Odyssey

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 glory.

Poseidon's Wrath

Each turn Poseidon's fury shifts one step: 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1-2... Islands are swallowed when the wrath reaches their elevation. Submerged hexes lose resources and camps are temporarily lost beneath the waves.

Resources

When islands emerge, treasures wash ashore: Timber (common), Shell, Kelp, Salt, Rock, Pearl (rare, gifts of the gods). Resources decay after 2 turns if not collected. Harvest automatically from hexes adjacent to your camps.

Structures

Camp (2 Timber + 1 Shell): Establish a beachhead to harvest from this island and its neighbors. 1 VP.
Temple (1 Rock + 2 Kelp): Raise a temple to appease the gods — protects the island from Poseidon's wrath. 1 VP.
Trireme (1 Timber + 1 Salt): Launch a warship connecting two islands even across open sea. 2 VP.

Hermes' Ship

The golden merchant vessel of Hermes drifts each turn. If your camps and triremes form a connected chain to Hermes' Ship, you may trade. Prices: Timber 1, Shell 2, Kelp 2, Salt 3, Pearl 6.

Actions

Each turn you get 2 actions: Build a structure, Trade with Hermes, or Redirect Hermes' Ship (costs 1 Pearl).

Victory

First to 15 VP reaches Ithaca and wins. Camp/Temple=1 VP, Trireme=2 VP, every 5 coins=1 VP, largest connected network=3 VP bonus.

About Odyssey

Odyssey is an original hex-based strategy game inspired by Homer's wine-dark sea. Poseidon's wrath raises and lowers the waters, drowning islands and revealing new treasures. Establish camps, raise temples, and launch triremes to harvest resources, trade with Hermes, and race to glory at Ithaca. Solo and two-player modes.

How to play

Each turn the sea level shifts one step along a 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 cycle, swallowing any island whose elevation the wrath reaches. You then take 2 actions: build a structure, trade with Hermes, or redirect his ship. Camps (1 VP) harvest resources from adjacent revealed hexes; temples (1 VP) shield an island from the flood; triremes (2 VP) connect islands across open sea. Trade requires a connected chain from your network to Hermes' drifting merchant vessel. First to 15 victory points reaches Ithaca and wins.

Frequently asked questions

How do I win Odyssey?

Be first to 15 VP. Camps and temples score 1 each, triremes 2, every 5 trade coins 1, and the largest connected network of your structures adds a 3 VP bonus.

What is Poseidon's Wrath?

Each turn the tide moves one step along a 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 cycle. Islands are swallowed when the wrath reaches their elevation, hiding their resources and camps until the waters recede. A temple protects its island from the flood.

How do I gather resources and trade?

Camps harvest automatically from adjacent revealed hexes. To trade, your camps and triremes must form a connected chain to Hermes' drifting ship, then you sell goods at set prices.

How long is a typical game?

About 25–35 minutes solo against the AI, and roughly 45–60 minutes for two players.

Related games

Tidelands — maritime trade.
Agora — Mediterranean trade.
Senet — ancient Egyptian race.
Pente Grammai — ancient Greek game.

Odysseus

Circe