koningco wrote: ↑12 April 2026, 22:40
I think this game didn't deserve to come out of beta (or even Alpha). The text and symbols on cards not readable, yellow and red on a black/blue blackground and not bold are not a good idea for an online version. I have to use tooltips all the time even on my desktop. The developer of the BGA version could have split the main board in multiple parts for readability: the mantra scoring section is too big compared to the card sections and the card sections could be wider, with larger cards and especially larger text and symbols.
I also ready the topic "What can I to do to help make this great game more popular???". I think the lay-out is why many players stop playing Aquatica on BGA after 1 or 2 games or even already during the tutorial.
That is possible. I noticed this game has a large number of people who played it once and did not play it again. Only a small number of players play it with any consistent volume.
I give the developer credit for an excellent implementation with regard to the rules and bugs (of which there currently are none). I do agree there are some display issues.
The game board is an exact proportional replication of the physical board. I don't find it a problem when using the physical board, but you're right, the digital board is difficult to see the important cards: The location cards. They are small and dark. I use a huge monitor with very high resolution and I can still barely see both player boards and the main board on my screen. Uses almost the entire monitor screen. The contrast/brightness for the location cards needs to be adjusted. The mantas are nice and bright (which is good; the physical mantas have symbols in such dark purple they are almost impossible to read). But the physical location cards are sufficiently bright and readable. Here on BGA, the location cards are difficult to read.
A single-step undo would also help a lot. When doing "before" or "after" actions involving manta arrows and card location effects such as arrows, raising, scoring, character-obtaining and retrieving, it's frustrating to have a long sequence, then click one wrong thing and need to restart the entire sequence.
I think having one character that is almost completely useless (The researcher) and another that is mostly useless (The Turtle) also hurts the game. With 2 of each, sometimes the ocean character row is bogged down with several of those characters, which makes for a sometimes-frustrating game.
The Cold Waters expansion helps a lot. Of all the expansions I have played, I find the Cold Waters expansion for Aquatica to be the one that most improves the base game.
And for me personally, I'm unlikely to get back into regular consistent play unless the turns are equalized. (Similar to Splendor.) Losing, sometimes by a landslide, just because player 1 had a big advantage, is no fun.