Stats:
No. of players: 2-5
Amount of time to play: 20 min
Age requirements: 10+
Set-up time: minimal

The Crew Mission Deep Sea is a cooperative trick-taking game that requires players to work together and get lucky to win missions.

The Crew Mission Deep Sea Rules Description:

The Crew Mission Deep Sea games are played one mission at a time. There is a log book that will walk you through the set up for each mission and the requirements for success. There are 32 missions to play through that increase in difficulty.

The deck is made up of four colored suits numbered from one to nine and four submarine cards numbered one through four. The submarine cards are trump. To start you deal out the entire deck. The player with the rank 4 trump card is the captain.

Missions have a difficulty rating and each task that must be performed is represented by a card. To set up a mission you reveal task cards until they equal that mission’s difficulty rating. Then starting with the captain and going clockwise each player takes a task card until they have all been drawn. If there are less task cards than players you may choose to pass on taking a card, but all task cards must be assigned to a player. Tasks require you to win tricks with specific cards, win a specific trick (like the first trick), or win any card of a color, a number or trump.

There is no table talk in The Crew Mission Deep Sea but you do have a limited way to communicate. You may place one card from your hand face up in front of you and place a token on it to give your team some info. If you place the token at the top of the displayed card that means it is the highest card you have in that suit. If you place the token on the bottom of the card it means it is the lowest card you have in that suit. Placing the token in the middle of the card means it is the only card you have in that suit. Once used you flip your token from the green side to the red side signaling you may no longer communicate this mission. The last rule about communication is that you can never communicate about submarine cards.

If you accomplish the mission tasks before the final trick you win and can move onto the next mission. If you fail you can discuss what went wrong and try the mission again.

Quick Review of The Crew Mission Deep Sea:

The Crew Mission Deep Sea is the follow up to The Crew – The Quest for Planet Nine. It is a fun, cooperative, trick-taking game that most everyone can enjoy. This game is easy to teach, and if new players are familiar with trick-taking games, they should have a great time.

The components for the game are pretty much the cards. They are durable, look good and are color-blind accessible. The rulebook is well-written although we did need to look up some clarification on task selection.

The Crew Mission Deep Sea is a lot of fun. Especially as the difficulty of the missions increases you really feel a sense of accomplishment when you succeed. Even if you fail, discussing what went wrong and trying again is fun. You will need to reset the tasks sometimes if they contradict and cannot be accomplished.

This game is simple and might require some luck but the satisfaction of completing missions is great. Everyone must understand basic trick-taking mechanics and how to communicate in this game. After that you can just play mission after mission. It is easier with less players, but still fun, and four players seems like the sweet spot.

I have played both The Crew Mission Deep Sea and the original. Both are fun. The main difference between the two is the variety in the task cards in Mission Deep Sea.

If you enjoy trick-taking games picking up The Crew Mission Deep Sea is a no-brainer. This is a fun game that you can play with most anyone. If your game group likes trick-taking card games, again, pick this up.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6