- Publisher : Matagot
- Designer(s) : Scott Almes
- Artist(s) : Jorge Tabanera Redondo
- Player : 1
- Playing time : 25–40 Min
- Weight BGG : 2.05
What's this?
Conservas is a single-player game created by Scott Almes in which you play as the owner of a small fish canning business on the Spanish coast. Your goal: produce the best preserves (conservas in Spanish) while respecting marine resources. Each month presents a new challenge with specific objectives, and while making money is important, preserving fish stocks is just as important. A delicate balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability!
How do you play?
The game plays over several rounds (usually between 7 and 10), each consisting of three main phases: At Sea, On Land, and End of Day.
⚓ Phase 1: At Sea
Draw 5 tokens from the Sea bag.
Place these tokens either onto your boats (split between the Fished and Deep Sea sections) or onto the Open Water card.
Each boat can hold a specific number of tokens; any excess goes to the Deep Sea area, vital for fish spawning.
🏭 Phase 2: On Land
Now you use your catch:
Selling conservas: Trade your fish tokens to fulfill market orders for money. Once an order is fulfilled, leave a token to mark it.
Buying upgrades: Spend fish tokens to acquire powerful Upgrade cards that give you new abilities and better efficiency.
Buying new boats: Spend money to expand your fleet. Each boat has a purchase cost and a maintenance cost each round.
🌊 Phase 3: End of Day
Discard leftover fish tokens from your boats; only Water tokens go back into the bag.
Pay maintenance costs for each of your boats.
Fish spawning: If at least two fish of the same type remain in the Deep Sea, new fish tokens are generated accordingly.
Add all Deep Sea tokens and Water tokens back into the bag.
Move the Round Marker forward.
🎯 Victory Conditions
At the end of the final round, you must check:
Have you earned enough money?
Have you met the sustainability goals?
Have you acquired the required number of boats or upgrades?
If so, you win! Otherwise, adjust your strategy and try again.
Is it good?
Conservas is an original solo game with a refreshing and well-integrated theme of sustainable fishing. It cleverly combines resource management, bag-building, and both short- and long-term strategic planning through its fish reproduction mechanic. Overfishing too much too quickly can doom your game, as you’ll soon find yourself with an empty sea and lost opportunities.
Each month offers a different setup and scenario, and the Upgrade cards provide varied strategies.
However, the monthly scenarios could have offered greater variety, with more distinct mechanics and tougher challenges. Similarly, the Boat cards tend to feel a bit too similar, which is a slight letdown.
In terms of components, there’s nothing to complain about: beautiful screen-printed wooden tokens and lovely card illustrations, especially the card backs that resemble actual canned goods — a brilliant touch!
Games are relatively quick, which helps avoid overstaying, though the gameplay loop — drawing tokens and organizing them — can feel repetitive over time for some players.
In summary, Conservas offers a satisfying solo puzzle experience, perfect for players who love optimization and multi-turn planning, all wrapped in a marine ecology theme that pleasantly breaks away from more traditional gaming tropes.
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Review Conservas
Positives
- Original sustainable fishing theme
- Interesting combination of resource management, bag-building, and short- and long-term strategy
- High-quality materials: silkscreened wooden tokens and beautiful illustrations
- Fast-paced games, perfect for efficient solo sessions
- Satisfying solo experience for optimization and planning enthusiasts
Negatives
- Monthly scenarios are not differentiated enough, and the challenges lack variety.
- Boat maps are very similar.
- Gameplay is a bit repetitive.
Breakdown
- Components and illustrations 9.0
- Mechanics 6.0
- Thematic 8.5
- Replayability 7.0
- Handling 9.0
- Originality 8.5
