Sea Divers of Jeju

About this game

In South Korea's Jeju island, 'haenyeo' (해녀) are women divers who specialize in harvesting sea life from the ocean. A tradition dating back hundreds of years, these divers could go as many as 20 meters deep, seeking out anything from seaweed to conch to octopus. Though their numbers have diminished in modern times, even now haenyo can be found plunging into the ocean depths. Sea Divers of Jeju celebrates their hard work with a diving-for-resources game. Over eight rounds, players plan for 2 to 3 of their divers to take to the watery depths to harvest. They play cards that represent the depth one diver will go. If they play the only card with that number in the round, they take all the matching resources on the depth card, whereas playing a matching number means the harvest is shared. Deeper dives can lead to greater harvests, but be careful! Dive too deep and too far from the main group, and you won't yield any harvest at all that round.

What it feels like