You and your rivals are surfers competing to collect the most points by catching the best waves towards the end of the game. You must maneuver around the blue jellyfish, take advantage of bonus points from matching surfboards and complete three unique objectives each game.

At any time, three upcoming waves are visible to all players. Each surfer simultaneously chooses and reveals an energy card, ranging from 1 to 5, which they use to catch a wave in the break zone. The surfer who reveals the highest energy card claims the wave, adding it to their score pile at the end of the game. However, if there is a tie in energy cards, those surfers drop out, allowing the surfer with the second highest card to win the wave. Respect serves as a tiebreaker and is a valuable resource that players can earn and spend to obtain additional energy or surfboard cards from the beach, which grant bonus points.

Winning a wave has its drawbacks: the used energy card is permanently removed from the game, depleting your energy supply, while other surfers throw away their spent energy cards but may be able to get them back later. This creates strategic depth in sometimes aiming second to save energy, earn respect or buy strategic cards from the beach.

Surfboards obtained from the beach with respect points add bonus victory points for specific wave types, changing the value of certain waves as the game evolves. Temporary energy cards purchased from the beach can provide a crucial advantage in later rounds. Occasionally blue jellyfish drift into the break zone; players should avoid playing their lowest energy cards to avoid a painful sting, which can cost anywhere from 0 to -3 points. Low energy players can choose to rest to gain 1 respect and restore their previously discarded energy cards.