Reef & Ruins (2025)

Overview

Hydras & Otters team up to unlock satisfying combos while exploring reefs and ship ruins for treasure in Reef & Ruins, a Roll & Write that gives you the satisfaction of a crunchy large sheet, small font Roll & Write spatial puzzle engine builder in a smaller, quicker, more approachable manor.

There’s one die for each head of the Hydra, either for them to venture into shipwrecks to search for treasure, work together to enchant their treasure, or send otters to the reef to get pearls. Each head of the hydra typically wants to do something different, but they occasionally can agree to work together, for hydra’s sake.

At the start of each game, players will choose Ship Ruins, Enchantments, and Reef sheets and all compete to unearth the most valuable items. Players play simultaneously, each choosing between sending their hydras into the ruins for treasure, their otters to enchant the treasures, or to send both into the reef to gain bonuses there. After 18 rounds, players figure out the values of their found treasures, then enchant them for more points, then add in any reef benefits. The game ends before players will be able to finish everything, so they must make the best choices for what Ruins to complete, how many enchantments to work on, and when to go searching the Reef for pearls!

Reef & Ruins is a roll and write standalone game set in the Wicked & Wise universe.

-description from publisher