Otys
- Players
- 1-4
- Best withThe player count this game plays best at.
- 3 players
- Play timeHow long a full game runs once everyone knows the rules.
- 60 min
- AgeThe minimum age printed by the publisher.
- 14+
- ComplexityHow demanding the rules are, from 1 (very light) to 5 (very heavy).
- 2.9 / 5
- Year
- 2017
About the game
Otys is a mid-22nd century salvage game where players manage teams of divers recovering debris from a submerged world to fulfill contracts for their colony. Each diver rests at a certain depth, and players use an action-queue system to choose which depth to activate, triggering actions on both the shared board and their personal board before that diver surfaces and the queue resets. Players match items gathered at specific depths to complete shared or personal objectives, racing to reach 18 points first. It's an optimization-focused worker/action-queue euro co-published by Pearl Games and Libellud.
Hobbli's Notes
Hobbli's team enjoys how Otys turns a simple depth-gauge queue into a tight optimization puzzle, rewarding players who can plan several moves ahead. The solo mode adds welcome flexibility for players without a group. It has a satisfying sense of building momentum as your gauge meter improves over the game. The sci-fi salvage theme is fairly abstract and may not grab players looking for strong narrative flavor.
What we like
- Clever action-queue mechanism rewards careful long-term planning.
- Strong solo mode adds flexibility for solitaire play.
- Snowballing gauge improvements create a satisfying sense of progress.
- Randomized objectives and colony bonuses add replay variety.
Keep in mind
- Sci-fi theme feels abstract and may not resonate strongly with all players.
- Optimization-heavy design can lead to some downtime between turns.
- Rules and queue mechanism take a game or two to fully grasp.
Who it's for
Best for solo players and small groups of strategy-minded gamers, ages 14+, who enjoy tight optimization euros.
