Sometimes I don’t want action, I don’t want requirements and reflexes and demands. I don’t want powerful and combative and learning combos and finishing moves. Sometimes I just want to sit and just be present. Beacon Patrol is like a comfy sweater and a warm bowl of soup. You never feel under pressure unless you place yourself under that pressure. It’s firmly in the type of paddock you’d find Dorf Romantik. Yes there’s some thinking, but not to the level that would raise an eyebrow, let alone a sweat. There’s nothing here to dislike, and very little to fault.
It’s gentle like Carcassonne on the sea. A select a colour boat that explores an ocean, finding land and laying tiles as you do so. You’ll have a number of moves every turn where you can move you boat and then lay down one of three different types of tiles making sure that sea links to sea and land some how connects to land. Once you used up your action points successfully, you be able to end your turn and then do it all again. If you don’t manage to place a tile with the four action points, you won’t be given the ability to end your current turn and continue. Sometimes you’ll need to double back on yourself to see if you can try and place a tile that works. Other times you’ll need to replace the tiles you have for ones that work. But no one stands over you and judge, no one points and waves a finger in your direction. You’ll stop when you want to. Beacon Patrol is pretty much keep playing until you can’t really. At that point you’ll then score all the tiles that you have managed to complete, where completion is nothing more than the tile being surrounded on all four sides by another tile. Points range from one to three, with the lighthouse tiles giving you the most points. Then you’ll stand up, put the kettle on, get a cuppa and a cookie and settle down and try again. Snug like.
Its all very chill out and sit on the couch in a sloth like state, idly moving your thumb around the seascape laying down another watery tile as you go. Like most videogames, it offers progression in the form of having other ships to unlock and horrific seagulls. (Seagulls are always horrific and never welcomed here) There’s never stress. Beacon Patrol is not the kind of game that will approach adrenaline let alone raise any. Strangely enough, because everything is contained within the video game, you don’t need to worry about organising tiles, or scoring the game, or even tidying up once you’ve had enough as it will all be done for you. It doesn’t need shelf space and doesn’t even need you to involve other people if you want to. In some ways, its the best kind of board game adaptation, the one that you can just get on and play with yourself.
There’s a number of modes to enjoy, including a endless exploration mode alongside the normal version of the game. Exploration mode is the familiar play more, unlock more kind of deal, rewarding repeat visits and plays with ships and newer tiles. There’s also the board game emulation version, which follows the rules of the original tile game more closely. Ultimately you’re looking at different levels of relaxed type play. Nothing here to jump out from behind the sofa and say boo. There’s a distinct lack of demand from Beacon Patrol for me to play it. It will be there on the SteamDeck when I decide to pay it a visit. As you can guess, I like how it plays, how it looks and what it offers. For the bargain price of under £10 and a potential regular to be found in the Steam Sale, then unless your sword is hungry for action, and you need to play on the edge, its worthwhile just sitting down, and listening for that gentle sound of the sea.
You can buy Beacon Patrol on Steam here
This review is based on the retail version of the game provided to us by the designer and publisher. We were not paid monetary compensation for this review. We give a general overview of the gameplay and so not all of the mechanical aspects of the game may be mentioned. The majority of the games that we are play are going to take a reasonable number of sessions and playthroughs to fully understand every possibility that they offer. We hope this write up gives you an idea of whether or not this game is something that you will consider playing or even add to your collection. Even if we don't like something, hopefully it helps you to decide if it is something that you should find out more about. We always suggest you check out a gameplay video to give you a better understanding of the game as it is played. If you would like to support more content on the blog then please consider backing us on Patreon. www.patreon.com/werenotwizards
