Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave announces Sanibel

Now, in partnership with Hasbro and Avalon Hill, Hargrave has once again brought natural elements to the gaming table. Her newest game, titled Sanibel, will be perfect for gamers who like long walks on the beach, as that’s the crux of the game.

Each player token will travel down a beach, searching for and collecting various seashells or even shark teeth. The game combines cozy elements with strategic planning and slight puzzle-solving. The long beach board serves as the main play area, with seashells and shark teeth scattered across multiple zones, but this layout is far from static. As the waves wash over the shore, new seashells will appear, while old ones may be revealed underneath crabs or even other, less valuable shells.

Each player will also have their own boards to manage, which act as their seashell bag. Each seashell will be scored differently, based on information provided to players through a small “field guide” booklet. Not only do different seashells vary in point value, but how they are arranged and the quantity players collect will affect the total points scored at the end.

Hargrave detailed the design process of Sanibel, saying her intent from the beginning was to create a game with a peaceful atmosphere and a slow-going, cozy vibe. There aren’t too many rules to bog players down with, making it easy to jump right into the gameplay.

“It really does feel like collecting and exploring,” Hargrave told Avalon Hill in a press release. She went on to explain that in some instances, it will be beneficial to rush ahead of the group to try to grab a specific shell down the beach. However, certain game mechanics make it just as worthwhile to take it easy and walk down the beach with a meticulous attention to detail. A primary example is the game’s turn order rules, which lets players who are furthest behind on the beach to go before players who are at the front of the line, meaning those who rush far ahead of their friends may not get a turn for several rounds.

Sanibel being an Elizabeth Hargrave board game, it should be a given that the art is phenomenal. Once again, the vibes of the game are reflected in the art design. Watercolor artist Dahl Taylor has been tapped and already the game looks perfectly coastal. Likewise, the accuracy of the art wasn’t just pulled from Taylor’s imagination. Hargrave explained that she spent hours poring over the records at iNaturalist, a database of citizen-driven ecology where users around the world can upload images of plants, animals, and yes, seashells they found in their area.