Atlantis Rising - Tips & Strategies

I’ve seen many people report that the game is either too hard or even impossible to beat. I agree that it’s not easy (a good thing IMO) and will require some perseverance and optimization that comes with experience, also both good things IMO. However having said that, the difficulty can put new players off from trying again. So to help you either learn or introduce the game, the designer (Galen Ciscell) actually suggested the following:

“you could make the game easier by starting with extra mystic energy, removing the Controlled Flood misfortunes, or starting the Athenians back further on the Attack Track. You could also try drawing a number of Misfortunes equal to the turn instead of the number of players (i.e. one misfortune on turn 1, two misfortunes on turn 2, etc.)”

I think it will help a lot if a player’s first impression is a positive one, in order to get the game back on the table. I highly recommend you make it easy on yourself the first time round. It will pay off on the long run, as there’s plenty of room for increasing the difficulty.

Good luck!

These are just a few different roles a friend and I came up with. This isn’t all of them, but these are the ones we’ve playtested the most and think are fair:

Seer: May look at a number of misfortune cards equal to half the number of players (rounded down) at the beginning of each turn, before putting them back in the same order. Replaces Astrologer.

Admiral: Gain a grey Atlantian and a courage token each turn. Both must be placed in the navy. Cannot be saved. Replaces Champion.

Scribe: May exchange one mystic energy for one library card at any time. Replaces Scholar.

Alchemist: At any time you may transmute any two resources for one resource. Replaces Artificer.

Necromancer: May give up three mystic energy at the start of the turn to gain one grey Atlantian. This Atlantian is assumed to have a courage token. Replaces Priest.

Diver: You may use flooded tiles if you place more of your available Atlantians on them. You must place one extra Atlantian for each space out from land you go. These extra Atlantians do not count against the limit of Atlantians on the space. They may not gather resources/convert ore to steel. This power may not be used in city spaces. Replaces Explorer.

It’s easy to neglect to man the Navy early. Don’t. The Athenians can flood you beyond hope very quickly if not kept in check.

Work with your fellow players to collect additional workers in the early game when it is relatively easy to gain more workers. This pays off in the later game when it becomes more and more difficult to collect resources and fight off the Athenians, and you need a back up plan to your back up plan. The more meeples you have to work with, the more chances you have of succeeding at one of your tasks.