About Forbidden Island
The perfect cooperative gateway game. Beautifully produced, tense, and quick. The island tiles flood and sink — race to collect treasures and escape before it's too late.
Is Forbidden Island Right for You?
Best for
Forbidden Island is the perfect gateway cooperative game and a superb value for the price. It teaches the core ideas of teamwork co-ops, shared goals, role powers, and a rising threat, in 30 minutes, making it ideal for families, kids, and groups new to modern board games. Great as a quick filler or a first step before something heavier like Pandemic.
Maybe skip it if…
Experienced gamers may find it too simple and a bit solvable after a few plays; if you want depth and tension, its tougher sibling Forbidden Desert is the better buy.
How to Play Forbidden Island
Setup
Arrange 24 island tiles. Flood 6 to start. Deal role cards and starting hands.
On Your Turn
- Take up to 3 actions: move, shore up, give card, capture treasure.
- Draw 2 Treasure cards — Floods Rise cards increase flood rate.
- Flip Flood cards — those tiles flood or sink.
How to Win
Capture all 4 treasures and helicopter off the Fool's Landing tile.
💡 Strategy Tips
Shore up Fool's Landing and key treasure tiles relentlessly. Helicopter lift is for escape, not transport.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Letting key tiles flood without shoring them up; once a flooded tile floods again it sinks permanently, and losing both tiles for an unclaimed treasure loses the game.
- Ignoring Fool's Landing, the helicopter escape tile; if it sinks before everyone escapes, you lose.
- Hoarding treasure cards instead of trading them to the player who can actually claim that treasure.
- Forgetting role powers like the Diver's ability to swim through flooded and missing tiles or the Pilot's flight.
Advanced Strategy
- Prioritize shoring up tiles adjacent to the treasures you still need before chasing the treasures themselves.
- Keep the Helicopter Lift card in reserve for the final escape, and shore up proactively rather than reactively.
- Position players so someone can always reach Fool's Landing; protecting the escape tile is non-negotiable.
- Trade treasure cards early; you need four matching cards in one player's hand, so consolidate before the island shrinks.
Variants & House Rules
Forbidden Desert
The standalone follow-up, harder and widely considered better, where you assemble a flying machine while battling a shifting sandstorm and thirst.
Forbidden Sky
A more complex third entry where players build a circuit and a rocket platform under threat of lightning, with actual electronic components.
Higher difficulty setting
Raise the starting water level on the dial for a tougher game; the box supports adjustable difficulty out of the gate.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
We recommend Forbidden Island as one of the best introductions to cooperative gaming you can buy, and at its price it is almost a no-brainer. It captures the tension of a sinking island in a tight 30 minutes that newcomers grasp immediately. Once you've mastered it, graduate to Forbidden Desert, which we think is the stronger game overall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Forbidden Island good for kids?
Yes. It is rated for ages 10 and up but younger kids can play with help, and the cooperative nature means no one is eliminated.
How is it different from Pandemic?
It uses similar co-op ideas but is simpler, shorter, and cheaper, designed by the same designer as a more accessible entry point.
Can you play Forbidden Island solo?
Yes, by controlling multiple adventurers; it works fine solo, though the social table-talk is part of the appeal.
Should I get Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert?
Get Forbidden Island for the gentlest introduction; choose Forbidden Desert if you want a harder, more strategically interesting game.