Australis is a tactical competitive board game for two to four players, lasting about an hour and themed around turtles moving through the East Australian Current. Players draft and activate colored dice that grant different effects: white dice yield points and cards, yellow dice add fish, purple dice set coral placement limits, and blue dice advance turtles. Face-up cards give bonuses tied to die colors, with limits on card types per slot and a three-card maximum per color; cards may also be discarded for a one-time effect. Scoring awards points for coral across board areas and for turtle positions, with turtle placement used as a tie-breaker.
Writing board game reviews often sends reviewers down weird research paths to write, hopefully witty, introductions. Today's game Australis, follows turtles navigating the EAC, or East Australian Current (as most famously featured in Finding Nemo with Crush and Squirt). But I found EAC is a more commonly used acronym for Estimate at Completion, Equivalent Annual Cost, Election Assistance Commission, and Extended Acute Care, which now has me thinking this game is really about either turtles working in accounting or health care.
The white dice provide points and cards, while the yellow dice add fish to your school of fish. Purple dice have numbers on them that represent the highest value area you can place a coral, while the numbered blue dice advance your turtle in the EAC. The cards tied to the white dice rolls are drawn from a face-up display on the board and provide a bonus when a specific die color is activated.
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