TIDELANDS

Overview

Sail the wine-dark sea of Homer's epic. Poseidon's wrath causes the waters to rise and fall, drowning islands and revealing new ones bearing treasures from shipwrecks and gifts of the gods. Hermes' merchant ship drifts between the islands. Establish camps, raise temples, and launch triremes to harvest resources and trade your way to 15 Victory Points.

The Map

Hexagonal islands form an archipelago. Each hex has an elevation from 1 (shoreline) to 5 (highland). The board scales with player count: 37 hexes for 2–3 players, 61 for 4, 91 for 5–6.

Poseidon's Wrath (the Tide)

The tide level cycles each round: 1→2→3→4→5→4→3→2→1→2... A hex is flooded when the tide rises strictly above its elevation (elevation < tide level). So at tide 1 nothing floods; at tide 5 only highland (elevation 5) hexes remain dry.

Poseidon’s Council (optional, on by default): At the start of each round, before harvest, the cycle proposes a tide step (+1 while rising, −1 while falling). Each player may spend 2 coins once to roll 1d3: ↑ +1, ↓ −1, or − 0. The tide moves by the net of the cycle plus all rolls (clamped 1–5). If no one influences, the cycle alone applies.

Omen Cards (optional, on by default): Each round, Hermes reveals one Omen before the Council. The Omen affects everyone for that round. Players whose camps, temples, or triremes are linked to Hermes’ Ship when the round begins also receive the Omen’s Hermes bonus — another reason to reach the golden merchant.

Flooded hexes:

• Lose all uncollected resources.
• Cannot harvest, host trade, or be built on.
• Camps on them are dormant — they reappear when the hex emerges again.
• Temples are immune (see below).

Resources

When islands emerge from the sea, treasures wash ashore:

• 🪵 Timber — common, the cornerstone of building.
• 🌿 Olives — needed for camps.
• 🍷 Wine — needed for temples.
• ⚔ Bronze — needed for triremes.
• ✨ Ambrosia — rarest; food of the gods, fuels Hermes' redirection.

Resources decay after a few turns if uncollected. You harvest automatically at the start of your turn from every non-flooded hex within 1 step of one of your camps (the camp's hex itself plus its 6 neighbors).

Structures

Camp (2 Timber + 1 Olives) — 1 VP
Beachhead for harvesting. Must be built on a non-flooded hex adjacent to one of your existing camps, temples, or triremes (your starting camp seeds your first build). When the hex floods, the camp is dormant; it returns automatically when the hex re-emerges.

Temple (1 Stone + 2 Wine) — 2 VP
A divine refuge. Built on a non-highland hex (elevation 1–4) that you own or that is adjacent to one of your structures. Temples permanently protect their hex from Poseidon's wrath — flooding skips it forever. Temples also count as connection points for trade with Hermes.

Trireme (1 Timber + 1 Bronze + 1 Wine) — 2 VP
A warship-bridge linking two adjacent hexes (including across water). One end must touch one of your existing structures. Triremes extend your network: a hex linked by your trireme counts as adjacent for camp-building and trade-routing, even if you don't own it.

Hermes' Ship — Trade & Movement

The golden merchant vessel of Hermes is shown on one hex of the board.

Drifting: Between rounds, Hermes drifts on his own to a random adjacent non-flooded hex. You cannot predict where he'll go.

Trading: On your turn, if your network of camps + temples + triremes forms an unbroken chain leading to Hermes' hex, you may spend an action to trade. Hermes is a two-way merchant — he buys cheap and sells dear. You may sell or buy any number of times before closing the trade panel.

Sell to Hermes (you receive coins):

• Timber = 1 coin
• Olives = 2 coins
• Wine = 2 coins
• Bronze = 3 coins
• Ambrosia = 6 coins

Buy from Hermes (you pay coins; common goods at 1.5× sell price, Stone/Ambrosia at 2×):

• Timber = 2 coins
• Olives = 3 coins
• Wine = 3 coins
• Bronze = 5 coins
• Stone = 6 coins
• Ambrosia = 12 coins

Stone cannot be sold to Hermes, only bought. Use this when you're stuck with the wrong mix of resources and can't barter with a neighbor. Coins convert to VP at 5 coins = 1 VP at game end.

Move Hermes (Redirect): Spend 1 Ambrosia and 1 action to push Hermes onto an adjacent non-flooded hex. This is how you bring him to your network when he drifts away — or how you yank him out from under an opponent who is mid-trade. Movement is one hex at a time; you cannot teleport him across the map.

Appeasing Poseidon

Once per round, the active player may spend 1 action + 1 Ambrosia + 2 Wine to offer libations to Poseidon. The next round skips Council entirely — no cycle step, no influence rolls, tide holds (direction preserved). At most one player per round may appease; the first to act gets it. Use this when low-elevation camps are about to drown and you can't build temples in time.

Player-to-Player Trade

On your turn you may propose a barter trade with another player, but only if you are physically connected to them in one of two ways:

• Adjacency — one of your camps/temples sits on a hex directly bordering one of their camps/temples.
• Trireme bridge — one of your triremes (or one of theirs) starts on a hex with your structure and ends on a hex with their structure.

No more "we share an island so we can trade" — you have to actually meet at a border or sail a trireme to their port. Pick a target player, choose any quantity of resources to give and to ask for, and send the offer. AI players evaluate by Hermes' coin prices — they accept if what they receive is at least as valuable as what they give. Human targets get an Accept/Reject prompt. Either way, proposing a trade costs 1 action whether or not it's accepted.

Turn Structure

Each round has two phases for every player:
1. Active Phase — The current player takes 2 actions. An action is one of: Build Camp, Build Temple, Build Trireme, Trade with Hermes, Trade with another Player, Move Hermes, or Appease Poseidon.
2. Special Build Phase — After the active player finishes, every other player (in clockwise order) gets one optional structure build (camp, temple, or trireme) if they have the resources. They cannot trade or move Hermes during this phase.

Then the next player becomes active and the round continues. At the start of each new round, Poseidon’s Council resolves (cycle + optional coin influence), then harvest and Hermes drift.

Victory

First player to 15 VP reaches Ithaca and wins. VP sources:

• Camps: 1 VP each
• Temples & Triremes: 2 VP each
• Coins: 1 VP per 5 coins
• Largest connected network: 3 VP bonus (2 VP in 2-player games)

Opening (Rounds 1–3)

• Your starting camp is on a highland hex — it survives even max tide. Use that safety to bank resources.
• Spend your first round building one more camp on a hex with a different terrain type. Two camps roughly doubles your harvest area.
• Don't build temples yet — you have nothing worth protecting.
• Note where Hermes starts. If he's nearby (within 2 hexes of your camps), prioritize a camp or trireme that connects you — you want to be linked when the Omen resolves each round.

Resource Priorities

• Timber is your lifeblood. Camps need 2, triremes need 1. If you ever stockpile less than 3 Timber, your build pace stalls.
• Hoard Ambrosia. It sells for 6 coins (best ratio) AND moves Hermes. Even one Ambrosia per game is a swing piece.
• Olives are camp-only; don't over-collect. Wine is temple-only; only useful once you have something worth protecting.
• Bronze is the cheapest path to trireme expansion — chase it when you want to extend your network.

Camps: Quantity Over Position

• Each camp harvests its own hex + 6 neighbors = up to 7 hexes of yield. Two well-placed camps can cover ~10–12 unique hexes.
• Cluster camps where elevations are 3 or higher. Low-elevation camps drown half the time and waste actions.
• Camps on hexes adjacent to different terrain types (Shore/Bog/Stone/Grove) maximize resource variety.

Temples: When and Where

• Temples are permanent flood protection — they're worth most on a hex you'd lose otherwise.
• Best use: protect a low-elevation hex (1–2) that sits next to several of your camps. It both saves the hex AND keeps your harvest network alive at high tide.
• Don't temple a highland hex (elevation 5) — it never floods anyway, and the rules forbid it.
• Temples also serve as permanent trade-network anchors. A temple on a hex next to Hermes' typical drift path is gold.

Triremes: The Network Game

• Triremes are 2 VP each — the best per-action VP in the game. Build them when you can.
• Think of triremes as roads. They let you skip flooded hexes, cross open water, and reach distant resource pockets.
• The Largest Network Bonus (3 VP) is decided by total connected structures. Triremes count and they're cheap to chain — one well-placed trireme can tip the bonus your way.
• Build triremes toward Hermes when he drifts somewhere productive. A 2-hex trireme bridge can re-open trade in a single turn.

Player-to-Player Trade

• You can only trade with players whose structures are directly adjacent to yours, or bridged by a trireme. Sharing an island isn't enough — you have to actually touch.
• This makes triremes diplomatic infrastructure, not just resource pipelines. A 2-VP trireme that lands on a rich neighbor's hex can pay for itself within two trades.
• Building a camp on a hex bordering a known trading partner is one of the highest-value plays in the game — you spend 2 Timber + 1 Olives and unlock unlimited barter that bypasses Hermes' fixed prices.
• Trade rare resources (Wine, Bronze, Ambrosia) you can't use for resources another player is hoarding. AI players value resources at Hermes prices, so offering equal-value trades will usually go through.
• If you're stuck without Stone, look for a partner who has surplus — offer 2 Timber for 1 Stone and unlock a temple build immediately.
• Conversely: if a rival is one resource away from a critical build, refuse their offers. Trades cost the proposer an action whether or not they succeed.
• Build triremes toward opponents, not just toward Hermes. A trireme to a wealthy neighbor is worth a turn-by-turn supply line.

Hermes Strategy

• Stay connected. Every round you can't trade is a round of opponents catching up. If Hermes drifts away, immediately ask: "Can I trireme to him, or move him back?"
• Move Hermes offensively. If an opponent is connected and you're not, spending 1 Ambrosia to drag Hermes one hex away from them can deny a critical trade.
• Hermes loves edges. When he drifts onto a hex bordered by only 1–2 non-flooded neighbors, his next drift is predictable. Camp on those neighbors.

The Tide Cycle

• The tide cycle is 1→5→1, 8 turns total. Plan in 4-turn arcs.
• At tide 5, only highland (elevation 5) hexes remain dry. At tide 4, elevation 4–5 hexes survive. This is when temples shine and dormant camps are most painful.
• At tide 1–2, freshly emerged hexes drop new resources. Sweep them up before they decay.
• Your second camp should be on a hex of elevation 3+ so it survives most of the cycle.

Appeasing Poseidon

• Cost is 1 action + 1 Ambrosia + 2 Wine — about 10 coins of value plus a turn slot. Don't burn it lightly.
• Best moment: tide 4 about to hit 5, with 2+ camps on elevation 4 hexes you can't afford to lose. Appeasement buys you a full extra round of harvest from those camps.
• Worst moment: tide already low or already at peak. Appeasing at tide 1 just delays harvests; appeasing at tide 5 doesn't save anything.
• If you have only ONE threatened camp, build a temple instead — cheaper and permanent.
• Watch the resource trade-off. Spending 1 Ambrosia means you can't move Hermes that turn either.
• Multiplayer note: only the first player to appease in a round gets it. If you're the leader and others might race you, spend early in your turn rather than saving it.
• Defensive play: appeasing also denies opponents the use of low-tide windows. If a rival has lots of low-elevation camps and is hoarding harvest, holding the tide high hurts them more than it hurts you.

Special Build Phase: Free Tempo

• Don't waste it. Even passing on a turn where you could build is a quiet loss — on average each special build is 1.5 VP "free."
• Save 1 spare Timber + 1 Bronze at all times so you can special-build a trireme on every opponent's turn. With 5 opponents that's potentially 5 extra triremes per round.
• If you can't afford anything, prioritize trades on your active turn that leave you with build-ready inventory.

Endgame (12+ VP)

• Count to 15. Once you can see the win, switch from VP-per-action math to defense: deny opponents trireme links, redirect Hermes away from rivals.
• Coins are slow VP (5:1) but they're uncontested. If you have a big trade network, sell surplus — but keep enough coin to buy back a missing resource from Hermes at 2× price when you're stuck.
• The largest-network 3 VP bonus often decides close games. In a tied 14-vs-14 race, a single extra trireme wins.

Multiplayer Dynamics (4–6 players)

• The leader gets attacked — stay second until turn 4 of the tide cycle, then sprint.
• Hermes is a shared resource. With 4+ players, expect him to be contested every round.
• In 6-player games the board is huge but actions are scarce per round. Network reach beats raw VP.