Is Forbidden Island good for kids? Age and difficulty

How do you set up Forbidden Island?

Checked against the Forbidden Island English rules from Gamewright, copyright 2010. Page numbers count the cover as page 1, so the rules start on page 2.

1. Shuffle the 24 island tiles and lay them face up, normal side up, in a grid. First make a 4 by 4 square in the middle. Then put 2 tiles next to each of the 2 middle tiles on every side of the square. Leave a small gap between tiles (page 2).
2. Put the 4 treasure figurines around the island. Each treasure can be claimed on one of two tiles, shown by a symbol in the bottom left corner of the tile. Find those 8 tiles now (page 2).
3. Split the cards into three decks by their backs: the Flood deck (blue), the Treasure deck (red) and the 6 Adventurer cards (page 3).
4. Shuffle the Flood deck and put it face down beside the island. Draw the top 6 cards one at a time into a face-up Flood discard pile. For each card, flip the matching island tile to its flooded side (page 3).
5. Shuffle the 6 Adventurer cards and deal 1 to each player. Everyone reads their role and power aloud (page 3).
6. Each player takes the pawn that matches their Adventurer card and puts it on the matching tile. Put extra Adventurer cards and pawns back in the box. Starting on a flooded tile is fine (page 3).
7. Shuffle the Treasure deck and deal 2 cards face up to each player. If anyone gets a Waters Rise!, give them a replacement and shuffle the Waters Rise! back into the deck. Put the deck face down by the island and leave room for a discard pile (page 3).
8. Put the Water Level marker on the left side of the Water Meter, at the difficulty you want. For a first cooperative game, use the Novice level (page 3).
9. The player who last visited an island goes first, and play goes to the left (page 4).

How do you teach Forbidden Island to kids?

The box says 10 and up. We suggest 9 and up with an adult helping, and 10 and up on their own. It is a cooperative game: everyone wins or loses together, and you are allowed and encouraged to give each other advice (page 4).

Say this

1. We are a team on a sinking island. We need to capture four treasures and escape by helicopter before the island sinks.
2. On your turn you get up to 3 actions: move, shore up a flooded tile, give a treasure card to a player on your tile, or capture a treasure with 4 matching cards.
3. Then draw 2 treasure cards. If one is Waters Rise!, the water goes up and old flooded tiles are more likely to sink.
4. Then the island sinks a little. Draw as many flood cards as the water level says. A normal tile floods. A flooded tile sinks and is gone.
5. You each have a special power. Read yours aloud so the team knows what you can do.
6. To win, capture all four treasures, get everyone to Fools' Landing, and have someone discard a Helicopter Lift card.

The rulebook says to start a first cooperative game at the Novice water level (page 3) and to try harder levels once you win (page 8). It has no other beginner variant, so the rest below are house rules.

First-game simplifications

• Official variant Start the Water Level marker at the Novice level. The rulebook suggests this for a first cooperative game (page 3).
• House rule Let a grown-up remind each kid of their special power at the start of every turn, in the first game.
• House rule Let a grown-up do the Flood step each turn, so kids see which tiles flood and which sink.

Watch-outs for kids ages 9 to 10

• Every turn has three parts, in order: up to 3 actions, draw 2 treasure cards, then draw flood cards. The flood part happens every turn, even if you took no actions (page 4).
• A Waters Rise! card is not added to your hand. You raise the water, shuffle the flood discard pile onto the flood draw pile, and discard the card. You do not get a replacement (page 6).
• Your hand limit is 5 cards, including Special Action cards. A discarded Special Action card can still be used first (page 7).
• Special Action cards can be played any time, even on someone else's turn, and cost no action. You cannot give them with the Give action (pages 5 and 6).
• To capture a treasure you need 4 matching cards, and your pawn must be on one of that treasure's two tiles. You may capture on a flooded tile (page 5).
• A tile that is already flooded sinks when its flood card comes up. A pawn on it swims to an adjacent tile. If there is none, everyone loses (page 7).

Back for another game?

• Each turn, in order: take up to 3 actions, draw 2 treasure cards, then draw flood cards equal to the water level (page 4).
• Actions: move to an adjacent tile (not diagonally, not onto a missing tile), shore up an adjacent tile or your own, give a treasure card to a player on your tile (1 action each), or capture a treasure by discarding 4 matching cards on one of its tiles (pages 4 and 5).
• Treasure cards: Waters Rise! is not kept. Move the water up, shuffle the flood discard pile onto the flood draw pile, and discard the card. Helicopter Lift and Sandbags can be played any time for free (page 6).
• Hand limit is 5 cards. The treasure deck is reshuffled from its discard pile when the last card is drawn (page 7).
• Flood cards: a normal tile flips to flooded. A flooded tile sinks and leaves the game, along with its flood card (page 7).
• Winning: capture all four treasures, move every pawn to Fools' Landing, then discard a Helicopter Lift (page 8).
• Losing: both tiles for a treasure sink before you capture it, Fools' Landing sinks, a player cannot swim from a sinking tile, or the water level reaches the skull and crossbones (page 8).

How do you keep track in Forbidden Island?

Count the treasures your team has captured. The water meter is printed on the board, so use that to track the water level. Read how many Flood cards to draw from the number on the meter (pages 6 and 7). When all four treasures are captured, everyone moves to Fools' Landing and one player discards a Helicopter Lift to win (page 8).