FORBIDDEN ISLAND (2010)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
2-4	30 mins	Matt Leacock	Gamewright

Four explorers travel to a mysterious island in search of treasure. But no sooner has their helicopter landed, the island begins to sink, tile by tile.

FORBIDDEN ISLAND uses similar mechanics to PANDEMIC where one set of cards are drawn to aid you, while a second set of cards are drawn to force the state of the game to change.

Instead of viruses spreading, now we’re slowly flooding, and potentially losing tiles. The island gets smaller and smaller. Routes are cut off. And those valuable treasures you’re after could be lost forever.

The game is a nice 20-30 minute jaunt, where everyone is using their special player powers to aid the team in some way, all while trying to collect sets of treasure cards and, more importantly, keep land tiles from slipping under the waves.

Like most co-op games, there is a great sense of team when you all work together to accomplish goals. I like it when the team take stock and try and plan a few moves ahead, taking into account every player’s special ability. Of course, with those Flood Cards, it’s all about planning the worst case scenario.

And I enjoy the pace of the game where it can build slowly, but soon you’re sacrificing some tiles in order to protect more important ones, like the treasure locations, or the helicopter Landing Zone. Lose either of these, and it’s an instant fail.

Like a lot of the early co-op games (this one is 2010), there is massive potential for Quarter Backing, especially if the experience of the various players is lopsided.

And if you don’t like it when all your planning goes out the window after the ‘wrong’ card gets drawn, this may not be for you.

Overall, FORBIDDEN ISLAND is still a fantastic gateway game, great for getting new players into the co-op mechanic. It’s easy to teach, and play time isn’t too long. It’s a classic for a reason.