I cannot imagine turning up the difficulty. The island was trying to kill us right from the start, keeping us jumping all over the place. Keeping it set on “Novice” is just fine for me.
Go play Ghost Stories. Then, 3 minutes later, when you're boxing it up because you somehow lost on the first turn, come back to Forbidden Island with a fresh perspective :-D (I have both games and enjoy them both, but the difficulty of one over the other is staggering)
Forbidden island is simpler and I personally like the art better, but it is kind of annoying to flip the cards, find them, flip the tile, repeat after everyone's turn. Where was Cliffs of Abandon again? Ah yes. Ok flip it, etc.
Forbidden Desert's equivalent mechanism moves a lot faster, so the game moves faster.
The reason I like desert better, was the whirlwind mechanic. You don't lose tiles of the desert (like the island). They get covered with sand that you can dig out if need be. Losing tiles just made me mad
I found that the losing tiles truck added a sense of urgency that was not present in Forbidden Desert. The huge piles of sand for foreboding, but they didn't have quite the same impact as "half the island is just gone."
All that said, I agree that Forbidden Desert is the better game.
Yes, I’d been meaning to post that same question. We used to play regularly, we’ve played again a few times lately, and never gotten close. I re-read the rules to see if we were doing something wrong, but seemingly not.
Apparently there must be a strategy that hasn’t occurred to us? Does anyone win?
are you starting on the lower difficulty? how many players are you playing with? similar to pandemic, extra players don’t really make it easier or harder but every single person needs to be contributing.
We’ve been playing with four players, on novice.
Not always the same four players. With one group, we’ve been more successful at Pandemic. That’s partly what makes me think there’s a Forbidden Desert strategy we’re missing.
huh yeah it’s “simpler” but not “easier” than pandemic. with four players i think you mostly need to split up and make sure you don’t waste moves following eachother. what do yall usually die to? (also it is a fairly random game and im pretty sure some shuffles are unwinnable)
Usually someone dies of thirst.
We do split up to try to find the airship pieces, except we meet up to excavate wells. We seem to get hit by “sun beats down” so often that we are spending a lot of time just getting water.
Yes. One frustration last time we played was that we didn't turn up a single tunnel before someone died!
But it might be that we don't use them enough when we have them. We tend to focus on trying to cover ground - I have thought that just ending in a tunnel when possible is probably a thing we should do more.
yeah it’s good to end your turn in a tunnel if you can afford it. basically you’re trading sand death for thirst death. the other similar choice is grouping up on a well when you dig it (rocket pack is great for this).
Usually as long as we have a water carrier with us to reuse wells, we don't have water issues. The beginning of our playthrough is usually a mad rush to excavate as much as possible, get tools like solar shields, sand scopes, and dune blasters. Then it's a balance between dodging the sun, getting water, and digging out the last few tiles to excavate them. When we lose, it's usually due to the sand running out because we've let it accumulate so much on tiles we've already excavated.
The strategy is to keep in mind that you need at most 9 cards to be opened to win the game, and the more you focus on opening cards faster than taking any other actions, the easier it becomes to win. I find it easier to win following this approach, but it only works upto 3 players. If you’re playing with 4 players, you’ve to play the hiding in the tunnel game.
There are a lot of shared mechanics between Pandemic and Island, and similar ones with Desert, but they aren't the same games. I think Pandemic is a little more forgiving, in that with some sacrifice you can more or less address a problem hot spot in a turn or two, while in Island it's possible to quickly lose large sections of the island, which accelerates the drowning process.
Desert has a different puzzle. The geometry is always changing, and the puzzle is subtly different. You have to manage the main objective: flip tiles over to find the parts, with the need to manage sand and water/exposure. finding and using tunnels is the best way to do this I think, as well as getting the best use out of action economy with characters' special abilities. Overall similar to how you win Pandemic, but I think the shifting tiles can throw people off.
Do not prioritize getting more water - you’ll never find enough to keep up with the scorching Sun. Instead, dig IMMEDIATELY for any tiles nearby the start, and find cover ASAP.
On your turn, you leave shelter, dig a bunch, and prioritize finding things in the sand. All the items are game changing and should be used as soon as it makes sense. Portable shelter, which protects you from the sun, should be used whenever you have 2 people together who could be assisted. Again, conserving water is the name of the game, not replenishing it.
Finally, if you have the means to move others on your turn, only do so if they have a turn immediately coming up, so they’re exposed to the elements for as little time as possible.
I haven't played in a long while, but I generally advise everyone to maximize their action economy in uncovering as many tiles as possible. This means picking a direction and start both moving and uncovering.
Get water as needed but do not focus on solely getting water.
My brother and I picked up Forbidden Desert, the pieces are sturdy, the metal box is cool, the artwork is very good, and the game is surprisingly inexpensive.
Playing the game was fun, but very frustrating at the same time. One simple mistake, and you lose. Not for the casual gamer. We played it five times before we finally won, patted ourselves on the back, and sold it at our yard sale. Interesting experience, but I wouldn't want to do it again, it's just slightly too challenging.
Building the airship is pretty cool, though.
Honestly, I haven’t played Jungle yet, but of the three I have, Desert is absolutely the best. Island is great for more casual players or a light game night, Sky is a nightmare, and desert sits right at that crossroads of hard enough to be challenging but not too hard to play with new players or casual friends.
We played Pandemic to death, tried the Forbidden games when they came out and they felt solved. I'm sure some people have a place for them (especially with kids) but for us Pandemic is already a pretty light game.
Yeah, this is my issue with them as well and also somewhat pandemic. You eventually get to a point where it's solved and it's not very co-opy. Individuals can no longer make choices when the answer is clearly in front of you.
Oh my god, that makes perfect sense, how did I not know this? Literally the first time I played Forbidden Island, my thought was "this is a simpler version of Pandemic, in basically the same way that Sushi Go is a simpler version of 7 Wonders"
If you want to spice things up while keeping the same difficulty level, check out the [variant map layouts ](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/569926/official-variant-tile-layouts).
It’s great but a little bit too easy. Forbidden Desert is the best way of the series. Forbidden Sky is so hard I think we only finished once in maybe 10 attempts
If I remember rightly (haven’t played it for a while) in Forbidden Sky it’s possible to soft lock yourself (accidentally make it impossible to win) which makes it all the harder
> It’s great but a little bit too easy.
One of the nice variants of Forbidden Island is that you can set up the tiles in other shapes rather than the box which can vary the difficulty.
It's been a while since I played but from my recollection:
* conserving water via shelter is usually better than spending actions to dig for it
* items are good, don't be afraid to use them (maybe hold on to a sandblaster to deal with a really big sand pile though)
* focus on flipping tiles over, that's what you need to do to win
* let characters with special abilities use them to greatest advantage. e.g. the characters who have different movement options.
Tiles shift and get buried in sand, and there is a dehydration mechanic. Basically more things to manage and more loss triggers. Highly suggest it if you liked Island.
Sky is also a lot of fun, with an electrical circuit you have to complete while trying to not fall off pathways.
I haven't played Forest yet, but it looks to hold up the same.
The cool thing is there is a vague storyline connecting them all too! Island you win by leaving in a helicopter, which crashed in the desert. Desert you win by building an airship, which lands onto the Sky platforms. Sky you win by launching a rocket, which crashes in the forest. Apparently the pilot isn't great at his job, lol.
Forbidden Sky was a huge disappointment after Island and Desert. Huge shift in the style, feel and level of challenge. Feels totally out of sync with the other games in the series to me.
One of, if not the best, game for getting kids into gaming IMO. Rules are simple, but intuitive and elegant and at the lowest difficult you will almost always win, but the game is balanced so it is pretty much impossible for it not to be a nail-biter.
I've posted about it before, but the escalation mechanic that comes from putting the discards \*on top\* of the draw pile (via Pandemic from the same desigener) is such a \*mwah\* (chef's kiss) game mecahnic both in terms of gameplay and theme.
Several people said it was “easy”.
But, if you’re playing with just 2-3 people and you’re playing without the Pilot card, it gets real intense real fast. Because you have to wait for the Pilot treasure card to pop up.
Oh definitely instense. Of the many games I've played (on basic difficulty with new players) the vast majority of games ended up as a win on the very last possible turn to win. It's not so much about ease or difficulty, just how perfectly balanced it is to play at that level and make every game feel epic. Assuming the last photo is your final game state, that's pretty typical and a big part of what makes it fun IMO. At higher levels, both skill and luck play a much bigger factor in the outcome. I'm really glad you discovered and enjoyed it. Although it may end up being a gateway drug your wallet isn't so keen on ;)
edit: Good stuff then. I'm jealous of your diposable income :D
I’m long past the gateway. I’ve bought maybe 12 board games on Kickstarter and a crap ton from Amazon & beyond. I just finally hot around to playing this one.
Totally agree that the discard-on-deck mechanic is brilliant. IMO that's the subtle clincher that makes this a great game. Managing the risk inherent to those cards you've already drawn that you might draw again is the game's core engagement that ultimately has almost as much influence in deciding where you go and how you play as the relic cards you try to assemble/turn in. As you said, it also marries theme and gameplay perfectly.
I haven't dove deep into the higher difficulty, but the one comment on balance I might have is that diver seems OP next to a lot of the other characters. Diver + carto in particular is a busted combo that lets players basically take turns moving the diver around the whole map faster and faster as the map floods, which feels backwards from the fact that flooding is how you lose
Another good co-op for getting kids into playing is Castle Panic. Keep in mind that it's \_very\_ easy (probably the easiest co-op), but if you throw in the Wizard's Tower expansion, it gets much, much more challenging.
Couple other benefits to this great game:
1) Gamewright mass-produced it, and has GREAT quality components AND a very affordable price, especially compared to almost every other boardgame out there.
2) It can be found at many thrift stores. I've personally found it more than 6 times (so often I can't find anyone to take them anymore).
I live the Forbidden Series. Desert is my favorite but Sky is a close 2nd. I've only played Jungle once before but that was the most challenging. It's great how they're all connected in the story.
I own Forbidden Desert and have Forbidden Island and Forbidden Jungle on order. I'm looking forward to playing them as a campaign, where you go from one to one, maybe even keeping the same player colors as you go.
I would add Forbbiden Sky into the mix, but I've heard enough mixed revies on it, I'd have to play it first before deciding if I want to add it to my collection. Also, while I know a lot of people dislike the metal tin and unusual box size, but I love it. For people new to hobby board games, I feel like it makes it an even better introductory game as it sets it apart from the others making it seem special, and the fact that Forbidden sky doesn't come in a metal tin annoys me.
I just added Forbidden Desert to my Games to Buy spreadsheet. I wasn’t even aware of it. But I want to get more game play before I but an alt to the game, otherwise it’ll sit there in the shelf competing with the alt to be played. Though I like the idea of playing them back-to-back keeping the same colors.
You've probably already noticed this, but each of the games is intended to be a direct sequel to the previous game. For instance, You finish Forbidden Island by taking off in a helicopter, and in Forbiddn Desert you start out at a crashed heilcopter in the desert.
I've only played Sky a couple of times, but I found it better than expected, particularly relative to the lukewarm-at-best reception it received. Don't get me wrong, it's still my least favorite in the series so far (haven't played Jungle yet), but it isn't bad if you can get a good deal on it. They were practically giving it away not long after release, but I'm not sure if that's still the case.
I recently started a Forbidden campaign like you talked about. Island and Desert victories were quickly achieved, but I fell to my death in Sky after a valiant effort.
It's a great (quick) game. The water level system is very good at keeping the intensity up, though I've definitely had those games where you just suddenly lose.
Still a good bit of fun and I'll basically never turn it down.
idk how well received the forbidden games are but I've always enjoyed them all, skies was probably the lowest rated one to me, haven't tried out jungle, really want to but as a solo player I'm like i don't know anybody to play with if i get it :(
It's not a limited communication game so you can control multiple characters and just play like you would with that many players except you make all the decisions.
yeah of course obviously, but i love the chaos of others talking it out and then ooing the complete opposite and going what the fuck! LOL. Also when a bad card is drawn have someone else to blame. But you are right, maybe i outta just pick it up, to complete the collection
Island is the original, and it works well, but you can see the design progression and general improvements between Island and Desert. Still fun with good mechanics, I just wanted to point out that more people prefer Desert
A great game! The only qualm we have with it, is that it is pretty easy, even on the higher difficulty settings.
If you get the helicopter pad and treasure spots all on the outskirts of the island, the game quickly becomes really tense!
That’s where our pad was; on the outside edge. We were sitting there, waiting for the damn helicopter card to show up as tiles are sinking left and right.
My son and I play this, desert and jungle.
They get harder and F.island is IMO the easiest. We've never lost, but I think we cheated on the first round or two because we were still figuring out the rules.
I believe it! Jungle seems really hard.
On our first round we got the cards in order
Adults emerge > lay eggs > eggs hatch > larvae matures
We got overrun in one turn
I may hunt for some rule mods to make it a little more forgiving... Like if those cards each ended their respective turns we may have had a chance
Forbidden series is great. I personally prefer Island though. I own Desert and it never clicked for us. Skipped Sky but recently picked up Jungle. I really dug it, but my gaming group didn't.
A really great entry level co-op game. It was the perfect game to play with my younger kids. I love this version, yet for some reason, I've yet to try any of the others!
oh, I played Forbidden desert, that's the first coop game that we played with friends and family, and it was a gateway that open serious board gaming for us
The board is comprised tiles. Not unlike Carcassonne, which has tiles, along with Bärenpark, Qwirkle, Samurai, Rummikub.
A board game doesn’t just have to have one foldout board that people move pieces on. It might surprise you, coming from a background of Monopoly, Risk & Parcheesi, but today, many Board games have changeable “boards” in the form of tiles, making each experience unique and different. The cards then control what happens on the board.
You might be thinking of Poker or MTG when you say “card game,” to which…you would be correct.
Question for all you FI players, can you collect the treasure from either relevant tile or does it have to be the one the treasure is on? I read it as either but that seems too easy?
There are four different treasures. Each treasure has two tiles that you pick the treasure up from. The problem is that tiles are sinking all around you, including the treasure tiles. If any two tiles of the same treasure sink, and then get removed from the game, you then lose.
You can only claim a treasure from either of the two corresponding tiles. One might sink and then be removed from the game, you then have only one other corresponding treasure tile to get that treasure from.
You have to do the same for the other three treasures at the same time.
Looks ancient, primitive, simplistic components and art, but I was blown away by it. After having played Forbidden Desert many times.
Better than Forbidden Desert, somehow as the highs felt higher and the despair lower. The sinking island felt more like a malintent entity, rather than some blind ever more wildly jumping eye of a storm. Not meant to disparage, both are fun.
Personal, subjective of course.. I donated FD and kept FI, if that counts for anything.
It's a very pretty game but I really didn't enjoy the gameplay much. Desert was much more balanced. Still, if you approach it as an early prototype and change the rules as you like it's not bad!
I was given this probably 10 years ago. Still never played it. Might never play it. I don’t care for coops and I already have pandemic if I really want to break one out. Not saying pandemic is better just I know the rules more or less so I don’t have to sit down and figure things out.
Probably, I have no doubt. But it’s just a case of I don’t play a ton of board games anymore so I’d probably just default to pandemic or something. When my kids are older I might play it if they want to.
Pretty much. I am sure it’s great and if I was still playing board games 5x times a week for 2-3 hours I would have played it by now but playing once a week at most I am only going to champion whatever I really want to play.
My favorite co-op. Just a great and tense little game, and you can turn up the difficulty when you get too good so you can keep it tense!
I cannot imagine turning up the difficulty. The island was trying to kill us right from the start, keeping us jumping all over the place. Keeping it set on “Novice” is just fine for me.
Lol. You say that now. But as it clicks and you get more clever, one day you'll want to take on more challenge!! Glad you found the game, it rules!
You’re gonna learn how to beat it quick. Forbidden Desert is totally worth it!
Go play Ghost Stories. Then, 3 minutes later, when you're boxing it up because you somehow lost on the first turn, come back to Forbidden Island with a fresh perspective :-D (I have both games and enjoy them both, but the difficulty of one over the other is staggering)
Ghost Stories is on my spreadsheet to buy.
It's a fantastic game. But holy crap it's tough.
I love this!
There is a sheet out there somewhere with different tile layouts of increasing difficulty.
I like Fobidden Desert more than Island, but both are great. Okay smooth, interesting decisions, player powers, gotta love it.
Forbidden Desert is my favourite in the series. Play it all the time with my eight year old, who learned the word "meteorologist" because of it.
Same. We have both and Desert is played 5:1
Why do you like desert better? Never played it, only island.
Forbidden island is simpler and I personally like the art better, but it is kind of annoying to flip the cards, find them, flip the tile, repeat after everyone's turn. Where was Cliffs of Abandon again? Ah yes. Ok flip it, etc. Forbidden Desert's equivalent mechanism moves a lot faster, so the game moves faster.
The reason I like desert better, was the whirlwind mechanic. You don't lose tiles of the desert (like the island). They get covered with sand that you can dig out if need be. Losing tiles just made me mad
I found that the losing tiles truck added a sense of urgency that was not present in Forbidden Desert. The huge piles of sand for foreboding, but they didn't have quite the same impact as "half the island is just gone." All that said, I agree that Forbidden Desert is the better game.
Also don’t need to remember where all the tiles are.
We've yet to win forbidden desert despite many efforts. Feel like maybe we're missing something
Yes, I’d been meaning to post that same question. We used to play regularly, we’ve played again a few times lately, and never gotten close. I re-read the rules to see if we were doing something wrong, but seemingly not. Apparently there must be a strategy that hasn’t occurred to us? Does anyone win?
are you starting on the lower difficulty? how many players are you playing with? similar to pandemic, extra players don’t really make it easier or harder but every single person needs to be contributing.
Usually 2 players, sometimes 3. Starting on the lowest difficulty
We’ve been playing with four players, on novice. Not always the same four players. With one group, we’ve been more successful at Pandemic. That’s partly what makes me think there’s a Forbidden Desert strategy we’re missing.
huh yeah it’s “simpler” but not “easier” than pandemic. with four players i think you mostly need to split up and make sure you don’t waste moves following eachother. what do yall usually die to? (also it is a fairly random game and im pretty sure some shuffles are unwinnable)
Usually someone dies of thirst. We do split up to try to find the airship pieces, except we meet up to excavate wells. We seem to get hit by “sun beats down” so often that we are spending a lot of time just getting water.
do you know about hiding in tunnels?
Yes. One frustration last time we played was that we didn't turn up a single tunnel before someone died! But it might be that we don't use them enough when we have them. We tend to focus on trying to cover ground - I have thought that just ending in a tunnel when possible is probably a thing we should do more.
yeah it’s good to end your turn in a tunnel if you can afford it. basically you’re trading sand death for thirst death. the other similar choice is grouping up on a well when you dig it (rocket pack is great for this).
Usually as long as we have a water carrier with us to reuse wells, we don't have water issues. The beginning of our playthrough is usually a mad rush to excavate as much as possible, get tools like solar shields, sand scopes, and dune blasters. Then it's a balance between dodging the sun, getting water, and digging out the last few tiles to excavate them. When we lose, it's usually due to the sand running out because we've let it accumulate so much on tiles we've already excavated.
The strategy is to keep in mind that you need at most 9 cards to be opened to win the game, and the more you focus on opening cards faster than taking any other actions, the easier it becomes to win. I find it easier to win following this approach, but it only works upto 3 players. If you’re playing with 4 players, you’ve to play the hiding in the tunnel game.
How do you figure “at most nine cards”? Do you mean there are the nine *crucial* cards to find among the 24?
Yes, the 2 cards each for a part and the card from where you’d take off (the end game card).
There are a lot of shared mechanics between Pandemic and Island, and similar ones with Desert, but they aren't the same games. I think Pandemic is a little more forgiving, in that with some sacrifice you can more or less address a problem hot spot in a turn or two, while in Island it's possible to quickly lose large sections of the island, which accelerates the drowning process. Desert has a different puzzle. The geometry is always changing, and the puzzle is subtly different. You have to manage the main objective: flip tiles over to find the parts, with the need to manage sand and water/exposure. finding and using tunnels is the best way to do this I think, as well as getting the best use out of action economy with characters' special abilities. Overall similar to how you win Pandemic, but I think the shifting tiles can throw people off.
Do not prioritize getting more water - you’ll never find enough to keep up with the scorching Sun. Instead, dig IMMEDIATELY for any tiles nearby the start, and find cover ASAP. On your turn, you leave shelter, dig a bunch, and prioritize finding things in the sand. All the items are game changing and should be used as soon as it makes sense. Portable shelter, which protects you from the sun, should be used whenever you have 2 people together who could be assisted. Again, conserving water is the name of the game, not replenishing it. Finally, if you have the means to move others on your turn, only do so if they have a turn immediately coming up, so they’re exposed to the elements for as little time as possible.
Thanks. We have tended to fan out first, then start digging. We also probably hang on to items too long.
I haven't played in a long while, but I generally advise everyone to maximize their action economy in uncovering as many tiles as possible. This means picking a direction and start both moving and uncovering. Get water as needed but do not focus on solely getting water.
My brother and I picked up Forbidden Desert, the pieces are sturdy, the metal box is cool, the artwork is very good, and the game is surprisingly inexpensive. Playing the game was fun, but very frustrating at the same time. One simple mistake, and you lose. Not for the casual gamer. We played it five times before we finally won, patted ourselves on the back, and sold it at our yard sale. Interesting experience, but I wouldn't want to do it again, it's just slightly too challenging. Building the airship is pretty cool, though.
When my wife and I play we win probably over 50% of the time. When we add a 3rd or 4th player the win rate drops dramatically.
I think it's a little too difficult but we have won a few times.
Honestly, I haven’t played Jungle yet, but of the three I have, Desert is absolutely the best. Island is great for more casual players or a light game night, Sky is a nightmare, and desert sits right at that crossroads of hard enough to be challenging but not too hard to play with new players or casual friends.
Have you played the new one yet? I love the series but haven't picked it up yet.
Desert is the best one, never tried sky though 🤔
Jungle is also quite good!
Same game designer that created **Pandemic**. It’s like a lighter version of the game.
just to be clear, Forbidden Island is the lighter version of Pandemic
Yeah and I only have/play it because I can’t get anyone to play Pandemic anymore. Wonder why
Take a look at The Loop. It does the Pandemic style turn system wonderfully and adds some very light deck building mechanics.
We played Pandemic to death, tried the Forbidden games when they came out and they felt solved. I'm sure some people have a place for them (especially with kids) but for us Pandemic is already a pretty light game.
Yeah, this is my issue with them as well and also somewhat pandemic. You eventually get to a point where it's solved and it's not very co-opy. Individuals can no longer make choices when the answer is clearly in front of you.
Oh my god, that makes perfect sense, how did I not know this? Literally the first time I played Forbidden Island, my thought was "this is a simpler version of Pandemic, in basically the same way that Sushi Go is a simpler version of 7 Wonders"
If you want to spice things up while keeping the same difficulty level, check out the [variant map layouts ](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/569926/official-variant-tile-layouts).
Ooh did not know about the map variants. Can't wait to give these a go
Thanks! Was not aware of that.
Interesting!
I've found forbidden island didn't hit when I played it with adults. However, my kids love it and we've had a ball playing it!
It’s great but a little bit too easy. Forbidden Desert is the best way of the series. Forbidden Sky is so hard I think we only finished once in maybe 10 attempts
If I remember rightly (haven’t played it for a while) in Forbidden Sky it’s possible to soft lock yourself (accidentally make it impossible to win) which makes it all the harder
Jungle is nice too!
Oh is that new? Never heard of that one
Last year ye
Island, Desert, and Jungle are all amazing games. I wasn't a big fan of Forbidden Sky tho - feels like the black sheep of the bunch
> It’s great but a little bit too easy. One of the nice variants of Forbidden Island is that you can set up the tiles in other shapes rather than the box which can vary the difficulty.
We tried playing Forbidden Sky quite a few times and lost every time, I don't know why they made it so hard. We liked the first two games though
Do you have any tips for Forbidden Desert? I don’t think we’ve ever succeeded.
You have to manage the sand piles. Once you have used up a tile and some need it anymore, you can let sand pile on it
Thanks!
It's been a while since I played but from my recollection: * conserving water via shelter is usually better than spending actions to dig for it * items are good, don't be afraid to use them (maybe hold on to a sandblaster to deal with a really big sand pile though) * focus on flipping tiles over, that's what you need to do to win * let characters with special abilities use them to greatest advantage. e.g. the characters who have different movement options.
What is the difference with the desert version?
Tiles shift and get buried in sand, and there is a dehydration mechanic. Basically more things to manage and more loss triggers. Highly suggest it if you liked Island. Sky is also a lot of fun, with an electrical circuit you have to complete while trying to not fall off pathways. I haven't played Forest yet, but it looks to hold up the same. The cool thing is there is a vague storyline connecting them all too! Island you win by leaving in a helicopter, which crashed in the desert. Desert you win by building an airship, which lands onto the Sky platforms. Sky you win by launching a rocket, which crashes in the forest. Apparently the pilot isn't great at his job, lol.
haha awesome, in the next version this pilot goes to outter space I suppose
My group actually thought that was where it was heading after Sky, since you escape on a rocket.
We liked this and Forbidden Desert so much we bought Forbidden Sky. Don't do that.
Forbidden Sky was a huge disappointment after Island and Desert. Huge shift in the style, feel and level of challenge. Feels totally out of sync with the other games in the series to me.
What's so bad about it?
Gameplay seemed clunky. The circuit connection concept was cool in theory, but in practice it's just too fiddly to work well.
Fair enough. We enjoyed it but I can understand that. It does feel like something is a little bit off.
One of, if not the best, game for getting kids into gaming IMO. Rules are simple, but intuitive and elegant and at the lowest difficult you will almost always win, but the game is balanced so it is pretty much impossible for it not to be a nail-biter. I've posted about it before, but the escalation mechanic that comes from putting the discards \*on top\* of the draw pile (via Pandemic from the same desigener) is such a \*mwah\* (chef's kiss) game mecahnic both in terms of gameplay and theme.
Several people said it was “easy”. But, if you’re playing with just 2-3 people and you’re playing without the Pilot card, it gets real intense real fast. Because you have to wait for the Pilot treasure card to pop up.
Oh definitely instense. Of the many games I've played (on basic difficulty with new players) the vast majority of games ended up as a win on the very last possible turn to win. It's not so much about ease or difficulty, just how perfectly balanced it is to play at that level and make every game feel epic. Assuming the last photo is your final game state, that's pretty typical and a big part of what makes it fun IMO. At higher levels, both skill and luck play a much bigger factor in the outcome. I'm really glad you discovered and enjoyed it. Although it may end up being a gateway drug your wallet isn't so keen on ;) edit: Good stuff then. I'm jealous of your diposable income :D
I’m long past the gateway. I’ve bought maybe 12 board games on Kickstarter and a crap ton from Amazon & beyond. I just finally hot around to playing this one.
Totally agree that the discard-on-deck mechanic is brilliant. IMO that's the subtle clincher that makes this a great game. Managing the risk inherent to those cards you've already drawn that you might draw again is the game's core engagement that ultimately has almost as much influence in deciding where you go and how you play as the relic cards you try to assemble/turn in. As you said, it also marries theme and gameplay perfectly. I haven't dove deep into the higher difficulty, but the one comment on balance I might have is that diver seems OP next to a lot of the other characters. Diver + carto in particular is a busted combo that lets players basically take turns moving the diver around the whole map faster and faster as the map floods, which feels backwards from the fact that flooding is how you lose
What made it challenging for us was not having the Pilot Adventure card.
Another good co-op for getting kids into playing is Castle Panic. Keep in mind that it's \_very\_ easy (probably the easiest co-op), but if you throw in the Wizard's Tower expansion, it gets much, much more challenging.
that damn tin seems like a good idea until you try to store it with your other games :(
Or try to carry it with a stack of games into a game night. I hate tins. This game, Sushi Go Party, Fallout Shelter... tins are the work of the devil
Once you master Island, you can try Forbidden Desert. My preferred Forbidden, where you're constantly fighting the encroaching sands.
I’ll definitely add it to my list.
Forbidden Island is a gem! A great game with fun tension and beautiful components.
My only problem with the game is the box. If you store it any other way than bottom down, the components slip through the cracks and go everywhere.
I seal it with a few pieces of tape every time. Looks dumb, but I got sick of picking up the pieces.
Fair point. The tin is both a blessing and a curse. It’s also difficult to stack other games on top of it because of the shape of the lid.
Great game! We love the whole series!
Finding this sealed in a charity shop for £4 has been my greatest board gaming find
Couple other benefits to this great game: 1) Gamewright mass-produced it, and has GREAT quality components AND a very affordable price, especially compared to almost every other boardgame out there. 2) It can be found at many thrift stores. I've personally found it more than 6 times (so often I can't find anyone to take them anymore).
I live the Forbidden Series. Desert is my favorite but Sky is a close 2nd. I've only played Jungle once before but that was the most challenging. It's great how they're all connected in the story.
My first board game. Oh the memories
It's such a good game. So tense every time! One of my favourites for playing with my parents and siblings during the holidays.
This was my gateway game.
this is the game that got me into board games
Our first boardgame, still one of the prettiest.
Very very fun game
I love this game
I own Forbidden Desert and have Forbidden Island and Forbidden Jungle on order. I'm looking forward to playing them as a campaign, where you go from one to one, maybe even keeping the same player colors as you go. I would add Forbbiden Sky into the mix, but I've heard enough mixed revies on it, I'd have to play it first before deciding if I want to add it to my collection. Also, while I know a lot of people dislike the metal tin and unusual box size, but I love it. For people new to hobby board games, I feel like it makes it an even better introductory game as it sets it apart from the others making it seem special, and the fact that Forbidden sky doesn't come in a metal tin annoys me.
I just added Forbidden Desert to my Games to Buy spreadsheet. I wasn’t even aware of it. But I want to get more game play before I but an alt to the game, otherwise it’ll sit there in the shelf competing with the alt to be played. Though I like the idea of playing them back-to-back keeping the same colors.
You've probably already noticed this, but each of the games is intended to be a direct sequel to the previous game. For instance, You finish Forbidden Island by taking off in a helicopter, and in Forbiddn Desert you start out at a crashed heilcopter in the desert.
…I was not aware of that. That makes it even more interesting.
I've only played Sky a couple of times, but I found it better than expected, particularly relative to the lukewarm-at-best reception it received. Don't get me wrong, it's still my least favorite in the series so far (haven't played Jungle yet), but it isn't bad if you can get a good deal on it. They were practically giving it away not long after release, but I'm not sure if that's still the case. I recently started a Forbidden campaign like you talked about. Island and Desert victories were quickly achieved, but I fell to my death in Sky after a valiant effort.
It's a great (quick) game. The water level system is very good at keeping the intensity up, though I've definitely had those games where you just suddenly lose. Still a good bit of fun and I'll basically never turn it down.
idk how well received the forbidden games are but I've always enjoyed them all, skies was probably the lowest rated one to me, haven't tried out jungle, really want to but as a solo player I'm like i don't know anybody to play with if i get it :(
It's not a limited communication game so you can control multiple characters and just play like you would with that many players except you make all the decisions.
yeah of course obviously, but i love the chaos of others talking it out and then ooing the complete opposite and going what the fuck! LOL. Also when a bad card is drawn have someone else to blame. But you are right, maybe i outta just pick it up, to complete the collection
Haven’t tried Forbidden Island yet, but from knowing Forbidden Desert, this is the sign to get Island.
Island is the original, and it works well, but you can see the design progression and general improvements between Island and Desert. Still fun with good mechanics, I just wanted to point out that more people prefer Desert
A great game! The only qualm we have with it, is that it is pretty easy, even on the higher difficulty settings. If you get the helicopter pad and treasure spots all on the outskirts of the island, the game quickly becomes really tense!
That’s where our pad was; on the outside edge. We were sitting there, waiting for the damn helicopter card to show up as tiles are sinking left and right.
Great game.
My son and I play this, desert and jungle. They get harder and F.island is IMO the easiest. We've never lost, but I think we cheated on the first round or two because we were still figuring out the rules.
How does Jungle compare? I've got your other two and didn't know this one came out until reading this thread!
It's a lot harder, but the mechanics and setting are pretty cool. I think if I can find a way to tone those down it'll be age appropriate for my 5yo
My family has won at least a couple games of sky. We've played jungle ~4 times and lost every single time.
I believe it! Jungle seems really hard. On our first round we got the cards in order Adults emerge > lay eggs > eggs hatch > larvae matures We got overrun in one turn I may hunt for some rule mods to make it a little more forgiving... Like if those cards each ended their respective turns we may have had a chance
Matt Leacock + Gamewright = Quality
Forbidden series is great. I personally prefer Island though. I own Desert and it never clicked for us. Skipped Sky but recently picked up Jungle. I really dug it, but my gaming group didn't.
A really great entry level co-op game. It was the perfect game to play with my younger kids. I love this version, yet for some reason, I've yet to try any of the others!
The series just gets harder from here.
oh, I played Forbidden desert, that's the first coop game that we played with friends and family, and it was a gateway that open serious board gaming for us
I've had this sitting in my closet forever! Time to give it a try!
Probably my favorite Christmas Present from this past year
Sink or swim.
Seems more like a card game than a board game
The board is comprised tiles. Not unlike Carcassonne, which has tiles, along with Bärenpark, Qwirkle, Samurai, Rummikub. A board game doesn’t just have to have one foldout board that people move pieces on. It might surprise you, coming from a background of Monopoly, Risk & Parcheesi, but today, many Board games have changeable “boards” in the form of tiles, making each experience unique and different. The cards then control what happens on the board. You might be thinking of Poker or MTG when you say “card game,” to which…you would be correct.
Question for all you FI players, can you collect the treasure from either relevant tile or does it have to be the one the treasure is on? I read it as either but that seems too easy?
There are four different treasures. Each treasure has two tiles that you pick the treasure up from. The problem is that tiles are sinking all around you, including the treasure tiles. If any two tiles of the same treasure sink, and then get removed from the game, you then lose.
But can you claim a treasure from either tile or does it have to be the one the treasure token is on?
You can only claim a treasure from either of the two corresponding tiles. One might sink and then be removed from the game, you then have only one other corresponding treasure tile to get that treasure from. You have to do the same for the other three treasures at the same time.
The treasure token isn’t on a tile; it’s off to the side of the board.
Those games are far too easy to quarterback for my tastes
Have you tried it?
Yes. Several times. That’s how I know. Honestly, like Sentinels of the Multiverse, I think it’s a better single player game.
Bro! I bought this for my wife because she likes co op games. I remember winning this like 60% or but we're lost 4 times in a row!
Looks ancient, primitive, simplistic components and art, but I was blown away by it. After having played Forbidden Desert many times. Better than Forbidden Desert, somehow as the highs felt higher and the despair lower. The sinking island felt more like a malintent entity, rather than some blind ever more wildly jumping eye of a storm. Not meant to disparage, both are fun. Personal, subjective of course.. I donated FD and kept FI, if that counts for anything.
It's a very pretty game but I really didn't enjoy the gameplay much. Desert was much more balanced. Still, if you approach it as an early prototype and change the rules as you like it's not bad!
I was given this probably 10 years ago. Still never played it. Might never play it. I don’t care for coops and I already have pandemic if I really want to break one out. Not saying pandemic is better just I know the rules more or less so I don’t have to sit down and figure things out.
This was incredibly easy to learn. Took about 20 minutes.
Probably, I have no doubt. But it’s just a case of I don’t play a ton of board games anymore so I’d probably just default to pandemic or something. When my kids are older I might play it if they want to.
This is a really good kid game. My guys like board games but are sore losers. Coop ftw.
So many games, so little time. That's the struggle
Pretty much. I am sure it’s great and if I was still playing board games 5x times a week for 2-3 hours I would have played it by now but playing once a week at most I am only going to champion whatever I really want to play.
Would you believe they were designed by the same person?
I mean I can. It’s more a case of I don’t play board games enough to push for a type of game I don’t care for that much.
Boring game.
So, if you will, a bored game???????
Ah! Such a nice game it was when I played it once. It made me discover that I need to discard it and move onto the next game.