Offshore

About this board game

Offshore is a lightweight competitive strategy game for 3–5 players that takes about 60 minutes, set in the oil industry of the North Sea.

Players build oil platforms and work to develop the vast oil reserves off the Norwegian shores. Opening a new oil field requires both the right technology and temporary cooperation, creating shared interests between otherwise competing players.

On each turn, choose one of three actions:

• Buy a technology tile.
• Export oil to sell it for points and money.
• Open a new oil field and drill for oil.

Opening a field is the most involved option. You may act alone or work with one other player, but together you must provide the required technology and pay the opening cost. The participants must negotiate who contributes which technology and how the cost is divided.

Once the field is opened, the players enter a small press-your-luck drilling challenge. Decide how deep to drill while managing the pressure building below the surface. Push too far and the field can suffer a blowout. The combination of technology tiles used to open the field also changes how drilling unfolds.

These temporary agreements and shared drilling phases make every new oil field a moment of negotiation and risk. Players can benefit from working together, yet they also share the consequences when an operation goes badly. With its focused action system and specialized setting, Offshore offers a compact game of technology, deals, oil exports, and dangerous decisions.