Review: Finspan – Sharks & Reefs

Introduction & Overview

Now you can Cultivate colorful Coral Reefs in each of the 3 Dive Sites in your Ocean. Healthy Reefs allow you to play powerful Reef Fish, unlock Abilities, and gain end-of-game bonuses. Meanwhile, Sharks scatter Fry Schools (to form more Schools elsewhere) and leave behind food scraps that any Fish in your Ocean can Consume.

This is how Sharks & Reefs is presented to us, the first expansion for Finspan, designed by Michael O’Connell. First published in 2026 by Stonemaier Games in an English version. The artwork is provided by Ana María Martínez Jaramillo (Wingspan), Catalina Martinez, and Mesa Schumacher (Ecosystem).

It is published in Spanish by Maldito Games (the game is language-dependent on cards and goal tiles). It maintains the core parameters of the base game, that is, games for 1 to 5 players, with a suggested minimum age of 10, and an approximate duration of 45 to 60 minutes. The MSRP is €28. For this review, a copy of the Spanish edition provided courtesy of Maldito Games was used.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a one-piece cardboard box measuring 31×21×5 cm (a medium rectangular box similar to Wingspan: Asia Expansion), we find the following items:

• 5 Coral Reef Overlays (Cardstock)
• New Goal Board
• 3 New Goal Tiles
• 90 Coral Tokens (30 of each Type)
• 92 Cards (57×87 mm):
  • 75 New Fish Cards
  • 5 New Starting Fish Cards
  • 5 Player Aid Cards
  • 3 Nautoma Decision Replacement Cards
  • Nautoma Aid Card
  • 3 Nautoma Goal Replacement Cards
• Scorepad (Paper)
• Rulebook
• Nautoma Rulebook

How to Play

Sharks & Reefs is an expansion for Finspan that introduces coral reefs, which are developed by placing coral tokens in the different dive sites while diving or through fish abilities. These corals allow you to play reef fish with specific requirements, enhance and unlock split effects on cards, and grant direct points at the end of the game, including additional bonuses if you manage to complete a reef with six corals. Additionally, new shark cards are introduced with abilities to scatter fry schools or leave food scraps behind, along with new starting fish, cards featuring game-end effects, and brand-new goal tiles with a new board. If you are unfamiliar with the base game, I recommend checking out the corresponding tocho-review, as many concepts explained there are referenced here.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the Coral Reef Overlays. These are pieces that each player places on their personal ocean mat, covering the original twilight zone. Each overlay divides the area into three color-coded dive sites capable of holding up to a maximum of 6 coral tokens each. Every dive site shows the item that must be discarded (an egg, a fry, or a card) when the diver crosses it to place a coral token, as well as the fixed bonus points awarded if the reef is completed with its six tokens by the end of the game.

The Coral Tokens make up a general supply of pieces that players add to the reefs in their three dive sites, either through diver movement or via the abilities of certain cards. These tokens act as a requirement to trigger several effects on the new fish cards. At the end of the game, each coral token in your ocean is worth one victory point. Completing a reef also grants an additional bonus.

A New Goal Board is included, replacing the original board from the base game and featuring two sides (Side A and Side B). It outlines the end-of-round resolution steps and provides a summary of the various scoring sources for the final game tally, integrating the expansion elements.

The New Goal Tiles are added to the base game’s supply of tiles. Each establishes an evaluation condition for the end of a specific round. Their edges show alignment marks that must line up with the printed marks on the goal board when setting up a game on Side B.

Finally, the New Fish Cards are shuffled into the main fish deck and introduce new species, notably reef fish and several types of sharks. These cards feature new iconography, such as colored coral symbols indicating the minimum amount of coral required in that dive site to play the fish in the sunlight zone or to trigger secondary benefits on split abilities. Furthermore, they include new tags and special effects, such as scattering fry schools or enabling predators to consume smaller cards directly from your hand.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

The following steps are added to the base game setup:

• Shuffle the new fish cards into the main fish deck.
• Shuffle the new starting fish cards with the remaining starting fish as well.
• Replace the goal board.
• Mix the new goal tiles with the original tiles.
• Place the coral tokens in the general supply.
• Each player places a coral reef overlay on either side over their ocean mat, covering the existing twilight zone.

Game Flow

The game flow is modified by the following rules:

• During a dive (when taking actions in different habitats), whenever the diver enters the coral reef row of the corresponding column, the player may place 1 coral token from the general supply onto that reef if it contains fewer than 6 corals and they discard the item indicated on the space (egg, fry, or card). This can be done at most once per dive. The maximum coral capacity per dive site is 6 tokens.
• Playing Reef Fish. These cards come with specific placement requirements: they may only be placed in the Sunlight Zone and require a minimum number of coral tokens (1 or 2, as indicated on the card) already present in that dive site (column). The color of the coral icon on the card dictates the required column (or multicolored if allowed in any).
• Cards with Two-Part Abilities with a Coral Requirement. When activating a card with this layout, the player first decides whether to resolve the first effect. Then, if the dive site meets the indicated coral requirement, they may resolve the second effect. If the coral requirement is not met, the player can still benefit from the first effect. Similarly, choosing not to resolve the first effect still allows them to execute the second one, provided they meet the coral requirement.
• Gaining Coral via Card Effects. When an ability awards coral as a benefit, the player takes the token from the supply at no cost and adds it to the reef at the specified dive site (respecting the 6-token limit).
• Predation and Shark Effects. These new effects allow players to scatter fry schools (discarding a school token to place fry on different spaces) or tuck fish underneath shorter consumed prey.

Game End

At the end of the game, the following elements are added to final scoring:

• 1 Victory point for each coral token in the player’s dive sites.
• 6 Victory points if all 6 coral tokens have been placed in the Blue Dive Site.
• Victory points if all 6 corresponding coral tokens have been placed in the Purple Dive Site.
• 5 Victory points if all 6 corresponding coral tokens have been placed in the Green Dive Site.

Variants

Solo Mode. The game keeps the base Nautoma rules, but permanently replaces three decision cards (1, 2, and 6) and the goal cards to incorporate the new coral mechanics. On its turn, Nautoma can take the action to add coral: if it has at least one egg in its play area, it returns an egg to the supply and gains one coral from the general supply (two corals on difficulty levels 4 and 5), resolving this at most once per turn. Once the game concludes, the bot’s regular score is augmented by 1 point per accumulated coral plus 5 bonus points for each full set of 6 corals. When playing with the Ravel mode variant, at the end of each round the Nautoma scores points equal to its Ravel strength multiplied by the difference in coral between the player’s two dive sites with the highest amounts, while losing points equal to double the coral difference between the two sites with the lowest amounts.

Personal Opinion

One has to give credit to Jamey Stegmaier for his extraordinary ability to manage publishing schedules and gauge the community’s pulse. In an industry often weighed down by endless pre-orders and crowdfunding campaigns that dilute excitement over months of waiting, Stonemaier Games’ communication strategy has taken a diametrically opposite route.

Announcing products when copies are already on cargo ships or arriving on store shelves is a masterstroke; it concentrates media attention on the new releases, sparks immediate conversation, and channels interest at the precise moment enthusiasts can convert excitement into a purchase before other titles steal the spotlight.

That is how Sharks & Reefs landed, almost without warning (though it is true that after expanding Wyrmspan, an expansion for Finspan catches no one by surprise). Let us see how it plays on the table, but not before thanking Maldito Games for providing the review copy that makes this write-up possible.

With Sharks & Reefs, the richness of the marine ecosystem is deepened. The ocean floor takes on a far more vibrant and organic dimension by incorporating the life flourishing within reef shelters, along with the imposing presence of apex predators structuring the food chain, creating a tabletop landscape that feels more alive, fascinating, and representative of the biodiversity across our ocean depths.

Mechanically, the expansion revolves around two main concepts: reef management and how sharks interact with your board’s ecosystem. Reefs develop across the twilight zone via an overlay placed on your player board, unlocking a new tactical development path through coral token placement.

This resource does not just award valuable end-game points depending on each sector’s growth; it also serves as an indispensable prerequisite for deploying certain fish cards and triggering far more flexible and rewarding chained effects during dives.

Beyond this, however, the truly engaging aspect of coral is how it strains timing during dives. Advancing your diver across the reef overlay is no routine formality; it demands tight coordination by requiring a specific discard—an egg, a fry, or a card—produced in a different column to place the coral token. This cross-zone dependency forces players to plan turns ahead with fine precision so the diver does not cross the reef without the required resource needed to add a new coral token.

Meanwhile, sharks expand the range of available effects thanks to their aggressive dispersal and feeding abilities. When triggered, these large predators scatter fry schools (generating an extra fry in the process), making it easier to form new schools. While not a total game-changer, it provides a clever way to reposition fry while netting an additional one along the way. With proper board planning, this can yield a healthy number of schools.

That said, the coral-related effects remain the most interesting facet because they challenge your timing once again; certain cards are best played at precise moments so that subsequent dives become significantly more effective when moving through cards that place new coral and unleash potent effects once reefs are sufficiently developed.

Moving on to production quality. As is customary for Stonemaier Games, overall build quality remains excellent, featuring superb cardstock with linen finishing and great snap (sleeving is always recommended, though hardly mandatory). Regarding the remaining components, the punchboard is thick and cleanly pressed. The inclusion of a second insert box to help fill the base box is a welcome touch. The rulebook is clearly organized. Visually, it continues to impress. While sharks certainly look striking, I still maintain that much of the marine fauna depicted here remains unappealing at best.

And let’s wrap this up. Sharks & Reefs is an expansion for Finspan that uses coral reefs to enrich the core experience through cross-column dependencies, raising the tension around dive timing and demanding sharp coordination for discards and chained card play. On the other hand, shark-related card effects offer little beyond added variety, whereas reef-centric cards genuinely elevate hand management. It accomplishes its goal of improving the base game by boosting variety with virtually no extra rules overhead. Once you fold it in, you will likely never play without it, even if it is not strictly essential. For all these reasons, I give it a…