Sample · an invented campaign, labelled as such
Tidewater: the board floods between turns.
Everything below is a made-up campaign for a game that does not exist, written from an invented fact sheet the way we write yours. Your page is in your words and your facts, in your page's own order.
The story
Tidewater is a two-player game where the board floods between turns. Every round the tide comes in by one row, and whatever you left on the shore is gone. Twenty minutes, one table, no dice. It began as a cardboard mock-up in Lena's kitchen in March 2024; 214 people have played the current version at four conventions and two game cafés, and 41 of them signed the pre-launch list on the spot. The art is finished: 36 illustrated tiles by one artist, the same hand on every card. The money prints 1,500 copies at a factory in Shenzhen that has already produced our sample, and ships them in May 2027. If the tide takes your last boat, you have three turns to get it back.
What it is
Two players, one shoreline of 36 tiles, eight boats each. On your turn you move two boats, then flip one tile to collect its cargo. Then the tide moves: the lowest row of the board floods and every boat on it is lost. The flooded row returns at the end of the round, empty. The game ends when the tide has crossed the board twice; the player holding the most cargo wins. A full game takes about twenty minutes, and the only thing in the box you have not seen before is the tide track, a strip of six numbered coins that tells both players exactly which row floods next, so every loss is one you could have seen coming.
Why now
The current version has not changed since January 2026: the last two conventions produced no rule changes and no broken tile. The factory sample arrived in August, the art was delivered in September, and the only thing left is the print run. Our pre-launch list has 1,280 people on it, 41 of whom played the game before signing. That is the number this campaign is built on, not a guess.
Who we are
Lena Marsh designed the game and ran every one of the 214 recorded plays herself. Tomas Reyes drew all 36 tiles and the box; this is his second published board game after "Milltown" (2023, 2,100 copies sold). We are two people, we have no publisher, and this is the first time we have asked for money.
Where the money goes
Our goal is $24,000. That is one print run of 1,500 copies ($15,900, quoted in writing by the factory in September 2026), freight to our fulfilment partner in Ohio ($3,600), the campaign and payment fees ($2,400), and a reserve for replacements and damaged boxes ($2,100). Nothing in the goal pays either of us. Copies ship in May 2027; if the factory date slips, you will read it in an update the week we learn it.
Risks and challenges
The real risk is shipping, not the game. The game is finished and the factory has made it once. Sea freight from Shenzhen to Ohio has moved between five and nine weeks in the last year; our May 2027 date assumes nine. If it takes longer, the delay will be weeks, not months, and we will say so. We have deliberately not offered stretch goals that add components, because every new part is a new factory step and a new way to be late.
Reward blurbs
- $1 · Tide watcher. Our thanks, every update, and your name in the rulebook's backer list.
- $39 · One copy. Tidewater, the full game, shipped May 2027. Shipping added at checkout.
- $69 · Two copies. One for you, one for the person you will lose to. Shipped together, May 2027.
- $120 · Deluxe. The game with sixteen cast-metal boats in place of the wooden ones, and a cloth tide track. May 2027.
- $180 · Retailer six-pack. Six standard copies at the trade price; for shops and cafés. May 2027.
- $250 · Playtest table. Two deluxe copies and a one-hour video call with Lena to play and talk design. May 2027.
- $500 · Your tile. Everything in Deluxe, plus one of the 36 shoreline tiles redrawn by Tomas with your name worked into the art, in every copy printed. Five available.
- $1,000 · The first boat. Deluxe, your tile, and the original hand-cut cardboard prototype from March 2024. One available.
Three update posts
Launch day
We are live. Tidewater is a two-player game where the board floods between turns, and as of this morning you can get a copy for $39, shipping in May 2027. The game is finished; the factory has already made one. Thank you to the 41 people who played it at a table and said "tell me when". This is us telling you. If you have a question about the rules, the tide track or the deluxe boats, ask below and Lena will answer today.
Mid-campaign
Day 12. We are at 71% of the goal with 403 backers, and the question we get most is "what happens if I lose all eight boats". Answer: you don't lose the game, you lose tempo; the flooded row comes back empty and your next boat launches from your harbour tile. We have added a 90-second rules video to the page showing exactly that. No stretch goals, on purpose: the plan is still one print run, shipped in May.
Last 48 hours
Two days left. Tidewater is funded, the print run is confirmed at 1,500 copies, and the campaign closes on Thursday at 9 PM Eastern. After that the price goes to retail and the deluxe metal boats go away. If you have been waiting, this is the last update before it closes. Thank you; we will see you in May.