The best nautical board, card & dice games 🚢 2025

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is a cooperative trick-taking card game that embarks players on an underwater expedition to discover the lost continent of Mu. Building on the foundations of its predecessor, The Crew, this game combines the familiar mechanics of trick-taking with unique cooperative elements and a compelling thematic narrative.

Sea Salt & Paper is a set collection card game that combines strategic decision-making with the excitement of timing your moves just right. Similar to Rummy in gameplay, it involves collecting sets of cards to score points, while also navigating the timing of when to end the round for optimal advantage.

Skull King is an exciting and competitive trick-taking game that adds unique twists to the traditional format found in games like Oh Hell!, Wizard, Euchre, and Spades.

Survive: Escape from Atlantis! is a thrilling and competitive board game where players aim to evacuate their pieces from a sinking island. The game is known for its intense gameplay and strategic decisions.

Deep Sea Adventure is a light and engaging board game that combines elements of press-your-luck and resource management. Players take on the roles of daring explorers, seeking treasures in undersea ruins. The twist? Everyone shares a single rented submarine and, crucially, a single tank of air. The game unfolds over three rounds, and the player who accumulates the most points by retrieving underwater relics is declared the winner.

Forgotten Waters is a captivating board game that plunges players into the whimsical and unpredictable world of pirate adventure. Blending storytelling and strategy, this game stands out for its immersive narrative and engaging gameplay.

In the trick-taking game, players aim to avoid winning tricks as cleverly as possible. All cards are distributed evenly among players, and when a player leads with a card, others must follow suit if possible. If they cannot, they can play any card, leading to potential changes in the trick’s suit. The game continues for multiple rounds until a player reaches the target number of tricks, with the player who has the fewest tricks won declared the victor.

The Guild of Merchant Explorers is a unique and engaging strategy game that blends exploration with city-building elements. Players begin with a single city on their personal map and must skillfully expand their territory by placing cubes based on terrain cards drawn from a shuffled deck. The game emphasizes strategic planning and adaptability, with players aiming to efficiently complete areas, connect cities, and maximize their score through various means.

Port Royal is a competitive card game that immerses players in the world of Caribbean trade during the era of pirates and merchant ships. It combines elements of risk-taking, resource management, and strategic planning.

Players assume roles in a secret role deduction game featuring three asymmetrical factions. While everyone is on the same ship, their goals diverge: loyal sailors aim to navigate safely to shore, pirates want to lead the ship into the Bermuda Triangle, and a crazed cultist seeks to summon their dark ruler, the Kraken. Each round, the ship sails in one of three directions, determined by the captain's often conflicting orders, while the crew engages in discussions and possible mutiny amid their quest for control.

Embark on a delightful rescue mission in The Isle of Cats, a captivating competitive board game designed for 1-4 players (expandable to 6 with expansions). This medium-weight game combines card-drafting, polyomino cat-placement, and resource management, offering an engaging and strategic gameplay experience.

Embark on an adrenaline-pumping undersea adventure with Captain Sonar, a board game that plunges you into the heart of intense submarine warfare. In this gripping scenario, every move and decision can be the difference between victory and defeat. Form a skilled crew aboard a cutting-edge submarine as you strive to locate and eliminate an enemy sub before they do the same to you. The underwater battlefield is unforgiving, and effective communication and coordination are paramount for success.

Concordia is a peaceful yet strategic board game set in Roman times, focusing on economic development and expansion. It is designed for 2-5 players aged 13 and up.

In the swashbuckling world of 1675 Jamaica, Captain Henry Morgan, after a notorious career in piracy, becomes the Governor of Jamaica. In a surprising turn of events, he invites his former pirate comrades to join him in retirement, celebrating their plundered treasures in the annual Great Challenge – a thrilling race around the island. The cunning Captain with the most gold at the end of the race claims the title of Grand Winner. Jamaica is a pirate-themed tactical race game that combines strategic ship movement, treasure hunting, and player interaction.

Raiders of the North Sea is a vibrant board game set during the Viking Age, where players embody Viking warriors vying for the Chieftain's recognition through strategic raiding and resource management.

Players need the power of memory and a bit of pirate luck to escape Captain Goldfish's island before the lava engulfs them in the game. They reveal locations connected to the last shown spot, but making a wrong connection eliminates them from the round. The last remaining pirate claims a valuable treasure, with each round building on previously gathered information for a chance at victory. Advanced players can utilize special actions triggered by connected locations for an even more exciting experience.

Board the good ship Tranquility and sail towards paradise, but beware of losing track of time in a realm where day turns to night. Players cooperate to fill the sea with numbered island cards and must return the ship home before anyone runs out of cards. The objective is to complete the grid in numerical order while communicating silently. Players take turns, playing cards or discarding them, and must manage their hands carefully to avoid running out of legal moves.

Players act as the captains of the coast guard. They work together to control buoys and lighthouses to ensure safety along the North Sea coast. The goal is to explore as many tiles as possible by connecting them on all four sides.

Twenty years after his journey around the world, Charles Darwin writes about the origin of species and seeks new information about animal life, especially from unexplored continents. Young, adventurous naturalists board the Beagle to assist him in completing his famous work. Players study animals, conduct surveys, publish findings, and develop theories, aiming to score more points than their competitors and demonstrate their significant contributions to Darwin's research.

Conspiracy: Abyss Universe is an intriguing card game that delves into the rich and vibrant world of Abyss. Players find themselves crafting a strategic reverse pyramid from a deck composed of cards across five colors, ranging in value from 0 to 6. The game's core revolves around drafting cards, with a clever twist on traditional mechanics. Each turn presents the opportunity to draw cards from the deck, select one to add to your pyramid, and strategically position the rest, fostering a dynamic play environment that challenges players to think ahead and adapt their strategies on the fly.

Endeavor: Age of Sail invites players to navigate the high seas and earn glory for their empires. Set during the age of exploration, players sail from Europe and the Mediterranean, establishing shipping routes and occupying cities across the globe, all while building their industrial, cultural, financial, and influential power.

Sleeping Gods is a cooperative, narrative-driven board game that immerses players in an expansive and mysterious world. Set in 1929, players take on the roles of Captain Sofi Odessa and her crew, who are lost at sea aboard the steamship Manticore in the mystical Wandering Sea. Their mission is to awaken the gods to find their way home.

Abyss plunges players into a deep-sea realm of power struggles, where they aim to ascend the throne and rule the underwater city. This game intertwines development, combination, and collection strategies in a captivating underwater setting.

The English second edition of Fleet: The Dice Game includes an updated rulebook, scorepads, and captain and trophy cards. Players return to beautiful Ridback Bay to reap rewards over 10 rounds, with each round consisting of a boat phase and a town phase. During the boat phase, players roll dice and select actions to mark off boat types and unlock fishing licenses, while the town phase allows them to activate special buildings for bonuses and earn points. A fully integrated solo mode lets players compete against Captain Ruth for high scores.

Players dive for valuable pearls and try to sell them at local markets. On their turn, they either collect pearl cards of the same color and value or score points. Higher value cards yield more points but are rarer, while collecting a larger number of lower value cards can grant bonus points with a necklace card. At the end of the game, players score their collected cards, while any remaining cards in hand result in negative points. The player with the highest total score wins.

Cartagena is a thematic board game based on the historical 1672 pirate jailbreak from the fortress of Cartagena. It blends strategy and tactical movement with a strong pirate theme.

Port Royal Unterwegs is a standalone, streamlined sequel to the card game Port Royal, introducing new characters that can also be used as an expansion for the original game.

The 2010 edition is more than just a reprint of the original Survive! from 1982. It combines the original gameplay with new figures and rules from Waddington's Escape from Atlantis. Additionally, it includes the Dolphins & Dive Dice mini-expansion that was removed from the 30th Anniversary Edition released two years later.

Fleet: The Dice Game offers a strategic and immersive experience as players return to the bustling Ridback Bay to engage in the competitive fishing industry. Unlike typical roll and write games, Fleet: The Dice Game introduces complex decision-making and strategy, accommodating 1-4 players and including a robust solo mode.

Carcassonne: South Seas brings the classic tile-laying charm of the original Carcassonne to a vibrant, tropical setting. This standalone game, the first in the "Carcassonne Around the World" series, offers players the task of building island landscapes filled with inviting seas and lush islands. Instead of the traditional cities, roads, and fields, players work to gather bananas, shellfish, and fish, trading these resources for points with various traders. The familiar mechanics of placing tiles and meeples blend seamlessly with this refreshing maritime theme, offering both seasoned Carcassonne fans and newcomers a delightful new variant to explore.