The game Beacon Patrol is a co-operative tile laying experience where you take on the role of Coast Guard exploring the high seas to inspect vital buoys and lighthouses along the coastline.
We first came across the game at UK Games Expo in 2023 where it was being demonstrated by Pandasaurus Games. What drew us to it was the table presence it had and my wife's love of the sea, after trying it we knew it would be one to add to our collection.
First Impressions
Upon coming across this game the first thing that jumped out was the simple and elegant artwork on the box, with the use of the blues and white with the complementary orange kept it simple yet effective and bold. The game itself initially intrigued me on how this would play differently to others I have played before due to it using a tile laying mechanic which I enjoy in other titles such as Carcassonne and Dorfromantik. The tiles are well made and I really like the boat pawns used to denote where each player is on the map.
Game Play Overview
In Beacon Patrol the aim of the game is to work together to explore as much of the sea and coastline as possible trying to spot as many lighthouses and beacon buoys along the way and scoring points for explored tiles on the board. The game is played over several rounds with each player taking a turn. On your turn you may take three types of actions, Place a Tile, Move Your Ship or Swap a Tile.
If you Place a Tile you will choose one tile from your supply and place it out orthogonally adjacent to another tile in play. You can only place a tile next to another tile if the following requirements are met, the tile it is being placed next to has your ship on and the tile being placed has water on one edge that will line up with the tile your boat is on so you can move your boat onto it, the tiles edges must match the same terrain as the previously placed tile's edge on the sides that they meet on and the tile must be in the correct orientation based on which direction the compass is pointing on the Beacon Patrol HQ Tile. After placing your tile you must move your ship into the new space it creates that has a body of water.
When you take the Move Your Ship action you will spend one Movement token to move your ship to an orthogonally connected tile which connects to the current tile with a water edge. For every space you move your ship you must spend one movement token, you can also discard tiles in front of you to gain extra movement though this removes the tiles from the game.
The last action you can do is Swap Tiles, this action allows you to exchange one of the tiles from your supply with an unplayed tile from another player. You can then use this new tile immediately this turn. Your turn ends once you can't or don't want to take any further actions. You will then discard any unplayed tiles and draw a new set of tiles, then flip over any movement tokens to their active side. Then play passes to the next player.
The game ends once all the tiles from the draw pile have been played or discarded. You will then calculate points for each lighthouse, beacon buoy and tile that is fully explored in all orthogonal directions. After calculating points discover how well you have done by comparing your score to the success track in the back of the rulebook.
Pros and Cons
Some of the things I like about this game is that it is simple to pick up and teach and offers a fun puzzle for the players to explore. The downside is that there is not loads of strategy in the game making it less appealing to hobby gamers who like games with a nice amount of depth and the variation in the game is created from when the tiles come out. This aside the game is well made and the rulebook is well written making it a pleasure to play and learn. This game is definitely a lighter game that works well for casual gamers and offers a great game to play while having a chat as it is offers a very relaxed player experience.
Final Verdict
Overall, I really enjoy playing this game it offers enough decisions to keep me engaged and enough variability for me to come back for more. I would not recommend this to someone who enjoys high strategy games due to how light the game play is on this one though I would suggest it for casual players as it falls into my starter/breakfast* game category of games in my personal collect making it a perfect filler game.
In conclusion, we would rate this game a 8.6/10
*games that are either good to play at the start of a games night or to play alongside breakfast to get your mind working.
You can grab a copy of the game at:
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