In the short year since Forbidden Island was released, the cooperative family game has been lauded for its excellent gameplay and recognized with several awards, ranging from a Mensa Select recognition to Mtv Geek’s Top Board Game of 2010, but perhaps the greatest praise came when it was announced this week that Forbidden Island had been nominated for one of the highest honors a board game can receive, the Spiel des Jahres. The other games that were nominated are Qwirkle and Asara. Forbidden Island was created by game designer Matt Leacock, who also created another tremendously popular cooperative game, Pandemic, which was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres in 2009.
Forbidden Island is a wonderful cooperative adventure. The game features treasure hunting and harrowing escapes; it is a real favorite among kids and grown ups, alike. Up to four players try to rescue sacred relics before rising water floods the island and makes escape impossible. Each player gets a special ability to help the team, but winning is far from guaranteed. (For a deeper explanation of the game, see Jonathan Liu’s complete review of Forbidden Island.) If you haven’t picked up a copy of Forbidden Island, do so now. You won’t regret it.
We, at GeekDad, would like to say congratulations to Leacock and Forbidden Island‘s US publisher, Gamewright, on the nomination and good luck in Berlin this June, when the winner will be announced.
