Snorkeling
Snorkeling Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
75 cards in 5 colors (3 of each value from 0 to 4): Beach, School of Fish, Clownfish, Turtle, Ray.
6 cards of value 5: Lanternfish.
Setup
- Give each player one value-5 Lanternfish card, placed face up in front of them. Set the remaining Lanternfish cards aside.
- Shuffle the 75 cards and deal 5 to each player – this is their starting hand.
- Place the rest of the deck face down. Flip the top card face up to form the central discard pile.
The last player who went snorkeling becomes the first player.
Gameplay
SNORKELING is played in turns, clockwise.
On your turn, you have two options:
- Play no cards to the center pile.
- Play one or more cards from your hand onto the central discard pile:
You may:
- Play a card with a value exactly 1 higher than the top card on the pile. If the top card is a 4 (Ray), the next playable value is 0 (Beach).
- Play one or more cards of the same color as the top card, regardless of their value.
If you play cards to the central pile, you may then play exactly one card onto the pile in front of any player if your card is exactly 1 lower in value than their top card, regardless of color.
Example: The top card in the center is a value 3, Yellow. The active player plays, in order: Yellow 1, Yellow 4, Yellow 2. The active player has no more yellow cards and can no longer play to the center of the table. Since they played in the center, they may now:
Play a value 4 card onto an opponent's value 5, and play a value 3 onto another opponent's value 4.
Playing on an opponent's stack accelerates their ascent to the surface, and the end of the game.
End of Turn
The active player draws the top card from the deck into their hand. If they managed to play all the cards from their hand, they retrieve the card in front of them. If this card is the value 5 Lanternfish, they cannot take it back into their hand and instead draw an extra card.
Each player should always have at least 2 cards in hand at the start of their next turn.
End of Round
As soon as a player receives a value 0 (Beach) card in front of them, the round ends immediately.
Scoring
Each player scores points based on the value of the top card in their personal pile. These points are added to their total from previous rounds.
The first player to reach or exceed 12 points wins the game. In case of a tie, play another round.
If no one has won yet, all cards (except the Lanternfish cards in front of each player) are collected, shuffled, and a new round begins (see Setup).
Expert Diving (Advanced Variant)
For experienced divers looking for more challenge, try the Expert Diving variant.
In this version, players can combine both placement rules and play as many cards as they want during their turn. They can also play multiple cards that are exactly 1 higher in value to the center of the table.
Example: The top card in the center is a value 3, Yellow. The player plays: Red 4, Red 2, Red 1, Green 2.
Since they played in the center, they can now play a value 3 onto an opponent's value 4 card.
Credits
Author: Ludovic Lepine. Illustration: Justine Vanhuffel. Graphism and graphic design: Jonathan Rodriguez. Copyright: 2025 © Haumea Games. All right reserved.