Aqua Garden Preview
Advert: this game was loaned by Uchibacoya, this has not affected our preview in any way.
I have seen Aqua Garden floating around Instagram in the past and was always enticed by the theme and gorgeous looking components. So when I was invited to check out the revised version I said yes please without hesitation!
The new edition fits in with two new games launching on Kickstarter alongside this board game: Sky Garden and Jurassic Garden. You won’t be surprised to hear that one of these is bird themed and the other is dinosaur themed! Both offer variations of the same core mechanics as Aqua Garden.
Nothing has dramatically changed with Aqua Garden, but the two-player mode has a small update and a dual-layer board is included. Most notably the box has been redesigned to fit all the expansions in, as well as aesthetically matching the two new games.
As a prototype, artwork, components and aspects of the game are likely to change, just bear that in mind when looking at the images!
Aqua Garden Main Rondel
Aqua Garden Dual Layer Player Boards
More about the game
Aqua Garden revolves quite literally around a shared central rondel board, as well as your own personal rondel board. Turn order is decided by who is further back on the shared rondel, and you will move around the rondel collecting fish or bonuses.
On your turn you will move any number of places forward to either a space which will give you a fish, or an advertisement space. If you gain a fish, you move your diver one to three spaces around your personal board and place a fish in either of the tanks that flank that space. Advertising spaces give you income depending on the fish in your aquarium. At the start of the game you get an event card and every time you circle your personal rondel you can gain income from the two event tanks to the right of your player board.
Player Token and Box
A Full Aqua Garden Tank
Two money can be spent when acquiring fish to add coral, seaweed or one of the fishes from the common supply.
Placing fish in your tanks is the core part of the game and primarily where points will be collected. I probably should’ve mentioned before now that the player with the most points, wins.
Fish placement has some conditions that need to be met. Firstly, all tanks have an oxygen level of four. Small fish take up one oxygen, bigger fish two and the massive whale shark uses up four. You can increase this by adding a maximum of one seaweed per tank to gain two more oxygen.
There are also points available for completing objectives of having a specific group of fish in your tanks, the first player to achieve it gets maximum points and a bonus, while other players get fewer points.
The game lasts four rounds before the scores get tallied. There is also an option for advanced play with different tokens included in the box.
Aqua Garden Shark Tank
Aqua Garden Performing Turtle!
Final thoughts on Aqua Garden
I remember reading previews of this game and thinking it all sounded a bit complicated. I also read comments on Board Game Geek which seemed mixed. I am pleased that I tried it for myself though, as I think there is a really fun board game here. Instead of being complicated, Aqua Garden is just quite strategic.
I think I prefer it at three players as you just have a little more opportunity to get things you really want and there is less downtime between turns. I must say the two player Automata works really smoothly and isn’t a burden like some.
Fans of Patchwork, New York Zoo and Parks will find some comparisons with the puzzle of this game, but the strategic complexity of making two rondels work for you, adds a head scratch in a good way.
Gorgeous components and strategic gameplay combine to make this game one to check out when it launches on September 16th 2025.
