Tricky Tides

About this board game

In Tricky Tides, 2–4 players command merchant ships in a 45-minute pick-up-and-deliver board game about navigating between islands, collecting goods, and earning gold.

Released in 2019, the game combines hand management with trick-taking as players chart the best course across a map. Your navigation cards are more than a hand to manage: the results of tricks help determine both turn order and the direction in which ships can move.

Each voyage presents a balance between movement and cargo management. Travel from island to island, gather available goods, and keep track of what your ship can carry in its cargo hold. The route you choose and the way you manage your cards can shape how efficiently you reach the places where those goods can be delivered.

• Trick-taking: Use tricks to determine turn order and ship movement direction.
• Navigation: Manage a hand of navigation cards while charting routes on the map.
• Pick-up and deliver: Collect goods from islands and deliver them to earn gold.
• Cargo management: Keep your ship’s goods organized as you travel between destinations.

Tricky Tides brings a distinctive nautical setting to the pick-up-and-deliver format by making trick-taking central to movement and timing. Players must watch their cards, their cargo, and the changing possibilities of the map as they pursue the most profitable deliveries.

With support for 2–4 players and a listed play time of 45 minutes, Tricky Tides offers a focused game of merchant shipping, navigation, goods, and gold.