Board game "Forbidden Island": reviews, rules, what's included

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:35

Board games are a great leisure activity that allows you not only to enjoy the process, but also to acquire useful skills - to quickly count, think through your actions, make optimal decisions, and finally, just work in a team. The latter refers to cooperative games - not very common, but very popular. It is no coincidence that the board game "Forbidden Island" receives mostly positive reviews from experienced players. Even with repeated passage, it will not become boring and will deliver more and more pleasure each time.

Storyline

First of all, I would like to mention, talking about the board game "Forbidden Island", the scenario. It is quite simple, but interesting and perfectly explains everything that happens in the game.

A multi-specialist research team arrives ata mysterious island where, according to legend, four artifacts are kept that allow you to control the elements: fire, water, earth and air. However, representatives of the ancient civilization, who hid them in such a wilderness, provided for a protection option - only the worthy will be able to seize great power. As soon as the foot of outsiders touched the firmament of the island, the flood began. Separate parts of the island immediately went under water. And every move results in a few more random parts being flooded. It is necessary to take measures to dry them - in case of repeated flooding, the site will go to the seabed, and it will not be possible to return it.

An additional atmosphere is created by well-thought-out names - Coral Castle, Insidious Dunes, Shadow Cave, Ghost Rock. Of course, these are trifles that do not affect the game mechanics, but playing with such toponyms becomes much more interesting.

Preparing for the game

Leaving feedback on the board game "Forbidden Island", many experienced players note the simplicity of its development - even teenagers and children can figure it out with the help of their parents, thanks to which the whole family will gather at the table to pass the test side by side.

To begin with, a standard field is laid out from the tokens - a four-by-four square plus two tokens on each side. The field is generated randomly, so despite the standard form, it will be unique each time. Then the participants are given character cards, each of which stands in the right place (find the image of the chip of the corresponding color on the field). On the scaleflooding, a level is set (depending on the experience of the players, it can be 2 or 3) - it shows the number of cards that will have to be taken from the blue deck. Now six cards are taken from this deck - the corresponding tokens are turned over, which indicates the flooding of these locations.

Finally, all players are given two artifact cards from the red pile. If a "Flood" card comes across, then it is shuffled into the deck, and another one is taken instead.

That's it. Now you can play!

Game Rules

Each character has four standard actions (we'll talk about unique actions specific to specific characters later). First, it can move one cell vertically or horizontally. Secondly, to drain a piece of land (namely, flooded, and not gone from the game). You can dry the one on which the character stands or the neighboring one - vertically or horizontally. Thirdly, to exchange an artifact card with another character - for this you need to be on the same square with him. Fourth, by collecting four identical artifact cards and being on the corresponding cell (with the image of an artifact, for example, the Temple of the Moon for earth or the Cave of Shadows for fire), pick it up. However, if you wish, you can perform not three actions, but less.

When all actions are completed, the player must draw two cards from the artifact pile. If among them was the card "Flood", perform its action - move the marker on the flood track, but do not take a new one. If, after drawing, there are more than 5 cards in the hand, the excess must be discarded oruse - at the choice of the player.

The last stage of the turn is playing for the forbidden island. Several cards are taken from the tide deck (blue) - their number depends on which scale the sensor measured on the flood scale. All matching tokens are flipped over. If they have already been turned over, then they are washed away - the tokens are removed from the game and do not return, which greatly complicates the passage.

Victory Conditions

To win the board game "Forbidden Island. Adventure for the Brave", you need to fulfill several conditions.

First, all four artifacts must be collected by players. Secondly, all characters must be on the Airstrip space. Thirdly, players must have at least one "Helicopter" card in their hand. As you can see, everything is quite simple. However, the board game "Forbidden Island" received positive reviews not by chance. Although the conditions for victory are quite simple, they are much more difficult to fulfill than it might seem at first glance.

Loss

Now it's worth briefly talking about the conditions that make winning impossible, and therefore lead to defeat.

One of them is the complete flooding (leaving the game of the token) of the "Airfield". Even if this happens at the very beginning, you can finish the passage - you won't be able to win.

Also this can include the death of any character. If he is locked in a location cut off from the main island by a formed strait, and his token sinksbefore he can be evacuated, the game is considered lost.

If the tide marker goes up to the skull mark (usually after the tide deck has been played three times), the game also ends in a loss.

Finally, it's bad if you can't get all the artifacts. For example, the team has not yet obtained an artifact of the earth, and the Temples of the Sun and the Moon (two locations where it can be obtained) have gone under water. This also leads to loss.

Classes

Telling how to play the board game "Forbidden Island", one cannot fail to mention the features of the classes. In total, there are six such cards in the game. But the number of players is between 2 and 4. Therefore, at least two cards will not be used. However, it will be very useful to talk about each of the classes.

Researcher - able to move and dry areas not only horizontally, but also vertically. A very valuable character with high mobility, able to quickly cross the island.

Courier - can transfer cards to other heroes, while not being on the same square with them. Spends one action per transfer of each of them. Useful if you need to complete a set of 4 cards - usually seen in the middle and end of the game.

Engineer - able to dry not one neighboring area, but two at once, with one action. It copes well with the flooding of the island, so it is especially valuable towards the end of the game, when half of the island can go under water at any time.

Pilot - once per turn, can move to any part of the island - the Temple of the Sun, the Palace of the Tides, the Ghost Rock and any other. It consumes one action. It will come in handy if you need to quickly pick up an artifact, urgently dry an area, or save a character who is in a stalemate.

Scuba diver - can dive and move between flooded or even missing (for other characters this action is not available) parts of the island. In this case, any number of cells can swim through the water - this will be considered one move. The main thing is that the actions end on a dry or flooded (but not missing) token.

Finally, Navigator. By spending one action, he can move another character two squares at once.

As you can see, specialists are very different, each with unique properties. This makes the game especially interesting and teamwork extremely important.

Description of cards

The cards found in the tide deck are pretty simple. If "Water is coming" comes across, you need to increase the marker on the water level gauge by one mark, and also shuffle all the cards taken from the tide deck and put it on top. Consequently, in the near future, all flooded areas will be flooded more actively - this makes the game faster. If the marker reaches the critical level, you lose.

Regular cards from the tide deck show which location needs to be flooded. If it has already been flooded, you need to remove it from the game along withcorresponding card.

Artifact cards are very simple - you need to collect a set of four of the same in the hands of one player and pick up the artifact. But there are others. It is these cards in the board game "Forbidden Island" that should be described in more detail.

"Helicopter" - a card needed at the end of the game to fly away from the island, having collected all the artifacts. But it can also be used at any time. After discarding it, move the character to any cell of the field. The action is not wasted. If there are two or more characters on the same square, the card can transfer them all - also to any one square of the field.

"Sandbags" is a very useful card. Makes it possible to "dry" any one token, even if it is at the other end of the field. It is advisable to keep it on hand in order to use it only in a critical situation - if the take-off landing or the only remaining token where you can get the missing artifact is in danger. It can be the Temple of the Moon, the Palace of Tides and others. Sometimes the card allows you to save a team member, or at least give him a break, drying the area cut off from the island on which he stands. Perhaps the time gained is enough to save him by passing the "Helicopter" card to the diver or pilot.

Interaction with each other

Since the game is cooperative, the interaction between the players is very tight.

Of course, this is primarily oral communication. Players can confer, discuss who and what actionwill perform in order to achieve the best result in the shortest possible time.

In addition, you can transfer cards - for this, the characters must be on the same cell. Very convenient - rarely one player manages to collect four identical cards needed to get an artifact. Therefore, it is possible to transfer them to each other, giving to someone who already has two or three.

Finally, moving. As already mentioned, the navigator can not only move itself, but also move the pieces of other characters. While in the same location, the player can also move their character and others using the helicopter card.

Can I play alone?

It's nice that for all its depth the game provides different modes. As mentioned above, from 2 to 4 people can be involved. But if you want, you can play alone. Then it is enough to choose any two characters and move them alternately, reproducing the actions of a pair of players.

Great package

Compiling a review of the board game "Forbidden Island", it is impossible not to mention the configuration. The first thing that catches your eye is the metal box. Very few desktops can boast of this! Of course, she looks just fine.

A nice plus is the well-designed artifacts - all four are represented by figures, which makes the game more atmospheric and interesting.

The rest is pretty standard - location tokens, player tokens, two decks of cards and a small one - characters. Also includedflood scale and a marker for it.

Reviews

In general, the board game "Forbidden Island" receives positive reviews. Users note the simplicity of the rules, huge replay value, an interesting cooperative mode and the need to think through actions several moves ahead.

The most experienced complain that the game could be more difficult. The difficult versions include its sequels - "Forbidden Desert" and "Forbidden Skies".

Conclusion

Now you know the rules of the board game "Forbidden Island", its features and ways to win. So, you can get a lot of pleasure from passing.