each with their own special ability. The cards are of 3 different types: The flood cards, supposedly played by the island to pose a challenge to the team of adventurers; the treasure cards, which are to be collected by the players and 6 adventurer cards which bestow each player a unique ability, whose clever use during the game will considerably increase the likelihood of a victorious outcome. Finding the right winning strategy, for example, can be tricky when the game’s layout and specialists vary from game to game. Players are now ready to begin. VALUE!! The decisions aren’t terribly difficult, but the game does require players to work together to be efficient. Many dangerous Creatures thrive here, and some outlaws use these islands to avoid the long arm of Thaian law. Great looking – The Components in the Box Forbidden Island can be just as fun with 2 or 4 players, but the higher player counts increase the challenge of the game. One of the best games available from Gamewright, in my opinion. There are so many things we love about this unique game: from the rich illustrations, to the collaborative nature of play, to the innovative set of rules, to the infinite possibilities generated by the tiles and cards. If the flood meter advances to the skull and crossbones logo, players lose the game. The “board” is a random placement of tiles that represent different locations. On the “Legendary” level you can play an absolutely perfect strategic game and still lose because of an unlucky shuffle… but you have no shot at all if you don’t play a great strategic game. Players take turns moving their pawns around the 'island', which is built by arranging the many beautifully screen-printed tiles before play begins. I hesitated to rate this as high as Castle Panic and Shadows over Camelot, because of my wife not getting into the game QUITE as much as my daughter and I did. Cards that match Treasures already collected can be easily discarded as they have no other game effect. Working together with your friends to achieve an obtainable but difficult goal is exciting. 1 talking about this. We lost. The water level creates the same sort of tension, without the fear of a really hot spot that you need to focus all efforts on. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! is drawn at the end of a player’s turn. But the thing is, if you play with someone who knows how to strategize quickly or if they are the Alpha type personality, you are often told what you need to do to succeed. They are not necessarily wild 4x4 trails but you … Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Game-play The box is tin, which I really like. On his turn a player can take just three actions. The players are attempting to collect all four treasures and evacuate the island before it sinks. For example, the Crystal of Fire is done in translucent flame red plastic. But then one considers that other players are restricted to shoring up adjacent tiles. What Do I Get? Each player takes on one of six available roles—each with a unique skill: At the beginning of the game, players randomly distribute the Island tiles to create a newly configured Island in the shape of a "4 x 4" square with an additional two tiles beyond each side of the square. They add to the fun theme of searching for ancient artifacts and provide a nice distraction for younger players. For middle-aged kids, this could be a good “teaching experience”, to help them learn to play together and listen to everyone’s input, instead of trying to boss other players around. The island is created randomly each game, which means that you’ve got to be able to adapt your strategies from game to game, and can make the game either a little less, or much more difficult. 1. In order to save this tile, it needs to be shored up (one of the player Actions). Every player is randomly assigned a role card. The one thing that bugs me is that the water level ticker does not stand on its own. And of course, no review of Forbidden Island would be complete without a nod to its ancestor Pandemic, a much more challenging and adult game with the same “spread out and save” core conceit and different-behaving characters. At that headcount, we’re usually looking for something a little meatier and longer. Disclaimer: The main goal of “Down to the Basics Reviews” is to show what the game is about, getting down to the basics, the bare minimum necessary to captivated the reader. Forbidden Island is a pretty fast setup. Other reviewers are correct, its not difficult. you can walk them through the decisions a bit more b. At such a low cost and quick game time, I’d recommend this for any family game night, as an introduction to co-op board gaming, and even for all but the most hardened strategy snob, as a fun co-op filler. Extra character cards are set aside. Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. If an area floods twice without being saved, it falls away forever and is removed from the game. It’s a great way to spend time with your kids playing a game that is not *SIGH* Trouble or Candy Land. Each player takes a simple turn consisting of up to 3 Actions, drawing 2 Treasure cards, and then resolving the Flood. Fun theme During the Action phase, each player represents a specific character that can break a rule in some way, such as the Explorer who can also move diagonally or the Messenger who can give a Treasure card to another player regardless where they are on the island. Forbidden Island was the first cooperative game I purchased (or played for that matter). However, the one thing that seems inescapable is that it becomes very “hive mind.” What’s wrong with that? Each tile has a unique, detailed setting on it. In this way, Forbidden Island can appeal to families with a variety of age ranges, can serve as an introduction to co-op play, and can act as a quick filler for more experienced gamers. Things tend to stay about even, the game goes quicker, there's more tension, and IMHO more strategy. Get my guide on Forbidden Island rules and gameplay. Whoever most recently visited an island will take the first turn; play will then move clockwise. The island is sinking so you must work together quickly. Each card in the Flood deck has a corresponding tile on the island that must now be flipped over to the blue side indicating that it is flooding. Flooding is the main weapon the island will use against you to hinder your progress and try to ultimately kill you all. A player’s turns involve mitigating risk by balancing which tiles should be shored up, which tiles can be ignored, and managing their hand, so poor decision-making or excessive risk-taking can definitely result in a game loss. With its excellent artwork and the fantastic nature of the names given to the Island Tiles, Forbidden Island is more like playing a desperate adventure movie. This is when it gets fun. The game is similar to another popular cooperative game by the same designer called Pandemic, though it possesses a lighter theme and rule set designed to make the game appeal to a wider audience. The game ends when all 4 Treasures have been collected and all players managed to fly off the island. It also feels like a scaled down Pandemic, with a player having three actions per turn rather than four and having to collect four Treasure Cards per Treasure rather than five City Cards per disease as in Pandemic. It’s a great honor to introduce the latest creation by cooperative game master, Matt Leacock. You don’t have to juggle as much worrying about the slightly more involved “outbreak” conditions in the first game. Its theme is more upbeat, more adventurous, and without the fate of the world being at stake. -Players must utilize strategy or they will loose the game for everyone. It is a fantastic entry into the cooperative game genre for a family. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. However, like all cooperative games, one or more dominant players can attempt to dictate the moves of others, which could affect the enjoyment of the other players. Forbidden Island is ranked 6th while T.I.M.E. A player can take as many of the allotted Actions during his turn. The time between a game starts and when it ends – either with a win or a loss, a player will be very busy. While I eventually was turned off of Pandemic’s extreme luck of the draw (being able to lose on the first round and little correlation between difficulty and success), I find Forbidden Island hits the spot. My Con about this, however, is a very big one. When a player has 4 of one type of treasure card, they are able to trade them in for that specific treasure during the action phase if they are on that treasure’s tile. If at any point a treasure cannot be collected or a player’s meeple is removed from the game board due to a tile disappearing, the players all lose. QUALITY OF COMPONENTS Please take a trip to the Forbidden Island. There are a few special cards in this deck along with the “Waters Rise!” card (explained below). The theme is light but very well represented in the game mechanics, artwork, actions and cards. Losses have been rare since then, so the learning curve must not be too steep… however, I do feel that I continually improved through the first 20 to 30 games. This can become annoying and take much of the fun out of the game. As the game progresses, the flood levels rise, causing more and more tiles to flood each turn. I paid $15 and I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten a better new game under $20. My girls quickly figured out how to set the game up (but still need help with the shuffling part). Period.”, http://gameshop.com.au/blog/thegamesshopper/2012/07/25/review-forbidden-island/. The Adventurer, Treasure and Flood cards are the same consistency as the average deck of playing cards and can be easily sleeved if one is concerned about wear over multiple plays. After drawing the two treasure cards, the player must then flip over as many cards from the flood deck as the flood meter indicates. Unfortunately, while it has been quite easy for me to get 2-player games going, it can be a hard sell when I have enough people around to play a 4-player game. Your teammates are allowed (and encouraged!) Anyone who has played Pandemic will find the games share a lot of similarities. The water level marker is placed at the appropriate notch on the marker card. Regarding mastering rules and tactics, due to the simplicity of the rules, frequent players will quickly become more adept at the game after only a few games. At every turn, you must manage to shore up some parts of the island, while still managing to find enough cards to capture the mysterious treasures. Otherwise, the player keeps their cards, up to a maximum of 5 cards. Turns move quickly without a ton of down time. Forbidden Island won me over for a lot of reasons: low price, quick set up and play, excellent rules (with detailed game play examples), randomized tile set up and specialist selection that adds to the replay factor, beautiful artwork, quality components, and a set of unique “flooding” (and other) mechanics that will leave your players smiling and ready for more, even after miserable failures. I resolved to purchase a copy the following day when it was launched. I gotta hand it to Robinson. Instead of winning by competing with other players like most games, everyone must work together to win the game. If the card shows a tile that is already blue-and-white, the tile and card are removed from the game permanently, thus creating a potential gap in the game board.