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Underwater Cities

1-4 players 80-150 min 8.0 Board Game Geek Rating

Players are brilliant scientists building underwater civilizations due to Earth's overpopulation. The core mechanic involves strategically placing colored cards onto matching board slots to gain dual benefits: executing board actions and triggering card advantages. These allow resource gathering, constructing domes, tunnels, and buildings in personal underwater territories. Victory comes from accumulating points through efficient city development and card management.

Published 2018

Underwater Cities

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Select city tiles by player count
Use 7 Symbiotic Cities for 2 players, 10 for 3 players, or 13 for 4 players, always with 17 Regular Cities
2
Add the Action Cloning Tile
In 4-player games only, add this tile which allows the first player to take it to use an already-occupied spot
3
Distribute player components
Each player receives 1 board with starting city, 2 Blue Metropolis tiles, and 1 Brown Metropolis tile
4
Deal starting cards
Each player receives 6 Era I cards and must discard down to 3
5
Assign assistants
Deal 2 Assistant cards to each player (expansion version); each player chooses 1 to keep
6
Distribute starting resources
Each player receives 1 Steelplast, 1 Kelp, 1 Science, and 2 Credits
7
Position first player
Place the 1st player marker below the Turn Order Track
8
Position second player
Place on Space 4 with no bonus
9
Position third player
Place on Space 3 and receive 1 Credit bonus
10
Position fourth player
Place on Space 3 and receive 1 Credit plus 1 Steelplast bonus
11
Add optional contracts
Optionally include 3 Contract cards in the game
12
Select board types
Use Boards 1-4 for regular game, 5-8 for asymmetrical, 9-12 for Museum Expansion, or 13-16 for Metropolis Choice

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Build cities within range
You may build a city on any location that is 1 spot away from another city, even without a connecting tunnel
2
Respect distance limits
You cannot build a city more than 1 spot away from another city, even if tunnels lead to that location
3
Use Biomatter as wild resource
Biomatter can replace Kelp or Steelplast only when building cities, buildings, and tunnels
4
Feed cities with Biomatter
Biomatter may substitute for Kelp when feeding cities
5
Play cards on color
You cannot place an action card in your tableau if it was played off-color
6
Build tunnels from start
All tunnels must be connected to your Start City and can be placed 1 space away from another tunnel
7
Extend tunnel networks
Tunnels can be built far away as long as you can trace a path back to Start City
8
Place buildings strategically
Buildings may be placed adjacent to a city or on a location where a city could be built (1 away from another city)
9
Verify connected status
Connected means you can trace a path back to the Start City via a tunnel network
10
Check production eligibility
Cities, buildings, and tunnels only produce if connected to Start City
11
Track consumption requirements
Only connected cities consume Kelp during the feeding phase

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Score connected cities only
Cities that are not connected to your Start City via tunnels do not score points
2
Verify building connections
Cards that mention buildings do not provide scoring benefits unless the building is on a connected city
3
Confirm production status
Unconnected cities do not produce resources, affecting your final resource conversion to points

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Podwodne Miasta | Zasady Gry | Instrukcja

Podwodne Miasta | Zasady Gry | Instrukcja

Instructional

Unboxing and Rules Skim of Underwater cities

Unboxing and Rules Skim of Underwater cities

Unboxing

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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