Endeavor: Deep Sea Deluxe Edition

The original Endeavor (Magister Navis) was one of those tight euros my group brought out five times in six months. With so many games competing for table time, that is practically a migration pattern. The Deluxe Edition modernised it into something warmer: everyone unlocks things, everyone advances, everyone leaves content. Civilised. A little anaemic.

In Deep Sea, the map is not waiting for you in the box. The players create it, so every session spreads a different board across the ocean floor. That is its strongest idea: an abstract design gets a shifting stage rather than retracing the same route each time.

Play revolves around that exploration and those unlocks, while scenarios alter scoring and determine how much room the game gives everyone. The introductory scenario gives lavishly: everyone unlocks nearly everything and comes close to completing nearly everything. The ocean is vast. The tension, less so.

I did not have a bad time. The game is well assembled, and the changing map earns its place. But its governing principle is still that everybody should have a nice time, turned up to maximum, and for me that removes the squeeze that makes a good decision hurt a little. If I played again, it would be with people who already know it and one of the later, harsher scenarios. Perhaps then the game will remember that the deep sea is not a spa.