{"id":19285,"date":"2025-11-17T12:45:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T12:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/?p=19285"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:54:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:54:57","slug":"seashells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/blog\/2025\/11\/17\/seashells\/","title":{"rendered":"Seashells"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Parce que numero deus impari gaudet<\/em>, et parce que cela \u00e9vite les compositions sym\u00e9triques et in\u00e9l\u00e9gantes, la coutume en Occident, lorsque l\u2019on offre un bouquet de fleurs, veut que celles-ci soient en nombre impair. Il en va de m\u00eame au Japon, et pas seulement pour les fleurs, pour que le cadeau ne puisse pas \u00eatre divis\u00e9 en deux. En Chine, \u00e0 l\u2019inverse, les fleurs s\u2019offrent en nombre pair, je ne sais pas pourquoi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est cela qui m\u2019a inspir\u00e9 la premi\u00e8re version d\u2019un jeu qui, \u00e0 l\u2019origine, s\u2019appelait Flower Bouquet<\/em>. Sur une grille de 49 fleurs, sept vari\u00e9t\u00e9s en sept couleurs diff\u00e9rentes, chaque joueur \u00e0 son tour d\u00e9pla\u00e7ait un unique pion pour ramasser une fleur, le but \u00e9tant de faire des bouquets de fleurs de m\u00eame type ou de m\u00eame couleur aussi nombreuses que possible, mais toujours en nombre impair. \u00c7a marchait plut\u00f4t bien, mais j\u2019ai assez vite \u00e9t\u00e9 amen\u00e9 \u00e0 renoncer \u00e0 la r\u00e8gle des nombres impairs, qui n\u2019\u00e9tait vraiment int\u00e9ressante qu\u2019\u00e0 trois joueurs, pour la remplacer par un syst\u00e8me plus classique de majorit\u00e9. Du coup, il n\u2019y avait plus vraiment de raisons pour que cela reste des fleurs\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n

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Playtesting Seashells at Tabletop Scotland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

J\u2019ai apport\u00e9 ce jeu encore tout frais, en f\u00e9vrier 2025, \u00e0 la Gama, salon professionnel de jeu qui se tient d\u00e9sormais \u00e0 Louisville, dans le Kentucky. C\u2019est l\u00e0 que j\u2019ai crois\u00e9 Helaina Cappel, de KTBG, qui a imm\u00e9diatement appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 le jeu. Le contrat \u00e9tait sign\u00e9 quelques semaines plus tard, avec l\u2019un des tout premiers \u00e9diteurs \u00e0 avoir vu mon prototype.<\/p>\n\n\n

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L\u2019\u00e9quipe de KTBG, Joshua et Helaina Cappel, a d\u2019abord d\u00e9cid\u00e9 de changer le th\u00e8me, passant de la cueillette des fleurs \u00e0 la collecte des coquillages. Le jeu devait s\u2019appeler Sanibel<\/em>, du nom d\u2019une plage am\u00e9ricaine qui semble connue pour ses coquilles, mais nous avons alors appris que c\u2019\u00e9tait d\u00e9j\u00e0 le nom d\u2019un jeu d\u2019Elisabeth Hargrave, qui devait arriver un peu avant le mien \u2013 il \u00e9tait en effet pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 \u00e0 Essen. Nous avons donc opt\u00e9 pour le plus g\u00e9n\u00e9rique Seashells<\/em>, Coquillages.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Le d\u00e9veloppement a \u00e9t\u00e9 ensuite assez facile, l\u2019\u00e9quipe de KTBG sugg\u00e9rant l\u2019ajout de quelques jetons sp\u00e9ciaux, fossiles et bouteille \u00e0 la mer, et de cartes permettant \u00e0 chaque joueur d\u2019avoir deux \u00ab pions secrets \u00bb ignor\u00e9s des autres joueurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il y a juste un point sur lequel nous ne sommes pas parvenus \u00e0 nous mettre d\u2019accord, le score final. L\u00e0 o\u00f9 j\u2019avais opt\u00e9 pour une r\u00e8gle simple mais assez m\u00e9chante, 3 points pour les joueurs majoritaires et rien pour les autres, Helaina et Joshua \u00e9taient partisans d\u2019un syst\u00e8me plus g\u00e9n\u00e9reux, octroyant \u00e9galement 1 point pour la seconde place. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Cela m\u2019a rappel\u00e9 une discussion que j\u2019ai assez r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement avec Bruno Cathala. L\u00e0 o\u00f9 je pr\u00e9f\u00e9rais un jeu tendu, avec des renversements de situation, dans lequel il soit possible de prendre la majorit\u00e9 \u00e0 un autre joueur, l\u2019\u00e9diteur pr\u00e9f\u00e9rait un jeu plus cool, dans lequel les joueurs sont moins affect\u00e9s par les actions de leurs rivaux. Ne parvenant pas \u00e0 nous entendre, nous avons finalement inclus dans la r\u00e8gle les deux versions, qui ne sont pas vraiment \u00ab simple \u00bb et \u00ab avanc\u00e9e \u00bb mais plut\u00f4t \u00ab m\u00e9chante \u00bb et \u00ab gentille \u00bb. \u00c0 vous de voir ce que vous pr\u00e9f\u00e9rez.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Joshua Cappel est tr\u00e8s fort en maquette et direction artistique. En effet, les illustrateurs changent, mais les jeux de l’\u00e9diteur canadien, parmi lesquels les excellents Creature Comfort, Haunt the House<\/em> ou Wreck Raiders<\/em>, n\u2019en ont pas moins un look commun, avec des couleurs vives et un lettrage jaune un peu flashy. Je suis donc tr\u00e8s heureux d\u2019avoir un de mes petits jeux dans leur tr\u00e8s belle gamme, et j\u2019esp\u00e8re que beaucoup de gens iront ramasser des coquillages \u2013 activit\u00e9 que personnellement je ne pratique pourtant gu\u00e8re. Et j\u2019ai h\u00e2te de jouer \u00e0 Sanibel<\/em>, l\u2019autre jeu de collecte de coquillages sur la plage con\u00e7u par l’adorable Elizabeth Hargrave.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Seashells<\/strong>
Un jeu de Bruno Faidutti
Illustr\u00e9 par Christopher Ryan Chan
2 \u00e0 5 joueurs \u2013 15 minutes
Publi\u00e9 par KTBG<\/a>
Boardgamegeek<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Because <\/em>numero deus impari gaudet, and because symmetrical compositions are viewed as unsophisticated and inelegant, the custom in western countries, when one offers a bouquet of flowers, is to prefer an odd number of flowers. The rule is the same in Japan, not only for flowers, because an odd number cannot be divided in two. In China, on the other hand, even number are always preferred, though 9 is still preferred for anything romantic.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This useless knowledge was the starting point for a prototype called <\/em>Flower Bouquet. On a 7×7 grid of flowers, 7 varieties in 7 colors, each played on turn would move a common pawn to take a flower. The goal was to made sets of flowers in the same kind of hue, as many as possible but always in an odd number. The game worked really well, but I soon abandoned the odd number rule, which was only really interesting with three players. This means there was no reason any more to stick with flowers, it could become anything.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Playtesting Seashells at Tabletop Scotland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I brought this brand new game, in February 2025, to Gama, a US professional boardgame fair which now takes place in Louisville, Kentucky. There I met Helaina Cappel, of KTBG, who instantly liked the game. A few weeks later, the contract was signed, with one of the very first publishers to have seen my prototype.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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The KTBG team, Joshua and Helaina, first decided to change the setting, from picking flowers in the field to picking seashells on the beach. The game was to be called <\/em>Sanibel, a US beach known for its many seashells, but we soon learned that it was to be the name of a new game by Elizabeth Hargrave which was due to appear a few months before mine \u2013 and was indeed shown a few weeks ago in Essen. Our game was then renamed <\/em>Seashell, a more generic name. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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The development then went fast. Josh and Helaina added a few new elements to the games. First, there were special tokens, fossils and sand dollars (a great English name I didn\u2019t know). Then there were cards working like two \u201csecret tokens\u201d for the players.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only point where we could not find an agreement was the final score rule. My rule was a bit mean, 3 points for plurality, including ties, and nothing for other players. They wanted a more friendly scoring, with 1 point for the second place. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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This reminded me of a discussion I had a few times with Bruno Cathala. I preferred a meaner and tenser game, with opportunities to steal plurality and therefore points from other players, they wanted a friendlier, cooler system in which players are not that much affected by their neighbor\u2019s actions. In the end since we couldn\u2019t agree, we decided to put both scoring rules in the game. They are not really \u201csimple\u201d and \u201cadvanced\u201d but more \u201cmean\u201d and \u201ckind\u201d \u2013 just play this game the way you like it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Joshua Cappel is really good at art direction. Though hiring various artists with really different styles, he has managed to give their games a very distinctive common look, with bright colors and large yellow letters. I really like it, and am therefore very happy to have a game in their cute line. I hope many players will go gathering shells on the beach, even when it\u2019s something I\u2019ve never actually done in real life. And I\u2019m also eager to play the other seashells collecting game, <\/em>Sanibel, designed by the adorable Elizabeth Hargrave..<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Seashells<\/strong>
A game by Bruno Faidutti
Art by Christopher Ryan Chan
2 to 5 players \u2013 15 minutes
Published by KTBG<\/a>
Boardgamegeek<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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