Elizabeth Hargrave’s Sanibel is a shell-collecting board game released Jan. 16

Polygon reports that Elizabeth Hargrave, designer of Wingspan, released Sanibel, a shell-collecting board game named for an island city on the Gulf Coast of Florida, on Jan. 16.

Sanibel is a two- to four-player game in which players fill bag-shaped boards with tiles representing shells, shark teeth, starfish and other beach finds; each tile type has its own scoring conditions focused on collecting sets or building clusters. The tiles are randomly placed along spots on a beach and players form strategies based on what’s available, what others draft, and bonus objectives. Players move meeples along a coastal track at their own pace, a wave token periodically triggers placement of more tiles to represent tides, and the game is easy to learn and plays in about 45 minutes. Hargrave said, “Scoring was something that we kept fiddling with, really trying to make sure that all the different types of shells were appealing in their own way.”

Hargrave said Sanibel was suggested by her dad—who “loves collecting shark teeth and shells”—and she aimed for a difficulty level that would let non-gamers play while leaving strategic choices for experienced players. She took a similar approach with Wingspan to appeal to enthusiasts of nature, and said interest in nature-themed games and outdoor hobbies grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting her Washington, DC mushrooming club doubled its membership.

Key Topics

Culture, Elizabeth Hargrave, Sanibel, Wingspan, Spiel Des Jahres, Scythe