Instructions Die verbotene Insel

Objective of the Game

Forbidden Island is a cooperative board game where players work as a team to recover four sacred treasures from a rapidly sinking island and get to the helicopter landing pad safely before the island is completely submerged.

Game Setup

1. Set up the board: Place the 24 island tiles in a 4x4 grid with a surrounding border of two tiles on each side. The tiles depict various locations on the island.
2. Water Level Meter: Set the difficulty level by placing the water level marker on "Novice," "Normal," "Elite," or "Legendary."
3. Assign role cards: Shuffle the role cards and deal one to each player. Each player assumes a role with specific special abilities (e.g., Pilot, Engineer, Explorer, etc.).
4. Draw treasure cards: Each role receives two treasure cards.
5. Flood cards: Draw six flood cards and flip the corresponding island tiles to their blue side (flooded).

How to Play

The game is played in turns. Each player can perform the following actions on their turn:

1. Take up to 3 Actions:
2. Move: Move horizontally or vertically to an adjacent tile.
3. Shore up a tile: Flip a flooded tile back to its non-flooded side.
4. Give a treasure card: Hand a treasure card to a fellow player who shares your tile.
5. Capture a treasure: Collect four identical treasure cards and claim a treasure at its respective location.

6. Special action (depending on role): Utilize your role's unique ability.

7. Draw Treasure Cards:

8. Draw two treasure cards. If you draw a "Waters Rise" card, the water level increases, and the flood discard pile is shuffled.

9. Flood the Island:

10. Draw a number of flood cards corresponding to the current water level. Flooded tiles are removed if they are already flooded when drawn again.

Winning and Losing Conditions

• Win: All four treasures must be collected and all players must reach the Fool’s Landing tile, then call for a helicopter to escape together.
• Lose:
• If Fool’s Landing sinks before the team escapes, the players lose.
• If a treasure location sinks before retrieving the treasure.
• If any player cannot move to a non-flooded tile and becomes stranded.
• If the water level reaches the skull and crossbones symbol.

Special Strategies

• Cooperation: Since the game is cooperative, communication and teamwork are crucial for success.
• Utilize Role Strengths: Each role has unique skills, strategically use them to maximize efficiency.
• Prioritize: Identify essential tiles that must not sink and focus on these first.

The game promises enjoyment with tense team dynamics, and the challenging strategic decision-making of "Forbidden Island" offers depth for players of all experience levels.