Sunken seafaring hit Endeavor makes a glorious return to the Age of Sail

Endeavor is a really great game that you’ve probably never played.

That’s because the seafaring title of exploration, colonisation and empire-expanding promptly sank into obscurity not long after its release in 2009, going out of print and vanishing off the map despite plenty of critical plaudits and a warm reception from fans.

Almost a decade on, though, and the beautiful hull of the game has been raised from the seabed, scraped clean of barnacles and refloated with its full colours on display for more people to enjoy.

Behind the restoration are studios Burnt Island Games and Grand Gamers Guild, taking over the project from former dockyard Z-Man to put out a new version of the long hard-to-find hit.

The new edition is more than a simple reprint, too; Endeavor: Age of Sail is a complete revamp with a number of notable changes to its visuals and rules that could even surpass Jarratt Gray and Carl de Visser’s original.

The mix of area control, resource management and engine-building remains largely untouched, with just a few rules improvements helping to polish up the loop of constructing buildings, occupying cites, sending ships around the globe and potentially attacking rivals in pursuit of industrial might, cultural supremacy, valuable wealth, powerful influence and game-winning glory.

One of the biggest additions are brand new exploits that are drawn at random at the start of a game and introduce events with unique gameplay aspects and scoring opportunities, as well as adding even more historical flavour to the pot.

Age of Sail also introduces an ruleset for two players, making official a two-player variant posted online by the designers for the original three- to five-player game. The board itself is now double-sided, too, flipping over to adjust for different player counts.

This is all wrapped up in refreshed visuals and art from artist Josh Cappel, who illustrated the original game.

Endeavor: Age of Sail has made a splash on Kickstarter after setting out in search of £43,000 to fund its return, picking up over £126,000 from backers in a matter of days. The campaign runs until the beginning of March, with the game due to land this September.