I recently played the board game Forbidden Island with my nephews and was pleasantly surprised. It is a surprisingly simple game to learn that packs some good strategy into a fun 1/2 hour.

First, let me say that it at first appears to be a dumbed-down version Pandemic as the asymmetric player roles must work together to stop a spreading menace – this time it is that the island is flooding and eventually sinking. You must capture four hidden treasure and fly to safety before the island is gone,

Yes, we played it wrong the first couple times – that seems to be the way with us…. jump in once we have a cursory understanding of the rules… read more thoroughly once we understand what we doing (sort of)… then discover we are doing something wrong and adjust.

I loved the fact that they used Pandemic mechanics in a unique setting. I love the fact that the game plays quick. This makes it a great filler game when you are waiting for a group to finish their game. I love the fact that the components are nice – not cheap at all. I love the fact that it is a reasonably priced game. I think I will be adding this to my library just because it is easy to learn, different every time you play, and a great social game that doesn’t have you at each others throats.

by Chris Doelle