Escape from Atlantis was one of my favourite childhood board games
For 1-4 players, Waddington’s Escape from Atlantis allows you to play as one of four colours, blue, yellow, red, or green. There are twelve of each colour pieces (people) to get to safety.
Escape from Atlantis consists of the playing board, a sea surrounded by four small islands, playing pieces, Atlantis pieces, sea creatures, boats and a spinner. The aim of the game is to get as many of your people to the safety of one of these four islands as Atlantis crumbles into the sea.
To do this you can either take one of the boats scattered around, swim with dolphins or swim alone. Obstacles, some in the form of sea creatures, will crush your boat, and/or gobble you up. There are also whirlpools waiting to drag you down to the murky depths.
Each turn consists of three parts: –
-
Moving your people
Each turn allows you to move three spaces. You can move one piece three spaces, three pieces one space, or a variation of. If your person is alone in the sea you can only move one space. Boats can move three spaces and are controlled by whichever colour has the most people onboard. If an equal number of people are onboard then control is shared.
-
Removing a piece of Atlantis
After each turn you should remove a piece of Atlantis (assuming there are still some left) and turn it over to reveal a benefit or obstacle. Benefits can come in the form of boats and dolphins to help transport your people to safety. Obstacles will take on the shape of whirlpools and sea creatures. Whirlpools will kill your people instantly. Sea creatures such as sea monsters will crush your boats and eat the passengers while octopi will crush your boats, leaving your people to the tender mercies of other sea creatures such as sharks which can eat you but not crush boats.
-
Spinning the Atlantean Swirler
Finally, you get to spin the Atlantean Swirler. The (Atlantean) Swirler is a disc containing a small ball bearing, effectively taking the place of a dice. The Swirler gives you the opportunity to move a dolphin or sea creature 1, 2, or 3 spaces along with a ‘dive’ which allows you to move anywhere on the board. This could mean bringing a dolphin closer to rescue a swimmer, or moving sea creatures away from you and towards other players.
Winning the game
The game ends when a player has all of their remaining people on the surrounding islands. The winner is the player with the most people managing to Escape from Atlantis to the safety of the surrounding islands.
