Pandasaurus Games has just announced an exciting new addition to its ever-growing roster of family-friendly tabletop games: “Beacon Patrol.” Slated for retail release on August 2nd, Beacon Patrol invites 1-4 players, aged eight and above, into the thrilling world of Coast Guard Captains. With its attractive price point of $19.95, Beacon Patrol is expected to become the newest summer gaming sensation.
Designed and illustrated by the renowned Torben Ratzlaff, Beacon Patrol challenges players to patrol the waters of the North Sea coast, ensuring the safety of the area by inspecting lighthouses and buoys. But, with a game duration of only 30 minutes, efficiency is key – the aim is to explore as much of the sea as possible before time runs out.
In Beacon Patrol, the sea is a tile-based board where each turn presents three potential actions for players. They can lay a tile next to their ship and move onto it, exhaust a propeller to shift their ship one space, or swap a tile with a fellow player, although this last option can only be used once per turn.
When all tiles have been played or discarded, the game concludes and points are tallied. Players earn points for each fully surrounded tile – ones with a buoy are worth 2 points, ones with a lighthouse yield 3 points, and ones without either are worth 1 point. How well you’ve done is then compared with the criteria outlined in the rulebook.
Once players feel comfortable with the base game, they can ramp up the challenge with either, or both, of the two mini expansions already included in the game.
Pandasaurus Games is already accepting pre-orders for Beacon Patrol on their website, offering an enticing deal: each pre-order comes with a free set of Discovery Tiles expansion. Although the game will reach retail outlets on August 2nd, pre-orders are set to ship on July 19.
For board game aficionados planning to attend the upcoming Gen Con convention, it might be worth waiting – Pandasaurus Games will have copies of Beacon Patrol and promos available at the event.
Fair winds and following seas to all future captains of Beacon Patrol! Secure your pre-orders today to sail into an exciting gaming adventure this summer.