
2017Kevin Bishop
Mainly reviews. The Shipwreck Arcana is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 18 reviews, 7 how-to-play guides, 2 recorded sessions, and 1 unboxings.
From BoardGameGeek
Trapped in a drowned world, you and your allies are doomed -- or are you? Using a mystical deck and a healthy dose of logic, you can predict each others' fates and escape unscathed. The Shipwreck Arcana is a compact, co-operative game of deduction, evaluation, and logic. Each player's doom constantly changes as they draw numbered fate tiles from the bag. By choosing which fate to give up and which card to play it on, you can give your allies enough information to identify the fate you're holding - which is important, as the active player cannot communicate with their allies during their turn! Each card has strict rules governing what fates can be played on it. As doom builds up, the cards themselves fade, becoming one-time powers to help the players while new cards cycle in from the deck. Skilled play requires carefully rationing powers, hints, and cycling, while paying attention to not only where each fate was played -- but more importantly, where it wasn't. The rotating active player creates a different group dynamic each turn, preventing any one player from dominating the game. Inexperienced players can still use the group deduction phase to ask questions (while they are not the active player).
Learn to play
Watch it played
The Shipwreck Arcana has 28 videos from 26 creators: 18 reviews, 7 how-to-play guides, 2 playthroughs and 1 unboxing. They date from 2017 to May 2025.
To learn the rules, start with "The Shipwreck Arcana Tutorial" by Meromorph Games, which runs 4 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "The Shipwreck Arcana Review - with Zee Garcia" by The Dice Tower. 17 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "The Shipwreck Arcana - The Occasional Board Game Show" by Easy Allies, one of 2 playthroughs.
If you like it, try ito, Hanabi, Letter Jam or Perspectives, which share several of its mechanics.
8 of 26
2010Antoine Bauza
2 - 5 players25 minLight weight
2023Matthew Dunstan, Dave Neale
2 - 6 players60 - 90 minLight weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Trapped in a drowned world, you and your allies are doomed -- or are you? Using a mystical deck and a healthy dose of logic, you can predict each others' fates and escape unscathed. The Shipwreck Arcana is a compact, co-operative game of deduction, evaluation, and logic. Each player's doom constantly changes as they draw numbered fate tiles from the bag. By choosing which fate to give up and which card to play it on, you can give your allies enough information to identify the fate you're holding - which is important, as the active player cannot communicate with their allies during their turn! Each card has strict rules governing what fates can be played on it. As doom builds up, the cards themselves fade, becoming one-time powers to help the players while new cards cycle in from the deck. Skilled play requires carefully rationing powers, hints, and cycling, while paying attention to not only where each fate was played -- but more importantly, where it wasn't. The rotating active player creates a different group dynamic each turn, preventing any one player from dominating the game. Inexperienced players can still use the group deduction phase to ask questions (while they are not the active player).
Designer
Kevin Bishop
Artist
Matthew Bishop
Publisher
Meromorph Games
Mechanics