
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Wreck Raiders: The Giant Clam
- 2–5 players
- 45 min
- 2019

2019
Rules assistance for Wreck Raiders
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 1 player

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Wreck Raiders is a board game released in 2019 for 1–5 players, 45 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Josh Cappel and Tim W. K. Brown and its main mechanics are Set Collection, Dice Rolling, and Worker Placement.
Plunge into the glittering sea to recover exotic treasures from a seafloor overflowing with pirate shipwrecks. Send your divers to the deep, but be careful; moving too close to other divers lets them get in on the haul too! Gather lost loot and beached baubles to assemble museum exhibits and construct eye-popping aquariums... but don't forget to save the best bits for your personal collection! Wreck Raiders is an innovative dice-drafting worker placement system. Choose a die from the pool, then send one of your divers to any spot on the board with that number. But be warned: the spot you choose will help any diver in the spots next to you, whether they’re friendly or not. Will you risk letting a rival in on your haul to get that treasure you want, or can you find a way to grab yourself some extra loot? Display your treasures to build museum exhibits, or send them to your vault for huge scoring opportunities... Don’t forget to visit the beach nearby to gather washed-up baubles and spend them to build awesome aquariums. (All sea creatures are treated ethically and released into the wild; also, they are cardboard tiles.) When the game ends, you’ll earn coins for your exhibits, your vault, and your aquariums. The player with the most coins wins!
Wreck Raiders supports 1–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Wreck Raiders is 45 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Wreck Raiders for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Wreck Raiders has a complexity rating of 2.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Wreck Raiders belongs to these categories: Dice and Nautical. Its main mechanics are Set Collection, Dice Rolling, and Worker Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Wreck Raiders are: Josh Cappel and Tim W. K. Brown. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Wreck Raiders as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.