Beneath the shimmering surface, amidst swaying seaweed caught in the tide’s dance, sunlight pirouettes. Below, in the shadows, an elusive octopus prowls: its keen eyes scan the surroundings while sensitive tentacles probe for food. Gliding between rocks and dodging spiky sea urchins, it hopes to snag its prey. Survival trumps all. Suddenly, a blue-gray blur emerges—a catshark. A predator with one goal: to strike the octopus. A struggle for existence begins. Who will emerge victorious? The octopus or the shark?

About the Board Game Kelp: Shark vs. Octopus

This is a tense, asymmetric gameplay experience for 2 players. Each player has a unique set of components and available actions. The octopus plays cards to move across the board, concealing its location and setting traps for the shark. It feeds on prey and upgrades skills by adding new cards to its deck. The shark rolls dice, patrols its territory, and uses special abilities to track down the elusive octopus.

Gameplay

Both players have different goals and paths to victory: the octopus must either survive until the game ends or eat all the food blocks. The shark has only one way to win: successfully attack the octopus and defeat it in a final showdown.

Players take turns, starting with the octopus. The game continues until one player meets a victory condition.

Octopus

Playing as the octopus is typically more strategic. You’ll need to plan actions carefully, balancing movement, hiding, and even bluffing to throw the shark player off your trail.

On your turn, you must perform two actions from three available options. You may also repeat the same action twice. The available actions are:

• Play a card. Pay its cost by revealing the number of hidden blocks indicated on it. Costs range from 0 to 3 and must always be paid in full. Once paid, apply the card’s effect.
• Draw cards up to your hand limit. You always draw until you reach your hand limit. At the start, your hand limit is 4 cards. If your hand is empty, you must take this action.
• Discard 1 card from your hand, then hide 1 block. The discarded card goes to the discard pile, ignoring its cost and effect.

Card effects:

• Movement. Move blocks across the board. There are 2 ways: swap places or shuffle.
• Hiding. Set blocks upright again to conceal their symbols. Hiding cards are played for free.
• Learning. Upgrade your skills. Add better cards to your deck and gain new blocks from the supply.
• Feeding. One path to victory for the octopus is playing all 4 feeding cards to eat all food blocks. Reveal the octopus and a food block, replace it with a shell, and apply the food’s effect.

Shark

Playing as the shark is typically more tactical—you’ll need to mitigate the luck of dice rolls. Use memory and deduction to track the movement of blocks across the board.

The shark’s turn consists of several steps. Mandatory steps are “Draw and Roll” and “Move,” which you must perform each turn:

• Draw and Roll. Draw 2 dice from the bag and roll them once. These form your dice pool for use in subsequent steps.
• Place Current Dice. Currents let you swim across the board faster. Place a current die on any empty current space, regardless of its distance from the shark.
• Move. The shark moves along lines in the direction its figure faces, always ending on an empty current space. Dice can be used to speed up movement.
• Search/Attack. Place a die in a chosen zone; its value must equal or exceed the zone’s value. Reveal an adjacent block or attack it. If the octopus is found, begin a showdown.
• Grow. Fill the growth track with used dice to gain new skills. Red attack dice cannot be placed on the growth track.
• Spend Energy. During this step, place all remaining dice in your pool into stored energy slots. With 1 or 2 occupied slots, you may buy new cards; with all 3 slots filled, you must buy new cards.

Game End

The octopus wins if:

• It eats all the food. The game ends immediately once the octopus places the 4th block on the food track.
• It hides until the shark exhausts itself. The game ends immediately once the shark places the 7th die on the hunger track.

The shark wins if:

• It successfully attacks the octopus with a red die and then hunts it down in a showdown.

During a showdown, the octopus tries to escape using confrontation cards. The octopus has 3 survival strategies to choose from: yellow, red, and turquoise. The shark has 3 matching cards to counter each strategy. The octopus and shark secretly choose 1 confrontation card and place it face-down. Then both players reveal their cards simultaneously.

• If the shark picks a confrontation card matching the octopus’s, the attack succeeds, and the shark wins the game immediately.
• If the shark picks a different color, the octopus escapes and may apply the survival strategy described on its card.

After a successful escape, remove the used octopus confrontation card and the matching shark card from the game. In the next showdown, the octopus’s escape odds are 50/50. In a third showdown, the shark will succeed and win the game.

We also recommend checking out the video rules in the “Video” section and, if desired, exploring the detailed illustrated rules in PDF format in the “Files” section.

Final Thoughts

An incredibly engaging strategic board game for two that blends a multitude of mechanics. From dice-rolling and deck-building to hide-and-seek and bluffing. Playing as the octopus or shark feels radically different. It’s the asymmetry, clever mix of mechanics, stunning artwork, and handy organizer that make Gallu the Rooster recommend adding "Kelp: Shark vs. Octopus" to your collection.

We also suggest taking a look at the duel board game "The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth", a spiritual successor and reimagining of "7 Wonders: Duel", introducing a host of exciting changes to the gameplay. One player takes on the Fellowship, the other Sauron.