mrsparkle

If you are looking at this expansion, then you probably have an understanding of the base game, rules and what it comes with. The expansion adds 4 new factions, some bases and much needed tokens. They added one new card ability called “talent”, an ability that allows you to use it once, per your turn. It’s an optional ability, meaning you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

Quality is still the same; cards are good stock and tokens are good. You could recycle the xpac box and put these new factions into your main box. But the box art and quality are nice enough that i keep them.

The four factions are nicely done, each with their own personalities that doesn’t copy any of the original set’s flavor. Even though this is an expansion, techincally you can play it as a base game (mainly a 2 player scenario). It’s a wonderful add-on to the main Smash Up game.

To Summarize: More of the same; more factions and bases. You get tokens! And for the price point (between $15-$20), it’s a good price of an xpac and it adds more combos.

I like this game a lot. Was first introduced to it, last year. It only took this year’s International Tabletop Game Day to make me pull the trigger and buy the base game and all the expansions. It’s easy to learn, there aren’t a lot of steps involved…so gameplay is smooth. There are some concerns of ‘analysis paralysis’, where someone will get stuck thinking about a move for a long time. That only happens if they have a tricky deck combination *hint, don’t give new people the card drawing/multiple action decks, like wizards or steampunks*

Card stock is good, base game and expansions all have their cards coated. Unless they changed it, the base game doesn’t come with victory tokens (we had to keep track of score on our phones or paper/pencil). The expansions come with tokens and if you like the game overall, you’ll for sure be getting 1 or 2 xpacs. The base box has slots to hold the main game and 2 expansions. Very colorful art and easy to read text.

Replay value seems to be good. I’ve only played this a few times, but with the base game and the current 3 xpacs out, someone calculated over 100+ combinations. And with their popularity, I see more xpacs coming out.

To Summarize: A fun and quick game. Easy to learn. Card quality is good. While it may look like a kids game, it’s more than that. Some strategy is involved. Good for family as well as casual gamers. Plus, who wouldn’t want to combine dinosaur-ninjas…or robot-pirates!

Forbidden Island is a great game. It’s a good introductory boardgame for people not familiar with full cooperation play. There’s some strategy; like where to position your player, how to coordinate with your team, when you use your special abilities. But that won’t be enough for hardcore gamers to sink their teeth into. It is great for young kids, as they love the colorful pieces and the plastic treasure items. It gives them a slight feel like you are really on a sinking island, looking for treasure.

The construction and pieces of the game are nice. The board squares are of thick cardboard material, the player pieces are solid wood, treasure items are durable plastic and the playing cards are coated so they’ll last longer. It comes in a nice tin and all the pieces have their own spot, when putting the game away. Some people were put off by the tin container, but I think it’s a nice touch (in a world of cardboard boxes).

I can see where some people feel it’s more kids-oriented than anything; the rules are simple, it’s fast gameplay, there’s not a lot to do except flip board tiles over and grab treasure. But I think some people forget there’s a difficulty level you can adjust. So if it feels too easy or boring, ratchet the difficulty to ‘legendary’ and see how you do. If you still beat it, then yes…you will want something more complex or harder.

To Summarize: It’s easy to learn, the game pieces are solid and replay depends on if you’ve tried all the different players in the game or/and if you make the difficulty level harder. And for a game under $20, that’s hard to beat.