How to Play Survive: Escape from Atlantis!

Game Objective

At the beginning of the 20th century, explorers discovered the mysterious island of Atlantis and its treasures. However, the island has begun to sink! The players' objective is to lead their Explorers to mainland (the islands located at the corners of the board). Victory is decided by the sum of the points printed on the bases of the saved Explorers; therefore, the winner is whoever accumulates the most points, and not necessarily whoever saved the most characters.

Setup

1. Place the 5 Sea Serpent pawns on the board spaces that have the corresponding icon.
2. Shuffle the Terrain Tiles (Beach, Forest, and Mountain) face down and place them randomly within the bold sea area of the board, creating the island.
3. Each player chooses a color and takes the 10 corresponding Explorer pawns. Note: each pawn has a number from 1 to 6 on its base (representing the treasure), which must be kept secret.
4. Each player takes 2 Boat pawns.
5. The remaining Boats, as well as the Shark and Whale pawns, are set aside for later use.
6. Determine the first player.
7. In clockwise order, each player places one Explorer on an empty Terrain Tile, repeating the process until all 10 of each player's pawns are on the board.
8. In clockwise order, each player places their 2 Boats in empty sea spaces that are adjacent to a Terrain Tile.

Game Flow

Players take their turns in clockwise order. During a turn, actions must follow this mandatory order:

1. Use of Terrain Tile from "hand": The player may use a single tile obtained in previous turns.
2. Movement: The player has a total of 3 movement spaces to distribute among any combination of Explorers and/or Boats.
3. Terrain Removal: The player removes one Terrain Tile from the island and discreetly looks at the back of the tile.
4. Creature Movement: The player rolls the Creature Die and moves the corresponding creature to attack opponents or protect their own characters.

Actions and How to Play

Movement of Explorers and Boats

• Explorers on Land: May move to another adjacent Terrain Tile, enter a Boat in an adjacent sea space, or move between adjacent Boats. A Boat can hold a maximum of 3 explorers.
• Swimmers: An Explorer becomes a Swimmer when jumping from a Boat into the sea, when the Terrain Tile beneath them is removed, or when a Boat sinks. A Swimmer moves only 1 sea space per turn and can only enter a Boat if both are in the same sea space.
• Boats: Move one sea space at the cost of one movement. Control of the Boat belongs to the player with the highest number of Explorers on board. In the event of a tie, all tied players control the Boat.
• Mainland: To disembark on mainland, one movement is spent (whether leaving an adjacent anchored Boat or moving a Swimmer from an adjacent sea space).

The Creature Die

• Sea Serpent: Moves 1 sea space. If it enters a space with a Boat with passengers or with Swimmers, it removes all of them from the game.
• Shark: Moves 1 or 2 sea spaces. If it stops in a space with Swimmers, it removes all of them from the game. It does not affect Boats.
• Whale: Moves 1 to 3 sea spaces. If it enters a space with a Boat with passengers, the Boat is removed and the passengers become Swimmers (who are removed immediately if there is a Shark or Sea Serpent at the location).

Terrain Tile Information (Back of the Tile)

When removing a tile, the player checks the border of the tile:

• Green Border (Immediate): Actions resolved instantly. They may spawn a Shark, Whale, or Boat at the location, or cause a Whirlpool (removes everything in the space and adjacent spaces) or a Volcanic Eruption.
• Red Border (Start of Turn): The tile goes into the player's "hand" and can be used in step 1 of the turn to move Swimmers (Dolphin), Boats (Winds), or creatures (Serpent, Shark, or Whale) to any empty space.
• Red Border with "X" (Defensive): Used outside of one's own turn to negate an attack from a Shark or a Whale, removing the creature from the game before it causes damage.

Terrain Removal Rules

The removed tile must be adjacent to a sea space. The mandatory removal order is: first all Beaches, then Forests, and finally Mountains. Tiles surrounded by higher-level terrain are removed as the last tile of that type.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends immediately when the tile with the Volcano icon (located under one of the Mountains) is revealed, causing the Volcanic Eruption that destroys the rest of the island and all Explorers who have not reached the mainland.

Scoring: The player flips over all their Explorers who reached the mainland and sums the numbers printed on their bases. The player with the highest total sum of points wins.

Tips for Winning

• Try to remember the position of your highest-value Explorers to prioritize leading them to the mainland.
• Use the red border tiles with "X" strategically to protect your Swimmers from Sharks or your Boats from Whales during opponents' turns.
• Remember that control of a Boat is determined by the majority of Explorers on board; try to dominate the vessel to decide the direction of movement.