High Tide Game Review

Game design is such a strange, fickle thing. Social dynamics and complex systems are each finicky in their own right, sensitive to even the slightest disruptions. Seeking to create something that combines the two is some species of madness, and game designers are well and truly stricken. Every good game is an accomplishment. Every great game is a miracle.

Consider High Tide, a new two-player abstract game from designer Marceline Leiman. It is wonderful. While brief and straightforward, every second is filled with tense decisions and trade-offs. No two games feel quite the same, even given its narrow boundaries. I have nothing but great things to say about it, and I will get to those momentarily, but the most important thing for you to know right now is that I played an early prototype of the game last fall, before the game was signed to a publisher, and it wasn’t particularly good.

Tide's In

On the page, the rules to High Tide look nothing. They are simple, almost comic. Move a tile, either your own or a neutral one, from a lower position to a higher adjacent one. To move a tile, two…

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