Gamewright Forbidden Island|Science Fiction, Kids

Great game! Excellent game mechanics will keep it fresh for a while. Arrived earlier than expected, pieces and cards are good quality. My wife and I enjoy it thoroughly. Tension build up as the island starts to sink and we still have to get treasures to escape. Great to cooperate.... Our first cooperative game, didn't think it would be fun. The game layout and play is excellent..... Loads of videos online showing and explaining the game. One of my top 4 games that i believe one should own. Others I'm getting... Lost cities card game. Settlers of Catan. Istanbul. Already ordered lost cities on Amazon, so will compare when i get it. But forbidden island was second on my list, got it first and very happy with it. Tin box did have a very minor dent though, nothing else was wrong with it. The dent was just popped back in place. The box itself is beautiful and complements the pieces and cards.

Forbidden Island and the next in the series, Forbidden Desert, are spectacular multi-player games. Both are must-own and play regularly games. With a game board that constantly shifts (in Forbidden Desert), and the spectacular speed at which both games unfold, each are riveting adventures, where all players combine forces against the game. Really, really good. We usually play 3 rounds back-to-back, and at the 'elite' difficultly level (one short of the highest legendary level), sadly, still lose (die) twice out of three times. It takes a little patience to let the rules soak in. I have a few doubts on interpretation of roles / special powers, I'd like to check on with the designers. Will do some day. Can't stop gushing about Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert. And while not asked for, the two games we currently play most between sessions of Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert, are 'Ingenious' and Quirkle'. Very different category. Totally absorbing.

great game!!!!!

Good game

My daughter is 11 and she went through the instructions herself (took her an hour) and she could explain the game to her friends. She and her friends enjoy it a lot.

I had watched a play-through video starring Wil Weaton and his friends and I knew that I needed to get my hands on this one. I was happily surprised that it was as easy as the video suggested to set up and start playing right away. I've only played a three player game, which was a lot of fun, but I think the more players the better. I love the co-op experience and how different strategies that people bring to the table is intriguing. I think it's a great game to play with your friends as well as your family... if those playing are not too young. Definitely recommend this one, especially for the price! As a side note, it comes in a beautiful metal tin container to boot!

This was played by a group of three 30+ y-os and this engaged us for hours. We played all levels of difficulty and found the most difficult one to be the most engaging. Rules are fairly straightforward with instructions also on character cards. After one or two rounds, you remember all the rules. Graphics are also beautiful, and we loved that this was a collaborative game (vs a competitive one) and we had lots of fun discussing our strategy and working together. In all, I’d highly recommend getting this game.

Forbidden Island sounds silly. Heck, it kind of looks silly. But what it lacks in instant appeal, it makes up for in gameplay. The set itself is in a nice metal container. The island tiles are heavy cardboard and the artifacts are nice quality rubber or plastic. The cards are typical, decent quality. The game has a variety of difficulty levels and is suitable for a wide range of ages and skill levels. Since the game is cooperative, younger or newer players can get assistance from other players. The object of the game is to collect all of the artifacts, four total, and escape the island before it sinks. There are up to six players, but even as a two player game it is quite fun. You can limit the amount of interaction if you like, or you can invite everyone to voice opinions as to your next action. You set up the island tiles randomly in a star like grid. Each time playing is unique, which is part of the fun. You then take turns around the board. Each player draws a card to determine what player they are. Each player has a unique ability such as the ability to move to any space on the board, or shore up two island tiles for only one move and so on. You can pick outright, but I find choosing randomly to be more fun. Each player takes three actions: move, shore up, trade, or collect artifact. Then the player draws two treasure cards, keeping up to five in their hand and discarding extra. If you draw a water rise card - uh oh! - the water level goes up and the game gets more challenging. The next turn is to draw flood cards equal to the current water level. You then flip the tiles indicated. If a tile is flipped already, then it's lost forever! So players want to make sure and shore up certain important tiles when they get flooded (flipped over). The game is over when all of the players collect the artifacts (combined for all four, not everyone will have an artifact), return to the helipad (Fool's Landing) and use an airlift card. Other ways the game ends is if a player is stuck on a tile when it is removed and there are no other adjacent tiles to swim to; or if Fool's Landing is removed; or if both island tiles containing an artifact which has yet to be collected is removed. On lower difficulty settings, it's quite easy. It gets more challenging as you start the water level higher. You can also remove a couple of special treasure cards such as the helicopter and sandbags (make sure to leave at least one helicopter or you can't escape!) It's a quick game lasting around 30 minutes on average. The cooperative style is very fun. I find it to be a good in between game - that is a game between longer games such as Dominion, Carcassonne, or Race for the Galaxy. It's great for friends, and it's easy to learn. What's great also is that as long as one person knows how to play, you can instantly dive in with newbies and assist them in the first couple of plays through. Highly recommended!

If you like Pandemic........

Perfect.