Our deepest regret...

Have you ever yearned for a mix between Lovecraftian cosmic horror and fishing? 🤔 If so, you’re in luck, because 🐙 Deep Regrets brings exactly that to the table in an exquisite package. In this game, 1-5 players can try their luck as fishermen, catching fish at sea and selling it at the harbor to get better equipment, in order to venture deeper to catch even more spectacular sea creatures 🦑, and to see who can collect the most valuable haul. 

Of course with a theme like this, not every catch is what you’d expect. 👉There are quite a few foul fish that resemble horrors you wouldn’t ever want to encounter! 😱 As you experience such abominations, your regret grows and you drift ever closer to madness - fitting for any Lovecraft-inspired game. 😁 

Gameplay is very simple. You play over 6 days, deciding each day whether to visit the Harbor or go out to Sea, then you do actions there for the rest of the day. At Sea 🌊 you can basically only do the fishing action, which is the only way to get victory points (aka. fish cards of different values). It involves spending dice to pay for the difficulty, with some card effects and value modifiers spicing things up. At Harbor ⚓ you can sell your hard-caught fish to buy fishing rods, reels, supplies and additional dice that help you on following days. 

The core excitement of Deep Regrets comes from flipping over a card at sea to see what you encounter 🎣. At first this discovery felt fresh and fun, but for us, it quickly started to wear thin.

💬Overall, we found Deep Regrets too light and too random, with a limited decision space - making it better suited for players who want something simple. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy lighter games too, but this one overstays its welcome and drags on longer than it should for what it offers. The randomness in fishing feels thematic, but the randomness in buying items feels less satisfying for us. On the flipside, the presentation is truly top-notch, with expressive illustrations and components that perfectly match the theme. It’s all so attractive. 🤩 I just wish there was more meat on the bones. 😶