Do you have what it takes to survive seven days of drifting at sea with nothing but debris to fight off whatever aquatic nightmare that circles your weathered life raft? I didn’t. But I’m not lamenting from a watery afterlife—I just had terrible luck playing Mixtape Massacre’s latest board game, FLOAT: FROM THE DEEP. 

FLOAT: FROM THE DEEP tests your wits and your relationships as you and other players fight over water, weapons, and other supplies to get to dry land in hopefully one piece. 

A Fast-Paced Strategy Game That Will Test Your Friendships

Aside from a global pandemic, FLOAT is every cruise enthusiast’s worst nightmare: a cruise ship sinks after a mysterious explosion, and the colorful assortment of cruisers are thrown into the choppy waters with little resources to survive. Survivors have seven days to reach an island in the distance by battling inclement weather, the creature du jour that lurks beneath, and the other survivors/players. 

To kick up the danger, you’ll sometimes be able to add more castaways to your crew, each with varying degrees of utility. The other castaways include a bachelorette who is just begging to be thrown overboard, a stoner with cotton mouth that drains your water supply, a cop (blech), and a socialite that does what they do best— nothing.   

Each day is separated into morning, afternoon, and night—which amounts to 3 turns for each player before you can move on to the next day. A player can complete a minimum of two actions per turn. All players need to complete their turn before moving on to the next part of the day. 

The “Out of the Blue” action cards vary in extremity: some give you resources, while others have you pulling other castaways from the water or battling a sea monster. If you have an entire crew, you can complete three actions. 

Each player also gets a station to monitor their crew status, health, and water. You’re also equipped with a danger meter determining if you must fight off the creature. At the end of the day, every player has to cough up their crew’s water rations and roll up to three dice to square up with the day’s aquatic demon. 

It’s challenging to summarize the game in a way that does the game justice because the gameplay is so detailed. We had to consult the rulebook several times but ultimately decided to avoid being sticklers about every rule and consequence. It depends on your play style, but the game flows well when playing fast and loose with the rules. 

Mixtape Massacre’s video tutorial shown above was a lifesaver and gets more into the game’s nuances. The rulebook included with the game and their website’s FAQ are also extremely helpful. 

With any new game, you expect the first playthrough to be rocky as you familiarize yourself with the rules and get into a rhythm. It wasn’t until the second go around that I was familiar enough with the gameplay to strategize. The game has more moving parts than what I’m used to, and I suggest playing at least twice before passing any judgment. 

A Unique Cast of Characters to Choose From

I played with my spouse James and fellow Horror Press Contributor Bash Ortega a few times. I played as “Eagle Eye” Trixie Brown, a no-nonsense photographer that reacts to situations quickly. She can avoid creature attacks if the player rolls four or more with one die. 

Bash played as the adult film star Maxxine Love—no relation to MaXXXine. Maxxine can have two items equipped, while the rest of the players are stuck with one. 

James played as Eloise Giroux, the overpowered assassin. Her perks make it so that other players cannot use downgrade or sabotage cards on Eloise, which makes her a tough character to beat.

The other leaders include a doctor, a pro boxer, a musician, and an army veteran.

Thoughts From Around the Table

Here’s what James and Bash had to say about the game: 

JAMES: “I thought it was too punishing on average, making it difficult to even ‘win’ the game. But also, the creature attacks felt either too punishing or completely irrelevant—if you had no items or crew, you don’t even care about being attacked. What would balance out the game are 2-3 more characters, items, crewmates, weather conditions, and monsters. [The game] needs a little more variety and maybe just a couple of positive benefits to make the fights or reversals of fortune more exciting. Everybody loves a comeback!” 

BASH: “I thought it was fun once we figured out the rules. I feel like not having anything to do for the dead players is a flaw. I [also] feel like they could’ve been more variety in the monsters and some of the events that happened during the game.” 

I agree with James here: the game is very punishing, and I also wish there was more variety in the leaders and monsters. Mixtape Massacre does offer a booster pack with more of these, and I hope they have expansion packs planned for FLOAT. I love a game that causes absolute chaos among loved ones, so I’m looking forward to playing a few rounds with the maximum 5 players to see all the ways we can sabotage each other.

Bash offered another thoughtful critique of the game, and I did find it frustrating that dead players (always me) had nothing to do once they met their end. It would have been fun to be able to manipulate that game and sabotage the surviving players. When Trixie died, I could only pout and complain about the others keeping a Strong Black Woman down. 

The game itself looks fantastic. The board, pieces, and cards have a rich color palette with hues of blue, green, and bloody red. The cards are vivid, and the creature designs are exceptionally well done. My only complaint is that the health chips and blue cubes used for water rations are on the smaller side, and I’m sure some will go missing pretty soon because of who I am as a person. 

The base game includes the following:

1 Rulebook
1 Game Board
1 Calendar Tracker
3 Standard Dice
5 Player Stations
5 Danger Meter Trackers
8 Leader Cards
8 This Is The End Cards
20 From the Deep Cards
20 Daily Status Cards
20 Castaway Cards
25 Water Cubes
30 Health Tokens
102 Out of the Blue Cards

Overall, I enjoyed playing FLOAT: FROM THE DEEP and am excited to add it to my board game collection! I’m looking forward to DMing my friends the tutorial video and inviting them to play. 

FLOAT: FROM THE DEEP is available to order on Mixtape Massacre’s website. Do you think you’ll play soon? Let us know if you’ve played FLOAT, and whether it was clear skies and smooth sailing or an express trip to Davey Jones’s Locker. 

Interested in a less aquatic, slasher-themed board game? Then check out our review of Mixtape Massacre’s other game, Escape From Tall Oaks here!