Those of you who already know which foot I’m limping on aren’t surprised at all by my weakness for dice. I don’t know if it’s that in another life I was a dealer in the Wild West or it goes along with being so square, but if there’s a dice involved it’s easy to have half a game won with me. and in this new Into the Blue what brings us Tranjis Games all are data.
From the hand of Reiner Knizia, famous for games like Tigris & Euphrates, The Quest for El Dorado or -among my favorites to play doubles- explorersin Into the Blue it’s time to show his passion for dice in the style Sushi Bar.
How to play Into the Blue
The idea behind Into the Blue is that, with the help of six dice and a board with five holes where we will place the shells of our color, we simulate a scuba dive in search of treasures to see who ends the game with the most points.
During your turn you will roll all six dice with the intention of getting an uninterrupted sequence starting at the number 1 and hopefully ending on the side of the chest that would simulate the number 6. After the first roll you can keep as many dice as you like and launch the rest, and the same will happen with the third and last roll, being able to even re-launch the ones you have previously decided to keep.
From here you decide where you want to place your shells. In the event that your sequence only goes up to 3 in an uninterrupted way, you can place a shell on 3. In the event that you reach 4 but have three 3 dice, you can choose between placing three shells there or one on the 4. And if you have reached the chest, then you choose one at random, you keep it and restart your round.
the departure of Into the Blue it ends when someone takes the last chest or when they put their last shell, although in the latter case there will be one last round for the rest before adding up the scores. Those who have the most shells in a space will take the highest treasure, while the next two will do the same with the lowest-scoring treasures.
An ideal game to enjoy with the family
Because they are simple sequences from 1 to 6 and have an approach as simple as it is easy to understand and explain, playing with my children (games from 2 to 5 players and recommended for 8 years onwards) not only was it quite easy, I also had the feeling that the game was not particularly unbalanced.
It is not easy to find a game in which we can all enjoy equally without the smallest one getting stuck or having to be guided a bit, but even when considering what decision to make when placing the shells, the games have flowed fantastically .
Kudos also for the presentation of Into the Blue, that from the art of the box to the board, the chips or the dice is a real joy. One of those games that costs nothing to place on the table because of how easy they are to prepare and how easy they are on the eyes.
It’s a pity that, despite the good finish of the materials, the treasure pieces that are embedded in the board are flimsy enough to cause a scare. It would not have hurt to leave a slightly wider hole to make putting them in and taking them out easier, especially with children around.
