do you do???

Thread: Tile Clarification

Garafraxa — 2008-04-22T14:58:41+00:00

Hi Geeks,
We have had some pretty heated matches in my family, and had to add a couple of rule clarifications to make things ruin smoothly. What do you think of these?

1. On the tile marked "Dolphin takes one of your swimmers three spaces" we agreed that the three spaces can be two sea spaces, plus one more onto the safe island. Our thinking is that dolphins have actually carried drowning humans up onto the beach...?

2. On the tile marked "Move one of your boats three spaces" we agreed that you may move an empty boat. The boat isn't exactly "yours", but it isn't anyone elses, either.

3. For the tile marked "Shark/whale/sea sepent dives to any vacant space", we interpret the word vacant literally. So you can't swim your shark to a space with a swimmer, empty boat, whale, or anything else in it.

Thoughts?

Thread: Re: Question about the "Whirlpools"???

ScottMcChesney — 2008-04-19T22:05:31+00:00

The way you've been using those two rules is how we do it at my table. There are rules that say after a tile is flipped over it is removed from the board so I'm thinking the whirlpool issue is covered.

One of the things that makes me like Survive so much is that the first few years I played it we never got the rules right. Every time we played we would (with out realizing) change some rules. For the most part all of those game where fun. I think Survive has a large sweet spot where as long as the basic frame work is in place almost any rule won't make the game less enjoyable.

Thread: Re: Question about the "Whirlpools"???

jeffwiles — 2008-04-19T19:27:30+00:00

mark5ok wrote:
flip the piece over, see that it is a Whirlpool, remove everything in and next to the space, THEN DISCARD the piece back to the box

I've always played it this way.

Thread: Question about the "Whirlpools"???

mark5ok — 2008-04-19T19:17:00+00:00

My question about the Whirlpool piece is this... Do you flip the piece over, see that it is a Whirlpool, remove everything in and next to the space, THEN DISCARD the piece back to the box, OR... leave the piece on the board as a PERMANENT Whirlpool that nothing can go near???

The rules always say to "remove the land piece from the game" for the shark, whale, and boat pieces... but then it doesn't say that when describing the Whirlpool piece.

I've always played that you remove the piece from the board after everything in and around it has been removed!! But, I can see where others might play by leaving the piece on the board... as the rules don't ACTUALLY state to remove the land piece from the game!!

How have YOU been playing this??

Also, let me ask about "Swimmers"!!! It states that you may move a swimmer only ONE "sea-space" on a turn... Then says that jumping off a boat or a land piece into a sea-space counts as ONE move...

WELL... does that act of jumping off of a land piece into a sea-space count as MOVING ONE "Sea-Space"... and therefore you could not "swim" one more space for a movement count of TWO... OR... does the jump not count as a "sea-space" move allowing you to "Swim" one more sea-space on that same turn??

I've always played that the jumping into the sea counts as your ONE sea-space movement so that you can't move anymore that turn!!

What are anyone's thoughts on that??

Thread: Re: I don't quite get the Sea Serpent action

Meander — 2008-04-17T02:33:00+00:00

I'd forgotten about the land piece that sends the serpent to any spot on the board. And perhaps I have taken that one rule a bit too literally.

I appreciate all the comments. There is something in each one that has helped my take on the game.

Thread: Re: I don't quite get the Sea Serpent action

chindent — 2008-04-15T18:29:57+00:00

Perhaps you're being a bit too literal in your reading of the rule? It simply states you may move a creature that matches the die roll, but clarifies that you may (logically) only do so if one is on the board--which might not be the case early on, regarding sharks and whales. Naturally, the sea serpent doesn't apply since five are present at game start; by default, then, there won't be an issue as the first part of the rule covers that situation.

The sea serpent is an amazing deterrent because it destroys EVERYTHING, and is effective even if it's just in the way. Boats keep your people safe from sharks, and whales can't do anything to swimmers, so you don't care if they're near you in those cases. Considering that each creature is represented equally on the die, who wants to move next to a sea serpent and take the chance that it will get back around to said player's next turn before their people become lunch?

Not to mention that despite a sea serpent's slow movement, there are land tiles that allow you to swim one of them to any unoccupied water space on the board--again, useful for a crucial blocking move. Sitting near islands is the best place for sea serpents (unless it's one you're trying to reach!), and consequently they don't need to go very far anyway as they just wait for meals to come to them.

Thread: Re: I don't quite get the Sea Serpent action

bkpihl — 2008-04-15T18:25:51+00:00

Sea Serpents start on the board.

Thread: Re: I don't quite get the Sea Serpent action

artmark — 2008-04-15T18:12:32+00:00

the sea serpent doesn't have to go far to do it's job of playing goalie for the islands.

Thread: I don't quite get the Sea Serpent action

Meander — 2008-04-15T17:57:18+00:00

During set-up, the rules say to place the five sea serpents onto the five sea-serpent spaces. Fine.

Then, whatever you roll (shark, whale, serpent) you can move so many spaces "if it's already on the board." For sharks and whales I understand that because they are put in play with land pieces. But there's no land piece with a sea serpent on it.

So, if you roll a sea serpent, the rule says to move it one space if it's already on the board, but is it on the board already by being on it's sea serpent space? Or is there another way to put it into play?

And how the heck do you ever get anywhere with a sea serpent when it only moves one space? In the game I played, a sea serpent never even got into the action because of its limited movement.

Any comments on that?

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IronMoss — 2008-04-08T18:44:35+00:00

Comparison of American and Canadian edition islander pieces

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IronMoss — 2008-04-06T04:24:26+00:00

Comparison of Beach Tiles from American & Canadian editions of Survive!

Thread: Re: missing tiles

Eirikr — 2008-04-01T03:42:54+00:00

How do I find these 22 people with parts to trade? Don't see this on the Survive page.
Thanks.

Thread: Re: Vacation gone wrong

asgelb — 2008-03-17T21:38:03+00:00

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Fygar — 2008-03-17T19:34:02+00:00

A swimmer, a freeloader and a gawker.

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Fygar — 2008-03-17T19:01:43+00:00

Laaaaand ho!

Thread: Vacation gone wrong

Randougall — 2008-03-17T16:38:46+00:00

It was a lovely day on hexagon island where the purple, orange, red, and yellow clans were on well earned vacations.

Unfortunately, the clans, and indeed, members of each clan hated each other that they MUST have a section of island all to themselves. A frenzied race surprisingly proved that the rocky mountainous areas were much more popular than the sunny beaches, unless of course, those beaches were on the edge of the island.

Then it happened!!!

Ever so slowly the island started to break up!! Oh noes! Suddenly each clan decided they had better work together if they were to survive this mess!

Papa Red of the red clan directed his family to boats placed haphazardly by the edges. He himself secretly had a 'six' stamped on his ass, so he knew he had to be on a boat, stat!

Thing was, only three clan members could be aboard any given boat. Papa Red muscled his way onto one boat, joining Miss Yellow on an otherwise empty boat. At the last second a Sneaky Purple clan member also jumped aboard!

As Papa Red considered tossing Sneaky Purple out of the boat to make room for little red Johnny who was running towards them, the unthinkable happened. The beach little Johnny had been standing on, just disappeared. It got worse, much worse. You see, a shark had been patiently waiting below the beach all that time. The result was a tasty treat for Mr. Shark.

Papa Red turned away. There was nothing he could do. He knew, however, that little Johnny had a mere 'one' stamped on his butt. That unfortunately made him, well, expendable. Papa Red ignored the crying of Miss Yellow, threw a sharp glare at Sneaky Purple and steered the boat towards a far-off island in the corner. (Thinking about it, Papa Red realized that island probably was worth the few extra bucks he had been unwilling to pay for his clan's vacation.)

However, nothing is ever easy. Although the now numerous sharks in the water didn't scare Papa Red sitting in the boat, the fast approaching whale did!

Needless to say, the boat was smashed to smithereens. Being good swimmers (as well as being made out of plastic), they bobbed for a while on the water. Miss Yellow made a valiant effort to start swimming towards the island, but her swimming turned out to be VERY slow.

Sneaky Purple also made his slow swim towards the island and soon revealed his secret - Kill a Shark! Sharks can't look surprised, but this sumabeotch would've!

Things were looking desperate for Papa Red. He knew instinctively it was imperitive to rescue his six-stamped ass, and it looked as though he would have to do it himself.

Revealing his ultimate secret he called for a friendly dolphin who whisked him three times as fast to the corner island.

Nearing the island, he caught up to Miss Yellow who had improbably swum the entire distance. He also saw Sneaky Purple who had just arrived too.

All of a sudden, a great green sea serpent rose out of the water directly in front of Miss Yellow, and Sneaky Purple. They had little time to shriek before being gobbled up. Where's your Kill a Sea Serpent now, bee-otch!

While the Sea Serpent was occupied with his tasty repast, Papa Red stumbled ashore. He looked out over the water just in time to see the volcano explode.

Tears in his eyes, he turned inland to his his six-stamped ass verified, and to see if anyone else in his clan had, um, Survived!

Thread: Re: Review & Session: Can my top ten "Survive!" this game?

Dutch Boy — 2008-03-16T19:50:20+00:00

$0.99 today at Goodwill. I believe God is with me on my after-church thrift trips!

edit: Okay....$1.06 with tax. Sorry.

Thread: Re: Survive Microbadges Submitted

ScottMcChesney — 2008-03-08T04:22:28+00:00

Great job! I'm a big fan of survive, always a little disappointed that they were not any badges for it. Thanks!

Thread: Survive Microbadges Submitted

the_great_dalmuti — 2008-03-08T03:37:56+00:00

Check 'em out here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/130746/page/236

Thread: Re: missing tiles

wkusau — 2008-02-12T04:15:14+00:00

Don't forget the people with parts for trade. There are 22 people on the Survive page with parts for trade.

Thread: missing tiles

clover6534 — 2008-02-12T03:55:07+00:00

I am looking for a beach piece with the shark printed on the bottom, and a forest "harpoon a whale" piece. I also need the instruction sheet.
thanks in advance

Thread: Re: A Great Game Saved By My Gram For Me

Wyll — 2008-01-31T03:18:32+00:00

It was funny when I was trying to explain to Gram what the Internet was. She listened to me for a bit and then nodded.

"The Internet is where people find other people to run off with. It happened to the guy down the road." she explained.

I love her to pieces. At 86, she still loves a good game of crib. It was the first card game that she taught me.

Thread: Re: A Great Game Saved By My Gram For Me

asgelb — 2008-01-31T01:56:30+00:00

Thats the difference between parents and grandparents:

parents: throw away your old stuff

grandparents: Wouldn't dream of throwing your stuff away!

Grand indeed!

Thread: Re: A Great Game Saved By My Gram For Me

volnon — 2008-01-31T01:34:00+00:00

I bought this game in 1982 when it came out and still have it! I love it! I gave my brother and sister each a copy as well back then for X-Mas. A truly great game with lots of action and carnage.

Yer Gram is a sweetheart to have kept it for you, bless her heart. You are a lucky guy to have her... AND that great game!

Thread: A Great Game Saved By My Gram For Me

Wyll — 2008-01-30T21:13:28+00:00

When I first discovered the Geek, I was a little envious at those of us who managed to hang on to one or two gems from out childhood. A game that was still as fun to play now as it was when we were young.

Enter my dad’s mom… my “Gram”.

Ever since I was married, my wife and I had made it point to always visit my grandparents whenever we had the chance. Most times, we just talk about the world and the kids, but I know they appreciate it all the same.

A few years after my grandfather passed on, we had stopped at my Gram’s for one of our visits. After enjoying some baked goods, Gram remembered she had something for me.

“You got them for Christmas one year and left them here so you had something to play. Maybe you want them for your girls.” She said as she rummaged in her closet.

She came back with an original Rolly Polly Red Apple from Fisher Price, Twelve Teepees Memory and Survive!. As I stared at Survive! in disbelief, I could only smile and think about how much I love my Gram.

Initial Thoughts

I find Survive! a very interesting game because it uses multiple mechanics. You have pawn movement, bluffing, strategic deployment and opponent screwage covered off with the mechanics.

I also find it a very fun game because you can never tell how it is going to play out until it is too late.

Plus it has sharks. Any game with sharks gets bonus points in my book.

Object Of The Game

Whoever has the most survivor points when the game end is the winner.

Components

You got a lot in the box for a game made in 1982. Apart from the gameboard, you also got 6 sharks, 5 sea serpents, 5 whales, 12 boats, 40 people tokens (10 in 4 colors) and 40 land pieces (16 beach, 16 forest and 8 mountain).

There is not much art in the game and it is simple at the best. Even the plastic pieces representing the sharks, whales and sea serpents are average at best, but that’s a minor bleah point for the game.

Gameplay

I won’t get into great detail about setting up the game because it is long and you can read the rules to see how it is done. What I like about the set up is the placement of your people tokens. On the bottom of your tokens are the numbers ranging from 1 to 6. Since you are trying to earn the most survivor points, placement of your tokens are critical and watching what your opponent is doing with their placement is also important.

Once the game is set up (i.e. the tiles placed, people placed and boats placed), a random method is used to determine the first player.

On a player’s turn, there are 3 things they must do in order:

(1) Move Your People And/Or Boats: You may move a combination of 3 land or sea spaces.

(2) Sink An Island Piece: The current player takes a tile that has one edge exposed to water and “sinks it” (removes it from the board and follows the instructions on it). Any tokens on the piece are now in the water.

(3) Roll The Die: The die will determine if you move a shark, whale or sea serpent. Sharks eat swimmers, whales sink boats and sea serpents eat everything.

A player should concentrate on getting their people tokens to one of the safe islands located in the four corners of the board. Once a token has reached a safe island, nothing can affect that token and it will be counted in final scoring.

Once a player has done all 3 of their actions, play passes to the player on their left.

The game is over when the tile with the exploding volcano symbol is revealed. When this tile is found, everything that is not on a safe island is destroyed and the game is over.

Players total up the numbers on their tokens on the safe island. The person with the highest total is declared the winner.

Wyll’s Playing With Young Player’s Rule – To make the game a bit more fair when playing with youngsters, the older players should not look at their point values on the bottom of their tokens. I have found this creates a pretty level playing field when playing with kids.

Strategy v.s. Luck Factor

The tiles add a bit of luck to this game as does the creature movement die, but there is some strategy involved.

The rules suggest that initial placement of your tokens is critical and those near the edge of the island will be able to leave it first. It also mentioned that since the beach pieces are sunk first, it may be a good idea to place some of your tokens on forest and mountain tiles.

Remembering where your high point tokens are is another important strategy. Focusing on saving you high value tokens as opposed to you low values is a good idea. I like to try and get my “6” or “5” token on an opponent’s boat and let them worry about getting it to safety while I focus on saving some of my other tokens.

Using the “stick your high man on your opponent’s boat” strategy is fun, but my friend has a twist on that idea. He’ll purposely stick a low value on my boat and try to convince me it is a high value. Either I wind up sending the whole boat down with a sea serpent (if I have low values on the boat) or I’ll figure out he is bluffing and save the entire boat anyways.

Closing Thoughts

This game has a lot of depth in its rules and I have a fun time playing it. It was even more fun to introduce it to Lady X and watch her have lots of fun playing it.

It’s not game that may see a lot of serious playing time, but it will be one that serves as a great warm up for a gaming club or something fun to play with people who are use to traditional games.

I recommend it, but picking it up will be somewhat difficult. It is out of print and commands a significant price on the secondary market. I do consider a thrift store treasure, but they are a rare find even in such places. If you get a chance to pick it up a reasonable price, go for it.

Recommendation Summary

Wyll's Recommendation:

Fun Factor (5 Point Scale):

Rule Clarity (5 Point Scale):

Bang For Buck Factor (5 Point Scale):

One Line Summary: An game wih sharks that has mechanics that can be played by ages 8 and up.

Thread: Re: quick SURVIVE! help please?

bgotaku — 2008-01-18T08:16:57+00:00

Just picked up the game at a local thrift store for 2 bucks and it's already a favourite.
You are correct:
-5 Sea Serpents, 5 Whales, and 6 Sharks are needed to play the game. I didn't get extra in my box, so I will definitely buy another game for replacement parts. I just realized yesterday that the number of creatures corresponds with the total number of picture tiles, if they are all played without any 'protection' tiles (ie there are 5 Whale and 5 Shark picture tiles, and the game starts with 5 Sea Serpents)
-'zero' means there are not tiles of those types. Maybe just a typo in the inventory, as to be consistent it should either only show the tiles for each group, or repeat all tile titles for all three groups with zeros where applicable.
Good luck with your home copy. It'll get well used!

Thread: Re: Survive! A game so great it requires an exclamation point!

Raptorov — 2008-01-15T03:33:33+00:00

What a great game. Played it in High School, about two decades ago, and had to find it. I found an English/French version and bought it immediatley. In the ensuing 20 years, I have played it many times, and my wife and our friends love it. No one ever refuses a game. Four players are the best!
In fact, I brought it out on our couples game night, and my friends wife remembered it from her youth and loved it. A true winner!

Thread: List which compares all of the versions

wyldeoak — 2007-12-27T04:02:57+00:00

I just added a list which compares and contrasts the different versions of Escape from Atlantis and Survive! and discusses many of the variants found on BGG.

http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/27517

I hope it is helpful.

Thread: Re: quick SURVIVE! help please?

Nazhuret — 2007-12-19T20:15:47+00:00

For instance here's a VERY rough part of the map I'm working on. I only started it about two hours ago so it's pretty rough.

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