Sanibel preview — Collecting seashells by the seashore

Collecting seashells is certainly one of the most relaxing pastimes; calmly walking across a beach, the sound of waves rolling up the shoreline, and the joy of finding a particularly pretty Venus Clam. Elizabeth Hargrave’s newest game, Sanibel, perfectly captures the entire calming experience, and I was lucky enough to preview the game with the designer herself while at GenCon.

In Sanibel, players collect various shells (along with echinoderms and shark teeth) as they travel along the board, placing them into their bag. The player closest to the start of the track is the active player (think Tokaido) and takes their turn by moving to an open spot on a new segment of the board. Earlier spaces will let the player have a better selection next round, but the further spots let the player pick up more tiles, as shown by the number next to the footprint. Players can even pick up Sand Crabs, which don’t actually go into their bags; instead, they let the player pick up a different tile from any other zone—handy for snagging that one bivalve you need! At the end of certain rounds, the wave piece will be at the back of the line, triggering more tiles to wash up on each segment, even those everyone’s already passed. I especially enjoyed this part of the game, since it really evokes the feeling of waves rhythmically crashing against the beach, washing away your footprints.

Tiles that aren’t Sand Crabs are placed into players’ bags with Tetris-like restrictions: pieces have to touch the bottom of the bag or be supported by at least one piece on the bottom, and if a space, or group of spaces, is surrounded on all sides, then it’s inaccessible. This can get a bit tricky, as each type of piece has a specific scoring condition that usually depends on adjacent tiles. For example, Snails want to be in a large connected group, while Echinoderms only score if they aren’t adjacent to any other Echinoderms. One special rule is the small triangle spaces along the sides of the bag; when these are supported with a tile beneath them, players get to immediately add a small piece of their choice from a neat little tray. When I played, I used this to make a bunch of easy Coquina pairs.

Each player is also given two unique tiles at the start of the game with special scoring conditions, like private goals. At the halfway point, most players will need to choose which of their two they want to place in their bag (one space lets a player add both to their bag). After continuing along the path and revisiting the now-refilled segments from before, the game ends, and players tally their scores. The only competitive part about scoring is the Shark Teeth, which give a bonus to the players with the most and second-most. Although there will, of course, be some competition during the game if several players are vying for the second half of a specific Bivalve.

The watercolor art that Dahl Taylor did for the game is phenomenal. Each shell stands out, and the game board is visually interesting with a wave frozen mid-crash. I especially enjoyed the art because it reminded me of my grandmother’s “beach-room” where she kept her own seashell collections, bringing me back to my childhood.

My only complaint about Sanibel is that I have to wait so long to play it again, since Avalon Hill won’t be releasing it until spring 2026. Otherwise, Sanibel is an amazingly relaxing game with enough meat on it to keep the experience interesting while being light enough that players can enjoy some nice conversation at the same time. If you’re looking for a lightweight game or are just a fan of mollusks, be sure to keep an eye out for this one!