Forbidden Island game is a co-operative game of strategy and team building to collect four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise and lift off the Forbidden Island before you get swallowed into the watery abyss! This is one of the few strategy games where you all have to work as a team to complete the adventure.
This comes with 28 treasure cards, 24 flood cards, 6 adventurer cards, 24 double-sided island tiles, six wooden pawns, four treasure figurines, one water meter with water level marker and instructions. The island tiles are well made with thick cardboard and don’t have any sharp corners. The four treasure figurines are beautifully designed. The box has plastic dividers to hold all the items neatly.
It is suitable for 10 years old and above and for 2 to 4 players, but there are six roles given in this game: Navigator (yellow wooden pawn), Engineer (red), Diver (black), Pilot (blue), Explorer (green) and Messenger (grey). Each of these roles has its own special ability and the details are printed on the Adventurer cards. Players need to learn their specialists’ strengths to gain an advantage.
For the first initial play, it took us about half an hour to set up and understand the instructions! Setting up this game is straightforward and it’s best to play on a big dining table or floor as you will need to display the Island tiles in a grid and discard used cards and tiles aside if your island sinks.
This game is not hard to play at all and my children love it. My 11 year old does have difficulty seeing the tiles that are flooded due to her colour blindness. Players with poor vision might not be able to tell which side is normal and which side is flooded due to similar colours/shades.
Players have to take it in turns to perform three actions (move, shore up, give a treasure card or capture a treasure), draw two treasure cards and flood cards (depending on the water level reading). You can give or take advice from your teammate to help you all to win the game!
Once you all have collected all four treasures, everyone must move their pawns to the Fool’s Landing tile, where one player must discard a Helicopter Lift card to get your team off to win the game! There are four ways of losing the game. If both Temples, Caves, Palaces, or Garden tiles sink before you collect their respective treasures, or if Fool’s Landing tile sinks, or if any player is on an Island tile that sinks and there is no adjacent tile to swim to, or if the water level reaches the skull and crossbones! Be quick on your feet or everyone will sink!
This is a fun and interesting game that gets us thinking on our feet. You can set the difficulty levels by starting the water level at the Normal, Elite, or Legendary level! No situations are the same! I would definitely recommend this game. It is available to buy from good retailers and Amazon.
Disclosure: We received the sample for the purposes of writing this review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own. We have included an Amazon affiliate link to the product. If you click on this and buy, we may earn a small commission.
