Forbidden Island

***Family Favorite***

You've been stranded on an island, and you have to work together to find four artifacts before the island sinks forever. With a game that gets more intense as you play, you have to race against time, using special skills unique to each player to gather cards, shore up different parts of the island from sinking to buy yourself time to get everyone back to the landing pad to take off.

This game is advertised as 10+, 2-4 players and takes about 30 minutes to play.

This is a game that is part of a series, to include Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Sky, which we will review later. It's made by the same game designer as Pandemic and has a very similar mechanic and gameplay. 

Yes, we lost this round. 

Overall Thoughts

Although advertised as 10+, this is a cooperative game and as such, younger kids can definitely play with some direction. The mechanics are pretty straight forward, you have three actions to perform on your turn, in which you draw two cards with a risk of causing the waters to rise, and then you flood different parts of the island. This game can vary in intensity, as we have both won and lost games in the past, and because we play together, it keeps a competitive spirit while also helps encourage kids to work together. 

Why this is a great game for families: Minimal reading required, and a fun little mechanic that has you trying to beat the game as the intensity increases. Suddenly different parts of the island have sunk and you have to use your turns wisely. Parents can easily play this one without the kids as well, it plays relatively quickly and overall lot's of fun.

Mom Thoughts: This is a fun one that plays well with kids as well as adults. I can usually get my kids to play this one without them fussing too much about it. 

Werewolf Thoughts : I think its a fun game and I like that its a coop game, I enjoy trying to prevent the island from sinking and finding all of the treasures. My favorite avatar to play is the Pilot.

Rosie Thoughts : I like how you have to race against the game to beat it and different characters have different powers. We all win or lose as a family,

Robot Thoughts: I like being the black character (the diver) and I like winning. (Robot doesn't like to lose so coop games are always a hit with him)

Lizard Thoughts : Since he is four, sometimes this game is difficult for him to sit still with, but because of it's cooperative nature, it is easy to guide a younger child to take part. He can certainly play with help, but he won't choose it to play just me and him. It's more of a game he can join in on because the rest of his siblings are playing. 

Recommendation : One you can pick up that has longevity. Younger kids might not understand the mechanics of the game, but they certainly can play, this is a great introductory game to modern board gaming. This one is an all around family board game that is a solid addition to a family gaming library.

Where to find it?

 Note: this game was purchased for Christmas on sale, opinions are our own.