Overview

Forbidden Island is a cooperative adventure game where 2-4 players work together as a team of adventurers to capture four sacred treasures from a sinking island. Players must collect sets of Treasure cards, claim the treasures, and escape by helicopter from Fools’ Landing before the island sinks beneath the waves. If the island floods too quickly or key tiles sink, all players lose.

Components

• 24 double-sided Island tiles
• 58 cards:
  • 28 Treasure cards (5 each of 4 treasures, 3 Waters Rise!, 3 Helicopter Lift, 2 Sandbags)
  • 24 Flood cards (1 per Island tile)
  • 6 Adventurer cards
• 6 wooden pawns
• 4 treasure figurines (Earth Stone, Statue of the Wind, Crystal of Fire, Ocean’s Chalice)
• 1 Water Meter and 1 Water Level marker

Setup

1. Create the Island: Shuffle 24 tiles and lay them face-up in a diamond pattern: 2-4-6-6-4-2 rows (cross shape). Leave small gaps between tiles.
2. Place Treasures: Set 4 treasure figurines around the island.
3. Divide Cards: Separate into Flood deck (blue), Treasure deck (red), and Adventurer cards.
4. The Island Starts to Sink: Shuffle Flood deck. Draw 6 cards, flipping the corresponding tiles to their flooded (blue/white) side. Place drawn cards face-up as the Flood discard pile.
5. Assign Adventurers: Shuffle and deal 1 Adventurer card per player. Place matching pawns on their starting tiles. Each adventurer has a unique special power.
6. Deal Treasure Cards: Deal 2 Treasure cards to each player (face-up). If anyone gets Waters Rise!, replace it and reshuffle.
7. Set Water Level: Place the Water Level marker on the desired difficulty (Novice, Normal, Elite, or Legendary).

Turn Structure

On each turn (clockwise, starting with the player who last visited an island):

1. Take Up to 3 Actions

Choose from:

• Move: Move to an adjacent tile (up/down/left/right, not diagonal). Cannot move onto missing tiles.
• Shore Up: Flip an adjacent or current flooded tile back to its unflooded side. Costs 1 action per tile.
• Give a Treasure Card: Give 1 Treasure card to a player on the same tile. Costs 1 action per card. Cannot give Special Action cards.
• Capture a Treasure: Discard 4 matching Treasure cards while on a corresponding tile to claim that treasure figurine. Costs 1 action.

2. Draw 2 Treasure Cards

Draw 2 cards from the Treasure deck. If you draw a Waters Rise! card:

• Immediately increase the Water Level by 1 mark.
• Shuffle the Flood discard pile and place it ON TOP of the Flood draw pile.
• Discard the Waters Rise! card.

Hand Limit: Maximum 5 Treasure cards. If over the limit after drawing, immediately discard down to 5.

3. Draw Flood Cards

Draw Flood cards equal to the current Water Level (2-5 cards):

• If the tile is unflooded: flip it to its flooded side.
• If the tile is already flooded: the tile sinks permanently (remove both the tile and its Flood card from the game). Any pawns on a sinking tile must swim to an adjacent tile.

Actions

Adventurer Special Powers

Adventurer	Power
Explorer	May move and shore up diagonally
Pilot	May move to any tile once per turn for 1 action
Navigator	May move other players up to 2 tiles per action
Diver	May move through 1+ missing/flooded tiles for 1 action
Engineer	May shore up 2 tiles for 1 action
Messenger	May give Treasure cards without being on the same tile

Special Action Cards

• Helicopter Lift: Move any 1+ players on the same tile to any other tile. Can be played at any time (not an action). Also used to escape the island at the end.
• Sandbags: Shore up any 1 tile anywhere on the island. Can be played at any time (not an action).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Win Condition: All four conditions must be met:

1. All 4 treasures have been captured.
2. All players are on Fools’ Landing.
3. A player plays a Helicopter Lift card to escape.

Lose Conditions (any one triggers defeat):

• Both tiles for an uncaptured treasure sink.
• Fools’ Landing sinks.
• Any player is on a sinking tile with no adjacent tile to swim to.
• The Water Level reaches the skull and crossbones.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Swimming: When a tile sinks, all pawns on it must immediately swim to an adjacent tile. If no adjacent tile exists, all players lose.
• Waters Rise! at Start: If dealt during setup, replace and reshuffle.
• Flood Discard Reshuffling: When Waters Rise! triggers, the discard pile goes on TOP of the draw pile, meaning recently flooded tiles are most likely to flood again.
• Capturing on Flooded Tile: You may capture a treasure even if you’re on a flooded tile.
• Treasure Tiles: Each treasure can be captured on 1 of 2 specific tiles. Both are marked with the treasure’s symbol.
• Hand Limit: The 5-card limit is checked after drawing. You must discard immediately if over.

Player Reference

Turn Sequence

1. Take up to 3 actions (Move, Shore Up, Give Card, Capture Treasure)
2. Draw 2 Treasure cards (resolve Waters Rise! immediately)
3. Draw Flood cards = Water Level

Water Level Track

| Level | Flood Cards Drawn | |——-|——————| | 1-2 | 2 | | 3-5 | 3 | | 6-7 | 4 | | 8-9 | 5 | | Skull | GAME OVER |

Treasure Capture Requirement

• 4 matching Treasure cards + be on corresponding tile = 1 action to capture