Forbidden Island is a cooperative game in strategy genre. You and up to three other adventurers are attempting to capture the four ancient artifacts which are hidden on island. It’s an exciting adventure which is based on the best-selling board game.
It was developed by Button Mash Games; it is a small software development company which target is to design games for mobile devices. It has received great critical feedback from Board Game Geek and other review resources and it has a 5-star average rating on the App Store!
Gameplay
Forbidden Island was the shelter of an ancient mystical empire known as the Archeans. Legend says that the Archeans had the ability to control the Earth’s elements – fire, wind, water, and earth through four sacred artifacts – The Crystal of Fire, The Statue of the Wind, The Ocean’s Chalice and The Earth Stone. The Archeans keep the treasures hidden on Forbidden Island and made them to sink if intruders ever attempted to claim them. The average playing time is about from 20 to 30 minutes.
Turn Variants
Each turn you can take three actions:
- Move,
- Support tiles that are flooded,
- Give a card to another player,
- Capture a treasure if you have four matching cards and they are on the correct tile.
The stakes get higher in the game process. Island is falling into the ocean and if you and your friends can get all four artifacts and escape you will win. If not enjoy the hospitality of Davy Jones’s prison!
Victory conditions
All you need to do is collect artifacts and prevent the island from sinking into the ocean and escape from the island and you will win!
Solo play
As for the solitaire mode it is important to say, that you should take control over all of the characters and take actions separately for each of them. Some of the players say, that single player is much better for this game than a coop mode because they like to control the game process by themselves, though co-operative works real well!
AI and multiplayer
AI in this game is totally okay, though there is a lack of multiplayer which is compensated by the cooperative mode with your friends. But there is one problem – it is difficult to coordinate the actions between the players and this game should have something like voice radio or chat.
Android version
Unfortunately, this app is available only for iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod). But don’t be sad because it’s not so expensive and you can buy and download it on itunes easily!
YouTube
Conclusion
This game a +10 age rating, but it doesn’t mean that this game can’t fit to younger people. It has all the features for comfortable gameplay – good co-operative mode (1-4 players), perfect solitaire mode (controlling all the Adventurers) and user friendly interface! Also, the rules are perfectly explained in the manual. What else is needed for a good game for a mobile device?
This is one of the best translations from board setting to screens we’ve ever seen! This is a certainly must-have! You can buy and download it on iTunes here. It’s time for you to escape the Forbidden Island!