Countless visitors to Sanibel Island share memories of collecting seashells from its famously shell-laden beaches. Game designer and naturalist Elizabeth Hargrave has re-created that experience in her latest board game, Sanibel, set for release in January by Avalon Hill, a division of Hasbro. The game has already drawn attention in the tabletop community.
The New York Times’ Wirecutter reviewer James Austin named Sanibel one of his top five games from GenCon 2025, a major North American tabletop gaming convention.
“Sanibel feels reminiscent of walking down the beach and engaging with the treasures that the sea brings up, which should make it an easy game to introduce to new players — perhaps especially kids,” Austin wrote.
Players collect seashell tiles in Sanibel, a new Avalon Hill board game inspired by the island’s famous beaches.
Hasbro Games
The game is rooted in Hargrave’s childhood memories of shell collecting along Florida’s west coast. She grew up in Gainesville in the 1970s and 1980s and often visited Venice, while Sanibel was a special destination.
“But for a game about seashells, I knew it should be set on Sanibel,” Hargrave said. “There’s just nothing like it.”
In the game, the board represents the beach, anchored by the Sanibel Lighthouse at one end. Players stroll along the sand, collecting seashell tiles that have washed ashore. When scores are tallied, Hargrave said, it evokes the joy she felt sharing her finds at the end of a day spent beachcombing.
Childhood photos of Elizabeth Hargrave on Florida beaches inspired her design for the Sanibel board game.
Hasbro Games
“The inspiration for Sanibel actually came while my family was gathered at my aunt’s place in Venice,” she said. “We always have a friendly competition over who can find the most shark’s teeth there. At some point my dad suggested that collecting shells and shark teeth would make a good game. I realized I couldn’t think of a game with this theme — and that seemed like a real gap, because it’s such a feel-good memory for so many people.”
Hargrave is known for atmospheric, nature-inspired games featuring detailed art. Her 2019 release Wingspan won critical acclaim for its blend of strategy and science. She later designed Undergrove, set in the Pacific Northwest, and Mariposas, inspired by monarch butterfly migrations.
Hargrave approached Sanibel’s design with a well-honed technique. She started with a prototype, testing it out first by herself and then with other players. A first draft of Sanibel included only cards that players picked up and divided into sets, she said. Then Hargrave began adding layers of complexity.
“It needed a little more to make it interesting,” she said. “So, I added a spatial puzzle by putting the shells onto tiles and making it matter where you put them — that really made it sing.”
Watercolor artwork by illustrator Dahl Taylor brings the beaches of Sanibel Island to life in the new board game.
Hasbro Games
Illustrator Dahl Taylor created the game’s artwork, using Hargrave’s prototype as a guide. To choose the shells, Hargrave consulted iNaturalist, an online database of wildlife sightings, to identify common and rare finds on Sanibel’s shores.
“I wanted a mix of the really common ones and also special finds — there had to be a junonia,” she said.
Junonia shells, with their distinctive dark spots, are among the most prized discoveries along Florida’s west coast beaches.