Escape from Atlantis
Encyclopedia
Escape from Atlantis is a board game
that portrays the sinking of Atlantis
and the attempts by the population to escape the sinking island. It was originally released in the USA under the title of Survive! and first published in the English language
by Parker Brothers
in 1982. Survive! was also marketed in Canada
, Italy
, Spain
, and in many other countries.
In 1986, Waddingtons
launched their three-dimensional version Escape from Atlantis in the UK with revised rules. Waddingtons also sold a bilingual (English/French
) version of Escape from Atlantis in Canada. The game was sublicensed in 1987 and sold in Australia
and New Zealand
. Waddingtons also sublicensed Escape from Atlantis in Europe
to Schmidt Spiele
of Germany
. The game sold in Europe in many languages including Finnish
, Dutch
, French and German
.
In 1996 Hasbro
relaunched Escape from Atlantis in Europe under the Waddington's brand. This version of the game had rules which were further revised. The game was invented by Julian Courtland-Smith. Early copies of Escape from Atlantis include the name of the then co-copyright owner, C. Courtland-Smith.
World sales of Escape from Atlantis now exceed 1.25 million units.
In April of 2010, it was announced that American publisher Stronghold Games would be reprinting a new version of the game entitled "Survive: Escape from Atlantis!". On October 10th, 2010, "Survive: Escape from Atlantis!" became available for preorder on the company's website.. The retail date was set as February 2nd, 2011.
, representing the mountainous island
of Atlantis
itself, is covered with several tiers of molded hexagon tile
s (37 in total) giving the game a partly three-dimensional appearance. The island is made up of four different "rings", with a mountain
peak at the centre, a ring of mountains around it, a ring of forest
around that, and finally a ring of sand
y beach
at the outer edge. Each of the tiles has space to hold a maximum of 3 Atlantean
s.
The island is surrounded by open water, and in each of the four corners of the board are four coral
islands.
As play progresses the land tiles are incrementally removed, simulating the ongoing sinking of the island. The objective of the game is for players to save their ten Atlanteans from the sinking island by transporting them to the safety of the coral islands.
Also included are boat
s and various sea animals: shark
s, giant squid
, sea serpent
s and dolphin
s.
Some versions of Escape from Atlantis use dice
. Waddington's version uses a special spinner device.
Each player sets his/her tribe up on the island, in places of his/her own choosing. The only limitation is that sandy beach tiles can start with only one villager per tile.
Some of the boats are placed in the sea adjacent to the island of Atlantis. In a two-player game, there are two boats. In a three- or four-player game, there are four.
The player has a fixed number of three spaces of movement on each turn. This can be freely distributed among the villagers, for example by moving one villager three spaces, or moving three villagers one space each. When swimming, a villager may only move one space per turn, but there are no such restrictions for other methods of movement.
When travelling by boat, the player can also move a boat with villagers from other tribes on it, provided the player's tribe holds a non-minority position (in other words, no other tribe has more members in the same boat). This creates a tactical element by allowing players to transport other players' villagers.
A villager falling into the water does not drown. He floats at the surface, capable of swimming one space per turn, or three when riding on the back of a dolphin. Dolphins can only transport one villager at a time.
The villagers' journeys are endangered variously by sea serpents, giant squid, sharks, and by whirlpool
s caused by the sinking land itself, and aided with dolphins and boats. A symbol on the bottom of the removed tile tells which of these appears in the tile's place.
Whirlpools destroy all moving objects (but not land) from the same space and adjacent spaces. The whirlpool is then discarded.
The player then freely selects one of the animals in question from the board and moves it accordingly. He/she can decide its route for him/herself. This allows using sharks, giant squid or sea serpents to attack other players, or dolphins to come to the rescue of the player's own tribesmen.
When a sea animal comes to contact with villagers on the sea, what happens depends on the animal:
A diving sea animal can appear at any sea hexagon that does not have villagers or boats in it.
The winner is the player who, at the end of game, has succeeded in saving the most of their own villagers.
.
The Survive! game board uses a slightly different board design. The most marked difference is that each corner island has two entrance hexes rather than one. Survive! also has a gameplay feature whereby some games end earlier than others. Under one of the rock tiles (i.e., the last tiles to sink), there is a graphic of an explosion which signifies that the volcanic island has erupted, ending the game and killing any villagers who have not yet escaped. Because the end of the game depended on when this tile is revealed, players were not able to rely on having a pre-determined number of turns remaining.
In terms of villagers, each of a player's 10 pieces have a hidden numeric digit from 1 to 6 located on the bottom. This value represents the point value earned for rescuing the given villager. Once placed on the board, players are no longer able to reference which villager token has which number, even if the piece leaves play. As a result, it can become difficult to remember where the most valuable villagers are located, and furthermore, the values of other players pieces are never known. Strategy dictates that the most valuable villagers are often the ones leaving the island first (on boats), so they are typically the most valuable to go after with sea serpents. At the end of a game, the player with the highest surviving point total wins.
Rather than a spinner device, a custom 6-sided die is used to control the sea animals. Also, whales replace the giant squid counters, and there are no dolphins.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
that portrays the sinking of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
and the attempts by the population to escape the sinking island. It was originally released in the USA under the title of Survive! and first published in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers is a toy and game manufacturer and brand. Since 1883, the company has published more than 1,800 games; among their best known products are Monopoly, Cluedo , Sorry, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, and Probe...
in 1982. Survive! was also marketed in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and in many other countries.
In 1986, Waddingtons
Waddingtons
Waddingtons was a publisher of card and board games in the United Kingdom. The company was founded by John Waddington of Leeds, England and Wilson Barratt, under the name Waddingtons Limited...
launched their three-dimensional version Escape from Atlantis in the UK with revised rules. Waddingtons also sold a bilingual (English/French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) version of Escape from Atlantis in Canada. The game was sublicensed in 1987 and sold in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Waddingtons also sublicensed Escape from Atlantis in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to Schmidt Spiele
Schmidt Spiele
Schmidt Spiele is a German games publisher for a wide variety of games, most notably board games .Founder Josef Friedrich Schmidt developed Mensch ärgere dich nicht in 1907/1908, based on antique forerunners. Five years later his new publishing firm began the game's serial production...
of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The game sold in Europe in many languages including Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, French and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
In 1996 Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
relaunched Escape from Atlantis in Europe under the Waddington's brand. This version of the game had rules which were further revised. The game was invented by Julian Courtland-Smith. Early copies of Escape from Atlantis include the name of the then co-copyright owner, C. Courtland-Smith.
World sales of Escape from Atlantis now exceed 1.25 million units.
In April of 2010, it was announced that American publisher Stronghold Games would be reprinting a new version of the game entitled "Survive: Escape from Atlantis!". On October 10th, 2010, "Survive: Escape from Atlantis!" became available for preorder on the company's website.. The retail date was set as February 2nd, 2011.
Board
The centre of the game's boardBoard game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
, representing the mountainous island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
itself, is covered with several tiers of molded hexagon tile
Tile
A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...
s (37 in total) giving the game a partly three-dimensional appearance. The island is made up of four different "rings", with a mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
peak at the centre, a ring of mountains around it, a ring of forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
around that, and finally a ring of sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
y beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
at the outer edge. Each of the tiles has space to hold a maximum of 3 Atlantean
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
s.
The island is surrounded by open water, and in each of the four corners of the board are four coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
islands.
As play progresses the land tiles are incrementally removed, simulating the ongoing sinking of the island. The objective of the game is for players to save their ten Atlanteans from the sinking island by transporting them to the safety of the coral islands.
Game pieces
Escape from Atlantis includes four Atlantean tribes, each with twelve villagers. These are represented as small wooden figures, coloured red, blue, green and yellow. Each player picks one tribe.Also included are boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
s and various sea animals: shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
s, giant squid
Giant squid
The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by as many as eight species...
, sea serpent
Sea serpent
A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of sea monster either wholly or partly serpentine.Sightings of sea serpents have been reported for hundreds of years, and continue to be claimed today. Cryptozoologist Bruce Champagne identified more than 1,200 purported sea serpent sightings...
s and dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s.
Some versions of Escape from Atlantis use dice
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
. Waddington's version uses a special spinner device.
Game start
At the start of the game, the island tiles are shuffled, and the island of Atlantis is built at the centre of the game board.Each player sets his/her tribe up on the island, in places of his/her own choosing. The only limitation is that sandy beach tiles can start with only one villager per tile.
Some of the boats are placed in the sea adjacent to the island of Atlantis. In a two-player game, there are two boats. In a three- or four-player game, there are four.
Game rounds
On his/her turn, each player does three things, in this order:- Moves his/her villagers,
- Sinks one tile from the island of Atlantis,
- Spins the spinner (or rolls the die) and moves the sea animals accordingly.
Movement phase
Movement is by the villagers walking on land, swimming (slowly) in the ocean, or being transported by boat or on the backs of helpful dolphins.The player has a fixed number of three spaces of movement on each turn. This can be freely distributed among the villagers, for example by moving one villager three spaces, or moving three villagers one space each. When swimming, a villager may only move one space per turn, but there are no such restrictions for other methods of movement.
When travelling by boat, the player can also move a boat with villagers from other tribes on it, provided the player's tribe holds a non-minority position (in other words, no other tribe has more members in the same boat). This creates a tactical element by allowing players to transport other players' villagers.
Sinking phase
On each turn, an island tile is removed from the island. The removal starts from the sandy beach on the outer edge, and continues further inland as outer rings are exhausted. A tile with villagers on it may only be sunk if no empty tiles are present in the currently sinking ring.A villager falling into the water does not drown. He floats at the surface, capable of swimming one space per turn, or three when riding on the back of a dolphin. Dolphins can only transport one villager at a time.
The villagers' journeys are endangered variously by sea serpents, giant squid, sharks, and by whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
s caused by the sinking land itself, and aided with dolphins and boats. A symbol on the bottom of the removed tile tells which of these appears in the tile's place.
Whirlpools destroy all moving objects (but not land) from the same space and adjacent spaces. The whirlpool is then discarded.
Spinning phase
In the spinning phase, the spinner shows which kind of sea animal should be moved, and how many blocks: one, two, three or dive.The player then freely selects one of the animals in question from the board and moves it accordingly. He/she can decide its route for him/herself. This allows using sharks, giant squid or sea serpents to attack other players, or dolphins to come to the rescue of the player's own tribesmen.
When a sea animal comes to contact with villagers on the sea, what happens depends on the animal:
- Sharks kill villagers swimming in the water. They do not harm boats or their passengers.
- Giant squid destroy boats. Any passengers in the boat survive, but are dropped in the water.
- Sea serpents both destroy boats and kill villagers.
- Dolphins allow villagers to ride them, giving them a maximum of three blocks of movement instead of one. They do not protect villagers from sharks or sea serpents.
A diving sea animal can appear at any sea hexagon that does not have villagers or boats in it.
Winning the game
The game ends when all villagers either have safely arrived on the coral islands or are dead.The winner is the player who, at the end of game, has succeeded in saving the most of their own villagers.
Rule Variations
In the original version, Survive!, the land pieces are randomly placed in the sinking island area at the start of the game. This results in the island sinking in a less-uniform fashion than the current Escape from Atlantis game. This, paired with other changes, provides significantly different gameplayGameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
.
The Survive! game board uses a slightly different board design. The most marked difference is that each corner island has two entrance hexes rather than one. Survive! also has a gameplay feature whereby some games end earlier than others. Under one of the rock tiles (i.e., the last tiles to sink), there is a graphic of an explosion which signifies that the volcanic island has erupted, ending the game and killing any villagers who have not yet escaped. Because the end of the game depended on when this tile is revealed, players were not able to rely on having a pre-determined number of turns remaining.
In terms of villagers, each of a player's 10 pieces have a hidden numeric digit from 1 to 6 located on the bottom. This value represents the point value earned for rescuing the given villager. Once placed on the board, players are no longer able to reference which villager token has which number, even if the piece leaves play. As a result, it can become difficult to remember where the most valuable villagers are located, and furthermore, the values of other players pieces are never known. Strategy dictates that the most valuable villagers are often the ones leaving the island first (on boats), so they are typically the most valuable to go after with sea serpents. At the end of a game, the player with the highest surviving point total wins.
Rather than a spinner device, a custom 6-sided die is used to control the sea animals. Also, whales replace the giant squid counters, and there are no dolphins.
External links
- Escape from Atlantis details at Globetrotter games, including photos
- http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/519125/stronghold-games-announces-the-reprinting-of-the-c Stronghold Games Reprint Announcement