''SeaFall'' is a
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a ...
designed by Rob Daviau and published in 2016 by
Plaid Hat Games. ''SeaFall'' is a game of colonial era exploration which uses a
legacy format, meaning the board and components change during each game, creating a different game each time and a story with a beginning, middle, and end. The game is played by 3–5 players, each of whom takes on the role of a province taking to the seas after a long dark age. Players explore the game board with their ships, revealing islands and other surprises. The game contains 430 entries in a Captain's Booke, a journal which is read in sections when players trigger in-game events called milestones. The story contains about 15 games' worth of content, with each game taking about two hours to play.
The release of the game was originally announced in 2013, and its release was repeatedly delayed. Many called it the most anticipated board game of 2016, coming on the heels of ''
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1'', an extremely popular legacy format game designed by Daviau and
Matt Leacock
Matt Leacock is an American board game designer, most known for cooperative games such as Pandemic, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert.
Early life
Leacock grew up in Long Lake, Minnesota. He studied visual comm ...
that was released the year before.
Gameplay

Set in an approximation of our world coming out of the Dark Ages, each player takes on the role of a mainland empire that is rediscovering
seafaring
Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea."
It involves topics an ...
technology and setting out to explore the world. Through the use of a team of advisors, each player discovers islands, develops trade, acquires resources and technology, and initiates conflict.
''SeaFall'' evolves from one game to the next using a legacy system developed previously by Daviau in his ''
Risk
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...
Legacy'' and ''Pandemic Legacy: Season 1'' games. The components of the game itself will change, as islands the players discover on the map will be marked with stickers, and players' actions in a game will trigger events, which cause sealed packets to be opened which contain new pieces, cards and rules to be revealed. There is a Captain's Booke which contains 430 ''
Choose Your Own Adventure
''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actio ...
''-style narrative entries, which are read when players trigger certain milestones. Over the approximately 15 games which constitutes the campaign, a story develops which has narrative arc with a beginning, middle, and end.
Players have choices over how to pursue victory, with military aggression, exploration, and mercantilism all being viable strategies.
References
External links
* {{bgg title, 148261
''SeaFall'' Instructional Videoon ''Watch it Played''
''SeaFall'' Reviewon ''
Shut Up & Sit Down
Shut Up & Sit Down (often abbreviated to SUSD) is a board game review website and YouTube channel headed by Quintin Smith, Matt Lees, and Tom Brewster. The channel formerly had Paul Dean as a member, and has featured Ava Foxfort, Philippa Warr of ...
''
''SeaFall'' Reviewon ''Dice Tower''
''SeaFall'' Reviewfrom ''
Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sc ...
''
Board games introduced in 2016
Legacy games