Forbidden Island is an up-to-4-player co-op game. Players are allowed to choose one special ability that is unique from the others. The board is made from tiles randomly placed in a specific shape. Within these tiles could be one of the treasures, the fool’s landing, or empty space. As the game goes on, players will have up to 3 actions to collect all the treasures using item cards, trading, and movement. The island that has been created, however, is being sunk. With each player’s turn, 2-5 cards (depending on how far you are into the game) will be picked that will sink 2-5 of the tiles. If a tile has already been flooded, it disappears from the board. Players also somewhat have to beat the clock, using their turns carefully and consulting with the others.
To clarify, Treasure cards can either contain the actual treasures on them (which you need four of to be able to collect), sandbags (that unflood any card), helicopters (allow you to transport yourself or other players around the map), or the absolutely hated Waters Rise cards (that increase the number of Flood cards to be selected after each turn).
I have never played a co-op board game before, so it was strange to be working with everyone. I thought the game would turn out to be too easy and, therefore, not fun. But it was utter chaos. My team got a really unlucky board set up and first flooding. At first glance, the game seemed really simple and easy to learn, bringing the assumption that little strategy could go into it. The simplicity was very deceiving. Although a lot of the game had to do with luck, we were forced to make predictions and sacrifice game space for the chance that we could lose a treasure tile or even a player. Players lose by 1) losing a player to a completely flooded tile, 2) flooding Fool’s Landing (their exit), and 3) flooding over the 2/2 treasure tiles (for one treasure).To win, all the treasures must be collected, and all the players must meet at the Fool’s Landing tile if it hasn’t already sunk!
Since the game board and floodings are randomized, Forbidden Island’s replayability is extremely high for a younger audience. You are essentially stepping into a new game each play-through. The game also has a very low barrier to entry and can be played to the fullest by both casual and hard-core gamers. The specialty roles also give the experience some uniqueness and change the strategies players might use. Objectives are very recognizable and not difficult to complete if played correctly. Most of the play-throughs go down to the wire and usually have a comeback.
Although I had fun playing this game, I do not see myself picking it up too many more times. As I stated before, this game is great for a younger audience and most-likely families. I personally prefer a more competitive game but this was a great change of pace. To summarize, the rules are easy to learn, the map is customizable each time, and contains different roles for the whole team. For an older audience, however, this game could easily become repetitive and too easy.
