tabletoppingboardgames 
Imagine a team of dedicated scientists setting sail on a mission to save our planet’s coral reefs. In Reef Project, you’ll step into the shoes of a research vessel’s captain, traveling across the ocean, placing reef balls, and diving to study the biodiversity beneath the waves. Your goal? Restore the reefs to their former glory and help the environment thrive once more.
👥 1-4 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 45-90 minutes
📝 Designers: Martino Chiacchiera & Federico Pierlorenzi
🎨 Artwork: Zuzanna Kołakowska & Piotr Sokołowski
🏢 Publisher: Board&Dice (review copy provided)
Gameplay Overview
In Reef Project, you and your fellow players become captains of your own research vessels, exploring the islands and seas in a bid to rejuvenate the reefs. As you sail from one island to the next, you’ll strategically place reef balls and dive into the depths to study the marine life that calls these waters home.
At the beginning of your turn, you have the option to place one of your reef balls on a route next to the island where your ship is currently docked. To do so, you’ll need to spend energy from your ship’s tank, and the cost depends on how many energy symbols are visible before you place the ball. This might sound straightforward, but there’s a catch—while placing a reef ball reduces future travel and placement costs for you to zero on that route, it also lowers the cost for your opponents!
When at least one reef ball is placed on each route surrounding an ocean sector, that area is considered cleaned up. At this point, players score points based on their presence in the region—whether through their reef balls or their ships. Whoever scores the most points also receives a pollution token, which comes with a special bonus to be used later in the game.
Once that’s done, it’s time to set sail again! Move your ship as far as you like (as long as you can afford the energy), landing on a free island. If the island matches a mission card in your hand, you can activate both the card’s ability and the island’s powers. Depending on the type of card, these abilities could introduce crucial options to alter your approach.
The islands themselves offer useful actions. You can advance on the dive or research tracks, which grant bonuses and points based on your final position. Diving allows you to claim rewards from exploration tiles at your diver’s current position, while progressing on the research track helps unlock even more opportunities. You can also recruit or activate crew members to support your mission, draw extra cards, or gain more reef balls.
Releasing additional reef balls is key to exploring further. It also expands your ship’s storage space, giving you room to collect the necessary resources to acquire money, energy, and even more reef balls. But if you ever run out of energy and find yourself stuck, you’ll need to recharge. To do this, you’ll move your VP marker back along the point track to 0, collecting the rewards along the way, which could be energy, cards, dive spoils, reef balls, or crew member activations. This reset allows you to refuel and set off for a new island on your next turn.
The game heats up when a player reaches 22 points. At this point, the game pauses, and objective cards are drafted, with the player who has the fewest points choosing first. These cards provide specific goals to work toward as you continue your journey. The game concludes when one player hits 45 points, triggering the final round. Afterward, victory points are tallied from various sources, including objective cards, mission cards, positions on the research and dive tracks, resource sets, and your presence in the ocean sectors.
Game Info
Reef Project is the brainchild of Italian designers Martino Chiacchiera and Federico Pierlorenzi, brought to life by Polish publisher Board&Dice. If you’re familiar with Board&Dice, you’ve probably already heard of some of their other popular Eurogames, like Nucleum, Teotihuacan, and Tawantinsuyu, to name just a few. They’re known for delivering solid Eurogame experiences, and Reef Project is no exception. The game supports 1-4 players, ages 14 and up, and offers a mix of well-loved Euro mechanisms such as area majority, set collection, resource management, and mission-based gameplay. A typical game session can last anywhere between 45 and 90 minutes, depending on how deep you want to dive—pun fully intended!
Components, Production, and Artwork
The theme of Reef Project couldn’t be more relevant, with coral reefs around the world in urgent need of restoration, making this a game with real-world resonance. Reef balls, which play a central role in the game, are used globally to help protect and restore coral ecosystems. The game’s vibrant artwork shows us an idealized version of what a healthy coral reef should look like, with splashes of color that make the underwater world pop.
In terms of production quality, Reef Project is top-notch. The components are sturdy and well-designed, from the dual-layered player boards to the custom player pieces. The double-sided main board ensures the game adapts smoothly to different player counts, while the asymmetric ship boards and player powers add to the game’s replayability. The artwork by Zuzanna Kołakowska and Piotr Sokołowski complements the game beautifully, enhancing the ecological restoration theme with visual flair. While the components are high-quality, some players might feel the game is a bit component-heavy, especially for first-time players, but the well-thought-out iconography and design help ease the learning curve. One thing missing, though, is a dedicated insert for all those bits and pieces. It’s a bit of a puzzle to pack everything up, but third-party insert creators will likely solve that soon enough!
Gameplay and Complexity
At its core, Reef Project is a medium-weight Eurogame that finds the sweet spot between complex strategy and player-friendly rules. Players need to make thoughtful decisions about how to manage their resources and position themselves on the board, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming. There’s a lot of satisfaction in planning ahead, finding those juicy combos, and watching everything click into place—like finding the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle, it all just fits perfectly. When it does, you’ll feel like the captain of a well-oiled (or well-reefed) machine.
The drafting of objective cards, where the player with the fewest points picks first, brings in a clever tactical twist. These cards provide long-term goals that increase the challenge, benefiting players who can think ahead and anticipate their next steps. Meanwhile, the area control aspect encourages competition for key spots on the board, with plenty of freedom to explore different paths to victory. Despite the tactical depth, the game’s rules remain approachable, offering just enough challenge to keep things interesting without bogging down the experience.
Player Interaction and Strategy
Although Reef Project doesn’t feature much direct conflict, player interaction is definitely present. The placement of reef balls can indirectly help your opponents by reducing their travel costs, which keeps things interesting with a bit of tactical give-and-take. On the flip side, it’s always a bit frustrating when another player snags the island you were aiming for just before your turn. Luckily, they’ll have to move on in their next turn unless they’re recharging, so you’ll have your chance soon enough.
The lack of negative interaction makes the game more relaxed, with each player focusing primarily on their own strategy. However, staying aware of your opponents’ actions is essential, as their choices can impact your game—especially when it comes to area majority in the ocean sectors.
Replayability and Scaling
One of the great things about Reef Project is how every game feels different. The random setup of bonus tanks, exploration tiles, pollution tokens, and islands ensures that every game feels fresh and different. Add in the five double-sided player ship boards, each with its own unique abilities, and you’ve got plenty of reasons to come back for more. Both the A and B sides of the ship boards offer distinct setups, further boosting replayability and providing different paths to victory.
Scaling the game for different player counts is well-handled, too. The double-sided main board offers a side for 2 players and another for 3-4 players, with overlays used in three-player games to tighten up the map. This keeps the gameplay engaging and prevents the board from feeling too empty or too crowded, regardless of player count.
Final Thoughts
Personally, we love that Reef Project shines a light on the important issue of reef restoration—nature conservation is a theme that can’t be highlighted enough. The game immediately catches the eye with its colorful, inviting design, but once you dive in (okay, last diving pun, I promise), you’ll find a rich, strategic experience beneath the surface.
Each game presents players with meaningful choices, from managing resources to planning the best routes and finding optimal combos. We’ve played with various groups, and it’s interesting to see how different strategies emerge—some players focus heavily on advancing the dive and research tracks, while others prioritize area control in the ocean sectors. Both approaches can lead to victory, as most games end with tight scores and no clear runaway winner.
While the gameplay is strategic, it’s also accessible, thanks to quick turns and a smooth progression system. Unlocking new abilities and resources feels rewarding, without bogging the game down in overly complex mechanics. The interaction between players is light but present, making Reef Project a great choice for those who enjoy their games without direct confrontation. The balance between deep strategy and easy-to-grasp mechanics makes it a great fit for both hardcore Eurogamers and those just dipping their toes into the genre.
📝 We received a review copy of Reef Project from publisher Board&Dice.
