Salvage Divers

About this game

Salvage Divers casts players as wreck divers racing to recover treasure from a sunken ship across a series of expeditions. Each round, players draw chips from a personal bag to descend along a depth track, managing a limited air supply that depletes with every risky draw. A diver decides moment to moment how far to push before surfacing, since running out of air forces an immediate, costly ascent. Along the way, divers reach treasure checkpoints and must decide at each one whether to secure the find immediately — paying a cost in air for the certainty — or leave it behind to collect only if they make it back to the surface safely. Reaching greater depths earns prestige even on a dive that ends in trouble, while treasure recovered funds upgrades between expeditions: better diving gear, a deeper starting position for future dives, and crew who can be hired for a single expedition. Whoever is currently in the lead faces a handicap on their next dive, keeping the race competitive as the game progresses. After six rounds, the diver with the most accumulated prestige wins. —description from the designer

What it feels like