Forbidden Island is a collaborative game in which players must collect all of the lost artifacts and escape the island before it floods by using their abilities and teamwork.
Was it fun?
No, not for me. I can understand how some people would find it fun, but the lack of competitive gameplay and the lower stake gameplay made it less engaging for me.
- What were the player interactions?
- In a collaborative aspect yes, we would each use each other’s abilities to move forwards and progress within the game.
- How long did it take to learn?
- About 10 minutes, it was decently easy, however we had missing cards so we had to relearn the rules to include the cards after we printed some out.
- What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
- Nothing was frustrating, except missing cards that were crucial to gameplay. We were missing the cards that connect with the abilities of our game pieces, so we had to make more.
- What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
- The idea of the game was fun, and using one of our teammates’ abilities, the pilot, who can move anyone, allowed us to play the game quickly and survive.
- Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
- I would have enjoyed it if the game was competitive which would add a mechanic of stealing the treasures from other players. I would also want to un-flood certain sections of the map, however that may have been a gameplay mechanic that we missed.
- If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
- I would add an option for competitive play, which is a stealing or sabotage mechanic to make the game more competitive.
- Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
- No, but that is because I am not a huge fan of collaborative games, with tabletop games. I can understand how some people would find this game engaging, however it was not for my personal taste.
- Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
- Act 1: This was learning the rules, still the quickest section however there was a roadblock due to the missing the cards. Act 2: The middle lasted the longest since its the actual gameplay, where we would move across islands and grab cards in order to get the artifacts and best the game, this section took about an hour. Act 3: The end was easy, as we used certain classes’ abilities in order to skip sections and get to the end quicker, which is where we got on the helicopter and left.
- What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
- Collaborative aspects were the fact we could trade and share cards in order to collect the artifacts, and each character’s ability works together. There were no competitive aspects within the game, except the fact we had different abilities as players, but that’s about it.
- What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?
- The metaphor was an island obtaining artifacts. It was done really well, every epic had a mysterious vibe to it, or made to look like a treasure map. It looked really good and the theming was done well, as it was prevalent through the whole game. The cool mechanics were the moving and flooding based on locations and character abilities, and the water rise level was cool.