Forbidden Island

1 Game Overview

Forbidden Island is a fully cooperative game by Matt Leacock (the designer of Pandemic). Players are a team of adventurers on a mythical island that is slowly sinking into the ocean. Your goal: collect four sacred treasures and escape by helicopter before the island disappears beneath you.

Every decision matters — do you shore up a flooding tile to protect a landing zone, or race to collect a treasure before that part of the island sinks? The game is tense, fast, and deeply satisfying to beat as a team.

2 What's in the Box

• 24 island tiles (double-sided: normal/flooded)
• 6 adventurer pawns + cards
• 28 flood cards
• 58 treasure deck cards
• 4 treasure figurines (Earth Stone, Statue of the Wind, Crystal of Fire, Ocean's Chalice)
• 6 special action cards (Sandbag, Helicopter Lift)
• 1 water meter + marker
• 1 treasure deck discard holder

3 Setup

1. Arrange the 24 island tiles in a cross/diamond pattern (4 tiles across the center, expanding out). This is the island.
2. Set the water meter to the chosen difficulty: Novice (1), Normal (2), Elite (3), or Legendary (4).
3. Shuffle the flood cards and draw 6 — flip those island tiles to their flooded (blue) side. These cards go to the flood discard pile. Place the remaining flood deck face-down.
4. Shuffle the treasure deck. Deal 2 cards to each player. Shuffle the 3 special action cards (Helicopter Lift x3, Sandbag x2) into the treasure deck.
5. Each player picks an adventurer card — place their pawn on the named starting tile.

4 Turn Structure

On your turn, do these three phases in order:

1. Take up to 3 actions — any combination of the available actions (see below). You don't have to use all 3.
2. Draw 2 Treasure cards — from the top of the treasure deck. If you draw a Waters Rise! card, immediately raise the water level one notch and reshuffle the flood discard pile on top of the flood deck. Then draw another card to replace it.
3. Draw Flood cards — draw a number of flood cards equal to the current flood rate (shown on the water meter: starts at 2, increases with each Waters Rise!).

When flood cards are drawn: tiles that are normal become flooded (flip them). Tiles that are already flooded sink — remove them from the game permanently.

5 Player Actions

Each turn you get 3 actions total. Actions can be repeated and combined in any order.

• Move: Move your pawn to an adjacent tile (horizontal or vertical, not diagonal). You cannot move to a sunk tile.
• Shore Up: Flip a flooded tile adjacent to you (or your own tile) back to its normal side. If you're the Engineer, you can shore up 2 tiles for 1 action.
• Give a Treasure Card: Give 1 treasure card from your hand to another player on the same tile.
• Capture a Treasure: Discard 4 matching treasure cards while standing on one of the two tiles for that treasure. Take the treasure figurine — that treasure is captured!

Special cards (Helicopter Lift, Sandbag) can be played at any time, even on other players' turns — they don't cost an action.

6 Adventurer Roles

Each adventurer has a unique special ability:

• 🏊 Diver: Can move through one or more flooded/sunk tiles in a straight line for 1 action.
• 🏄 Explorer: Can move and shore up diagonally.
• 🚁 Pilot: Once per turn, can fly to any tile on the island for 1 action.
• 🔧 Engineer: Can shore up 2 tiles for 1 action.
• 📬 Messenger: Can give treasure cards to any player on any tile (no need to be adjacent).
• 🧭 Navigator: Can move other players up to 2 tiles for 1 action.

7 Winning & Losing

Win Condition

1. Collect all 4 treasures (by discarding 4 matching cards on the right tile).
2. Get all players to Fools' Landing (the helicopter pad tile).
3. Play a Helicopter Lift card — you escape and win!

Lose Conditions (any one = game over)

• Both tiles for an uncaptured treasure sink before you collect it.
• Fools' Landing sinks (no way to escape).
• Any player is on a sunk tile with no adjacent tile to swim to.
• The water level reaches the skull-and-crossbones on the meter.