Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island is a cooperative game, where you and your team attempt to get all the treasures and then escape the island before it sinks.

Category	BxD Suggestion	Game Suggestion
Players	2-4	2-4
Age	10+	10+
Setup Time	5 minutes
Play Length	30+ minutes	30 minutes
Overall Rating	4 / 5
Replay-ability	4 / 5

Prerequisites

• Forbidden Island Board Game

Experience

Forbidden Island is fairly simple to setup and explain to the group. I've played it a few times, and each time, although there is some reading and going back to the rule book, has been pretty easy to pick right back up. One thing that we have been messing up, when playing, is that we used all the character cards (6 character cards), when there should only be at most 4 character cards in play at once. And surprisingly, it has been more than once that we've done this (after not playing for a while) because we try to ignore the rules, thinking our memory serves us better. Unlike most games, where you play for yourself, or with your team, this one is a cooperative game, meaning all players work as a team of one. The only enemy of the team is the sinking island! In addition, the game play is very similar each time, but since the island tiles and character cards are arbitrarily picked, each play is never exactly the same and doesn't get dull as quickly if playing the game often. So I've ranked it higher in replay-ability. And lastly, those tiles are really nice illustrations!

How to Play

• Shuffle all 24 island tiles and place them face up (non-blue and white side) in a 4x4 grid. And 2 tiles next to the 2 middle tiles on each side. 
• Place the 4 treasures around the island. The 4 of these need to be captured before the team can escape the island. To capture each one of the treasures, 4 matching treasure cards must be discarded on a corresponding Island tile. (There are 8 tiles with corresponding treasures on the island tile.)
• Divide the cards to 3 decks (Flood Deck, Treasure Deck and Adventurer Cards)
• Shuffle the Adventurer Cards (Character cards) and given 1 card to each player. Where there are 2 - 4 players. Each character provides each person, a special role, as specified by the card.
• Place the corresponding pawn on the tile with the corresponding pawn image.
• Shuffle the Flood Deck and place it face down. Draw the top 6 cards and flood the corresponding island tiles. 
• Flood = If the tile is on the non-blue and white side, then turn it to the blue and white side. If the tile is on the blue and white side already, and the tile becomes flooded again, the tile sinks. That means, you remove the tile and the corresponding Flood card from play.
• Shuffle the Treasure Deck and place it face down. Draw 2 cards for each player and place them face up for the whole team to see. 
• If anyone gets a Waters Rise card, draw them another card and shuffle the Water's Rise card back into the deck.
• Set the water level with the marker at the setting based on difficulty. The lower, the easier. The higher, the more difficult.
• Order of Play
• Take up to 3 actions
• Draw 2 Treasure Deck cards.
• Draw Flood cards equal to the water level.
• Actions:
• Move
• Move either up, down, left or right. But not diagonal. You may move to a flooded tile, but not to a missing tile. Cost = 1 action for 1 move.
• There are exceptions depending on your character card.
• Shore Up
• Shore up an adjacent (up, down, left or right). But not diagonal. Turn the blue and white side of the tile over to the colored side of the tile. Cost = 1 action for 1 shore up.
• There are exceptions depending on your character card.
• Give a Treasure Card
• Give a treasure card to another player on the same island tile. Cost = 1 action for 1 card.
• There are exceptions depending on your character card.
• Capture a Treasure
• Discard 4 matching Treasure cards from your hand for a treasure. The pawn must be on a corresponding island tile.
• Place the Treasure cards to the discard pile.
• Draw Treasure cards from the deck, 1 at a time. 
• If a Waters Rise card is drawn, play it immediately, by increasing the water level by 1, shuffling the discarded Flood cards, and then placing them on top of the Flood draw deck. Draw the number of Flood cards equivalent to the number of the Water Level marker.
• If a special action card is drawn, it can be played any time. The 2 types of special action cards are Helicopter Lifts (3 of them) and Sandbags (2 of them).
• A player can only have a maximum of 5 cards in their hand at any time. If there are more than 5 cards, they must discard the excess. If discarding special action cards, they may use the special power.
• Then draw Flood cards from the deck equivalent to the number on the Water Level Marker. Flood the corresponding tiles.
• Continue the play until either the win or lose conditions have been met.

How to Win

• Collect all 4 treasures, have all players go to the Fools' Landing tile and use the Helicopter Lift to get off the island.

Losing the Game

1. If the tiles with the corresponding treasure images sink before the team collects the treasure.
2. If the Fools' Landing tile sinks.
3. If any player on an Island tile sinks and there is no adjacent tile to swim to.
4. If the water level reaches the skull and crossbones.

Rule Book
https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/rules2/ForbiddenIsland-rules.pdf


Photo Sources
Game Wright