Short, sweet, and colorful, what more could you ask for? Noctiluca by Z-Man games is the perfect addition to any game night. Check it out!
Noctiluca is a 1-4 player game designed by Shem Phillips and published by Z-Man games. A typical game can be played in thirty minutes making this a great filler.
Noctiluca: $34.99
Get Yours For Less At Miniature Market
In the remote depths of the jungle lie the Cerulean Pools. On the warmest nights of the year, the quiet waters are filled with shimmering lights as the dormant noctiluca awaken.
You must prove your skill by retrieving noctiluca from the pool to fulfill the jar arrangements you need.
In Noctiluca, 1-4 payers dive through the clear depths to catch the rare and beautiful noctiluca. Players collect precious creatures in jars to deliver for points.
Ages: 8+
Players: 1-4
Game Length: 30 minutes
Noctiluca: A Colorful Dice Dive For Your Game Night
In Noctiluca you are divers visiting the warm waters in search for the elusive Noctiluca. Renowned for their healing properties, these beautiful creatures are sought out by many healers all over. Your job is to search the cerulean pools for the Noctiluca and deliver them in jars to the healers.
The gameplay is really simple each player will receive two jars out of a choice of three. You also have a card depicting one of the four colors of Noctiluca. This is considered your favorite and will gain you an extra point for each space on a delivered jar with that color. Some jars are harder to complete and are worth additional points. Each jar has a colored tag hanging from its neck. You gain the matching colored point tokens for delivering jars. There is an additional bonus for having the majority of tags from each of the three colors.
When setting up a game you will take all the dice, which represent the four different colored Noctiluca, and randomly place them into the pools. The outer ring will contain five Noctiluca while the inner rings hold four. Then you will distribute the twelve pawns evenly among all players. These represent your actions in a worker placement style. You take turns placing a pawn on one of the twelve shores. Then choose one of the two lines of connecting pools as well as a number from one to six.
You will collect all the Noctiluca dice in that row with the selected number. Then you may place any of them into the matching spaces on your jars. Any excess dice are passed to each player with each of them choosing one to place into their own jar and continuing to pass until everyone has had a chance to place a dice. Once a jar is full of dice it can be delivered. You return the dice flip the jar card over and take the topmost token matching the tag color of the jar you completed.
Once all the pawns have been placed the first round is over. The second round begins with the player who placed the pawn last and going counterclockwise. After the second round is over the game ends and the player with the most points is the winner.
I really liked this game a lot. The gameplay is short and sweet but not too simple. Had some good strategic choices to make choosing which dice to take. The components are very beautiful and the artwork is amazing. I love the colorful dice so much. If you are looking for a quick filler for game night, I highly recommend Noctiluca. Hope you get a chance to check this out.
