Forbidden Island Button Mash Games Inc. "Forbidden Island is honestly one of the best apps I have ever played on iOS." -- BoardGameGeek.com "Beautiful graphics… $4.99 Buy Now Watch Media Details"Forbidden Island is honestly one of the best apps I have ever played on iOS." -- BoardGameGeek.com "Beautiful graphics reproduce the look and feel of the original game." -- Wired.com: GeekDad "Two thumbs up! I highly recommend it!" -- The Dice Tower ** Awards ** BoardGameGeek iOS Board Game Awards 2011: iOS Board Game of the Year - Nominee Best Children's Game App - Winner Best Family Game App - Nominee Best Interface and Graphic Design 2011 - Nominee Best Local Multiplayer or Pass and Play Multiplayer - Nominee The Dice Tower: Best Digital Boardgame 2011 - Nominee **** Forbidden Island is a cooperative game of strategy and courage as you and up to three other adventurers attempt to capture the four ancient treasures hidden on a sinking island. It's a thrilling adventure based on the best-selling Gamewright board game. Forbidden Island was the secluded retreat of an ancient mystical empire known as the Archeans. Legend has it that the Archeans possessed the ability to control the Earth's elements - fire, wind, water, and earth - through four sacred treasures: The Crystal of Fire, The Statue of the Wind, The Ocean's Chalice, and The Earth Stone. Because of their potential to cause catastrophic damage if they fell into enemy hands, the Archeans kept the treasures secretly hidden on Forbidden Island and designed it to sink if intruders ever attempted to claim them. In the centuries since the mysterious collapse of their empire, Forbidden Island remained undiscovered ... until now. Will your team be the first to breach its borders, capture the treasures, and make it out alive? Awarded as Mensa Select in 2010 and nominated for the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award in 2011, Forbidden Island is a fantastic game that's fun and engaging for all who play. **** Features: ∙ Co-operative gameplay - everyone wins/loses together ∙ Pass-and-play multiplayer for 2-4 players ∙ Single player gameplay (by controlling multiple Adventurers yourself) ∙ Game Center Achievements ∙ Side-by-side or Around-the-Table board layouts ∙ Beautiful artwork ∙ Interactive tutorial and in-depth rulebook ∙ Context aware in-game hints ∙ Includes two different island shapes, providing different gameplay challenges ∙ A single in-app purchase for 10 more island shapes Tested and compatible with iOS 11. Information Seller:Button Mash Games Inc. Genre:Board, Strategy Release:Nov 09, 2011 Updated:Nov 30, 2020 Version:3.25 Size:133.2 MB TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating: (5) Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal BazookaTime Well-Known Member Sep 30, 2009 5,340 1 36 Kansas http://www.paulmcraelind.com #2 BazookaTime, Nov 16, 2011 Looks interesting, might buy. tecwrtr Well-Known Member Aug 18, 2010 586 0 16 Senior Technical Writer Richmond, VA #3 tecwrtr, Nov 16, 2011 We have the board game. We played it once or twice, but never went back to it. It was a bit like Pandemic, and that was just a better (and deeper) game. BazookaTime Well-Known Member Sep 30, 2009 5,340 1 36 Kansas http://www.paulmcraelind.com #4 BazookaTime, Nov 16, 2011 So not that much fun? skyperion Active Member Aug 30, 2009 26 0 0 #5 skyperion, Nov 16, 2011 Looks interesting. I haven't played the boardgame version From what I have read this is a co-op game. I am not sure if this iPad version has any sort of online multiplayer element or ai for the solo version. Can anyone confirm? Many thanks WakeOfPoseidon Well-Known Member Jan 26, 2011 102 0 0 Engineer #6 WakeOfPoseidon, Nov 16, 2011 I picked this game up a few days ago - it's been on the app store for nearly a week now and have been surprised by the lack of press. I've played the physical version of this game many times - the game itself plays a bit like a slightly more simplified and lighter version of the Pandemic board game. It's a cooperative game for 2 to 4 people where you, well, cooperate and assist other players trying to make the most efficient moves/plays to get to the "win" condition before a "fail" condition causes the entire team to loose the game. The basic goal is to work together to claim the four treasures on the island (represented by tiles) before it sinks or loose a member of your expedition. We play it often during my family board game nights (my 7 year old loves it) and it's good to pull out when you want something light and stresses teamwork over competitiveness. If you've played the Ghost Stories or Elder Signs: Omens apps, you know what style of cooperative game to expect, except Forbidden Island is much lighter fare (and easier to win). Now as for the app itself - it's pretty much what I expected it to be. Here's some observations: 1. The art from the physical game (which I think is nice, but obviously is subjective) has been accurately represented. 2. Like the physical game, it supports 2 to 4 players. Like in other cooperative style board games on the app store (e.g. Ghost Stories, Elder Signs: Omens), there is no AI for the other players (as it's not really necessary for this style of game) - if you are playing solo, you just take on the roles for the multiple players. 3. There is Game Center support for achievements, but no online multiplayer (at least not at this time) 4. The UI is nice and after the two or so games I've played, I've seen no issues with it. Easy to access the rulebook at any time. 5. Has a "tabletop" mode and a "pass & play" mode which can be switched on the fly, which is nice. So, in short, the app seems to accurately represent the physical game very well. Only thing I can really gripe about is the lack of online multiplayer, but the counter argument is that cooperative style games really need to be played in person (or with voice chat) in order to properly coordinate moves. If you enjoyed other coop games on the app store like Ghost Stories or Elder Signs, and are looking for something a little lighter or are a fan of the original physical game, check it out. sizzlakalonji Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze Apr 16, 2009 5,706 1 0 Indiana, USA #7 sizzlakalonji, Nov 16, 2011 I just found out about this today from a post on BGG in the iOS forum. Very cool. I've played the tutorial and one game (where I lost pretty badly). It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Highly polished. Baracus Well-Known Member Jun 19, 2009 1,023 0 36 UK http://www.hatenintendo.co.uk #8 Baracus, Nov 16, 2011 Last edited: Nov 16, 2011 Never heard of the physical board game before but I was attracted by the nice theme and good looking graphics. Played a couple of solo games so far and have really enjoyed it. Easy to pick up the rules and understand what you need to do... now I just gotta win a game! I'll try and get the girlfriend to play a character and see how we get on Very nicely made app - great interface and beautiful artwork. What a nice surprise to find!! EDIT: Played 2 games with the missus now (about 20 mins each). Really great fun! We won our 2nd game through cunning team work It actually got to a point where we couldn't really lose because we were each covering our exit path and not worrying about the rest of the island, so unless we were to pull 3 waters rise cards before managing to get the final treasure set, it felt like there was not much to do except keep fixing the flooded tiles we needed and ending turn. I guess this 'could' change on the harder difficulties, but not sure how that is implemented because the rules seem to suggest that there are the same ratio of cards in the pack. Does the AI forcefully put more waters rise cards in the draw pile? Any ideas? Not sure how difficulty can be made harder when it's just the luck of the shuffle!! Either way, a nice little game with good options especially in mid-game. WakeOfPoseidon Well-Known Member Jan 26, 2011 102 0 0 Engineer #9 WakeOfPoseidon, Nov 16, 2011 The difficulty of the game is determined by where the tick mark starts on the "Waters Rise" gauge - so on the higher difficulties you have much less "head room" before the water rises to cover the whole island (gets to the last tick mark). On Expert you've really got to move and coordinate fast - it's much easier to get shafted by an unlucky draw. Baracus Well-Known Member Jun 19, 2009 1,023 0 36 UK http://www.hatenintendo.co.uk #10 Baracus, Nov 16, 2011 Ah right that makes sense - thanks for the insight! bgribin Well-Known Member Mar 7, 2009 355 0 0 Seattle, WA #11 bgribin, Nov 17, 2011 Great board game - my wife and I are fans. I just spotted this on App Shopper and think I'll have to grab it. ButtonMashGames Member Nov 18, 2011 12 0 0 http://www.forbiddenislandapp.com #12 ButtonMashGames, Nov 18, 2011 Thanks for the detailed breakdown of the game WakeOfPoseidon. We hope you enjoy the game! As you alluded to, we didn't implement online multiplayer because the expectations for communication are much higher for cooperative games. Keeping a constant voice connection with all players would really hurt battery life, so we decided instead to create the best multiplayer using one iPad that we could. ButtonMashGames Member Nov 18, 2011 12 0 0 http://www.forbiddenislandapp.com #13 ButtonMashGames, Nov 18, 2011 Thanks Baracus! It's really great to hear positive feedback on the game. We really poured our hearts into it. aceyprime Well-Known Member Apr 23, 2010 293 0 0 #14 aceyprime, Nov 18, 2011 I'd been considering getting the board game for a while so when I saw this was released I had to get it. Played a few games solo and this looks like it will be fun to play both solo and with others. Well-done interface, easy to follow what's happening in the game and whose turn it is. The tutorial was great to learn the game initially. Overall a wonderful implementation of a fun cooperative game. Great work ButtonMashGames! Any other games planned for the future? Minor achievement issues: Following the one game I won, I was awarded the achievement for not trading treasure cards among players but I DID trade treasures during the game. Also, I believe I was awarded the achievement for using one of the character skills during the tutorial (the first one demonstrated - can't remember which one that is). ojtitus Well-Known Member Jul 7, 2010 3,228 5 38 Male Canton, Ohio #15 ojtitus, Nov 18, 2011 I'm a sucker for board games, so I decided to buy this one. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but it looks like a lot of fun. WakeOfPoseidon Well-Known Member Jan 26, 2011 102 0 0 Engineer #16 WakeOfPoseidon, Nov 18, 2011 Good to see the developer checking on on what's being said about their app As I stated in my observations, it's a very solid reproduction of the physical board game. I know that online multiplayer doesn't make a lot of sense due to the nature of the game, but maybe some sort of simple leaderboard (games won on each difficulty for instance) since game center has already been implemented in the game. Also, since they did a nice job on this one, I'm curious if the dev has any other board game conversion projects in the wings? ButtonMashGames Member Nov 18, 2011 12 0 0 http://www.forbiddenislandapp.com #17 ButtonMashGames, Nov 19, 2011 Hi aceyprime. We recently found the achievement bugs that you mentioned and we'll have them fixed in an update soon. Thanks for the feedback! ButtonMashGames Member Nov 18, 2011 12 0 0 http://www.forbiddenislandapp.com #18 ButtonMashGames, Nov 19, 2011 Digital board games are our passion so we definitely plan to make more. We don't have another game in development at the moment, though. Stejay New Member Jan 1, 2011 4 0 0 #19 Stejay, Nov 20, 2011 I just love how games like this appear from seemingly nowhere on the app store. I'd still rather play the actual table-top version, as I would with most iOS board game ports, but this is still an amazing interpretation of a great family game. With this in the bag, perhaps the developers could start work on Pandemic next! LordGek Well-Known Member Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze Feb 19, 2009 12,282 141 63 Software QA Engineer Saratoga, CA, USA #20 LordGek, Nov 27, 2011 @BMG Any chance you could implement a scoring system with a local leaderboard (perhaps a leaderboard for each variant difficulty/number of players)? Or even simpler, something tracking the local win/loss record for each variant? (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Password: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
We have the board game. We played it once or twice, but never went back to it. It was a bit like Pandemic, and that was just a better (and deeper) game.
Looks interesting. I haven't played the boardgame version From what I have read this is a co-op game. I am not sure if this iPad version has any sort of online multiplayer element or ai for the solo version. Can anyone confirm? Many thanks
I picked this game up a few days ago - it's been on the app store for nearly a week now and have been surprised by the lack of press. I've played the physical version of this game many times - the game itself plays a bit like a slightly more simplified and lighter version of the Pandemic board game. It's a cooperative game for 2 to 4 people where you, well, cooperate and assist other players trying to make the most efficient moves/plays to get to the "win" condition before a "fail" condition causes the entire team to loose the game. The basic goal is to work together to claim the four treasures on the island (represented by tiles) before it sinks or loose a member of your expedition. We play it often during my family board game nights (my 7 year old loves it) and it's good to pull out when you want something light and stresses teamwork over competitiveness. If you've played the Ghost Stories or Elder Signs: Omens apps, you know what style of cooperative game to expect, except Forbidden Island is much lighter fare (and easier to win). Now as for the app itself - it's pretty much what I expected it to be. Here's some observations: 1. The art from the physical game (which I think is nice, but obviously is subjective) has been accurately represented. 2. Like the physical game, it supports 2 to 4 players. Like in other cooperative style board games on the app store (e.g. Ghost Stories, Elder Signs: Omens), there is no AI for the other players (as it's not really necessary for this style of game) - if you are playing solo, you just take on the roles for the multiple players. 3. There is Game Center support for achievements, but no online multiplayer (at least not at this time) 4. The UI is nice and after the two or so games I've played, I've seen no issues with it. Easy to access the rulebook at any time. 5. Has a "tabletop" mode and a "pass & play" mode which can be switched on the fly, which is nice. So, in short, the app seems to accurately represent the physical game very well. Only thing I can really gripe about is the lack of online multiplayer, but the counter argument is that cooperative style games really need to be played in person (or with voice chat) in order to properly coordinate moves. If you enjoyed other coop games on the app store like Ghost Stories or Elder Signs, and are looking for something a little lighter or are a fan of the original physical game, check it out.
I just found out about this today from a post on BGG in the iOS forum. Very cool. I've played the tutorial and one game (where I lost pretty badly). It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Highly polished.
Never heard of the physical board game before but I was attracted by the nice theme and good looking graphics. Played a couple of solo games so far and have really enjoyed it. Easy to pick up the rules and understand what you need to do... now I just gotta win a game! I'll try and get the girlfriend to play a character and see how we get on Very nicely made app - great interface and beautiful artwork. What a nice surprise to find!! EDIT: Played 2 games with the missus now (about 20 mins each). Really great fun! We won our 2nd game through cunning team work It actually got to a point where we couldn't really lose because we were each covering our exit path and not worrying about the rest of the island, so unless we were to pull 3 waters rise cards before managing to get the final treasure set, it felt like there was not much to do except keep fixing the flooded tiles we needed and ending turn. I guess this 'could' change on the harder difficulties, but not sure how that is implemented because the rules seem to suggest that there are the same ratio of cards in the pack. Does the AI forcefully put more waters rise cards in the draw pile? Any ideas? Not sure how difficulty can be made harder when it's just the luck of the shuffle!! Either way, a nice little game with good options especially in mid-game.
The difficulty of the game is determined by where the tick mark starts on the "Waters Rise" gauge - so on the higher difficulties you have much less "head room" before the water rises to cover the whole island (gets to the last tick mark). On Expert you've really got to move and coordinate fast - it's much easier to get shafted by an unlucky draw.
Great board game - my wife and I are fans. I just spotted this on App Shopper and think I'll have to grab it.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown of the game WakeOfPoseidon. We hope you enjoy the game! As you alluded to, we didn't implement online multiplayer because the expectations for communication are much higher for cooperative games. Keeping a constant voice connection with all players would really hurt battery life, so we decided instead to create the best multiplayer using one iPad that we could.
Thanks Baracus! It's really great to hear positive feedback on the game. We really poured our hearts into it.
I'd been considering getting the board game for a while so when I saw this was released I had to get it. Played a few games solo and this looks like it will be fun to play both solo and with others. Well-done interface, easy to follow what's happening in the game and whose turn it is. The tutorial was great to learn the game initially. Overall a wonderful implementation of a fun cooperative game. Great work ButtonMashGames! Any other games planned for the future? Minor achievement issues: Following the one game I won, I was awarded the achievement for not trading treasure cards among players but I DID trade treasures during the game. Also, I believe I was awarded the achievement for using one of the character skills during the tutorial (the first one demonstrated - can't remember which one that is).
I'm a sucker for board games, so I decided to buy this one. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but it looks like a lot of fun.
Good to see the developer checking on on what's being said about their app As I stated in my observations, it's a very solid reproduction of the physical board game. I know that online multiplayer doesn't make a lot of sense due to the nature of the game, but maybe some sort of simple leaderboard (games won on each difficulty for instance) since game center has already been implemented in the game. Also, since they did a nice job on this one, I'm curious if the dev has any other board game conversion projects in the wings?
Hi aceyprime. We recently found the achievement bugs that you mentioned and we'll have them fixed in an update soon. Thanks for the feedback!
Digital board games are our passion so we definitely plan to make more. We don't have another game in development at the moment, though.
I just love how games like this appear from seemingly nowhere on the app store. I'd still rather play the actual table-top version, as I would with most iOS board game ports, but this is still an amazing interpretation of a great family game. With this in the bag, perhaps the developers could start work on Pandemic next!
@BMG Any chance you could implement a scoring system with a local leaderboard (perhaps a leaderboard for each variant difficulty/number of players)? Or even simpler, something tracking the local win/loss record for each variant?
