Greater Than Games | Spirit Island: Base Game | Cooperative Strategy Board Game | 1 to 4 Players | 90+ Minutes | Ages 14+

I’ve owned Spirit Island for seven years and only recently started playing it with others. Until then, it was my main solo game, usually with three spirits at once. I’ve never won against an adversary or a scenario, but I always enjoy the challenge. Components: Beautiful art, solid pieces, and spirit boards that feel alive. The production quality matches the depth of the game. Set up time: Long, especially with expansions and multiple spirits. It takes a while, but the table presence makes it worth it. Ease of teaching: Not simple, but learnable with patience. My roommates were better at keeping track of everything than I am, though they’re used to long D&D campaigns and complex games. What I find great: It’s endlessly replayable. Every spirit, power card, and combination changes the experience. The strategy runs deep and always feels fresh, even after years. What I like less: Bookkeeping can get heavy, especially when managing multiple spirits solo. I often switch to the Steam version for convenience, but I still prefer the physical game when I have the time. If I were stranded on an island or stuck in a zombie apocalypse, this is the one game I’d pack in my bunker.

Pros: 1. Excellent physical product QUALITY. The game boards, cards, pieces, etc, are sturdy and feel quite solid. The craftsmanship that went into this game is at a much higher level than what I anticipated. 2. FUN game. The game has entertained me for hours on end by now. 3. Can be played by a SINGLE PLAYER. No one I know has time or desire to play a board game with me, or anything else really, so having a game that can be played by oneself is quite nice. Cons: 1. COMPLICATED rules. It will take you ~2.5hrs of reading the manual and inspecting all of the game components, to learn how to play. 2. Each game seems far too LONG. Maybe I just need to get better at the game, but It seems to take far too long to reach a conclusion (1hr for 1 player; 2.75hrs for 2 players; 4 hrs for 3 players) Why?? 3. HIGH PRICE may be off-putting to some people. I assure you all, the game is worth the price. Once you hold the silky smooth manual, the hefty boards, and the solid spirit boards, you will understand where the money went in the manufacturing process. Overall: An EXCELLENT albeit COMPLICATED game that may be enjoyed by a single person (or a group) with an interesting premise and a seemingly rare co-op mechanic. Rating: 9/10

Spirit Island has several things in common with other cooperative games with role-specializations. What sets it above and apart for me is the way in which you manage your own player board to increase the power and presence of your spirit. As the game progresses, managing the island becomes more challenging, but your spirits become more effective at handling whatever the settlers throw at you. Each spirit has its own special ability and innate power, in addition to a hand of cards that provide other powers. This will feel familiar if you've played Sentinels of the Multiverse. A key difference is that the heroes of Sentinels draw powers from a personal deck containing multiple copies of several cards. In Spirit Island, every card is unique, and new ones come from decks shared among all players. Cards also provide elements that might activate innate powers in addition to the effect of the card itself. Spirit Island uses a rondel mechanic similar to Concordia or Century: Spice Road, in which played cards are discarded from your hand, but all cards can be retrieved anytime the player chooses (in lieu of other options). Some spirits play best by putting out many cards at once with low energy costs that consistently activate their innate powers. Other spirits take advantage of their boundless energy by quickly cycling through a smaller hand of devastating power cards. Even though the game is fully cooperative, I never get the feeling that the spirits are supposed to like each other. They exist only to protect the island, and will work together toward that end, but managing your own player board and building a unique personal hand of cards creates a sort of thematic aloofness befitting a game about ancient spirits. There's no social deduction or secret individual objectives. Just destroy the cities and help the native inhabitants preserve the status quo of their island. It's complex, challenging, lengthy, and brilliant.

Original and in proper condition.

A (longish) TL;DR: This game is very good. People who are experienced with board games can pick this game up and play fluidly in just a few turns, but it can initially be overwhelming for casual players. The game is quite difficult, especially at first, but everything is tied together very well thematically and is very much less luck based than most cooperative board games; therefore, the (base) game is easier to play and win the more you play, but there are several ways to increase the difficulty once it feels too easy. Everyone playing feels important and all choices matter. Replay value is very high, and nobody I've played it with has had anything negative to say about it. Pros: + Thematically Consistent + Truly 1-4 players (even single player is fun and challenging) + Various difficulty levels and options for gameplay variation offer high replay value + High-Quality pieces with great art + Very hard to take control of other players - everyone feels important and their choices matter POSSIBLE Cons: - Overwhelming at first (many different pieces and gameplay elements) - Can be difficult to teach because of the above point - Seemingly few 'scenarios' and 'adversaries' (but ultimately enough once you understand how they work) - Generally very challenging for new players even with the most simple set-up Neutral Points: ~ Long play time for casual players (30-40 minutes for single player, 60+ minutes with 2 players, and easily 90-120+ minutes with 3 or 4 players, especially if playing with new players) ~ In-box dividers/piece holders are flimsy and bulky, but box includes many resealable plastic bags for pieces ~ Random elements are a small part of the game, but are very predictable, fit with the theme, and don't feel 'luck-based' ~ NOT kid friendly. Don't be fooled by the colourful art - This game is challenging and complex for many adults, and I wouldn't even want to try playing it with anyone younger than a board game savvy 13 year old (I'm thinking of my younger siblings and cousins around that age as examples: some are definitely able to play and some I wouldn't let touch the box) Things to keep in mind when first playing the game: * If you can, learn the game with 2 players first, with the rule book and online FAQ open - learning with a single player will likely result in a quick and brutal loss that won't teach you enough, and learning with more than 2 players will likely result in a jumbled mess which will take far too long. Playing with several people is much easier when at least one person already knows how to play. * USE THE 'EASY' CHARACTERS - Seriously, their rules and powers are much easier to manage, and you can eliminate the deck building portion of the game as you learn the more integral elements * Don't be discouraged by the difficulty of the game. This game is hard to beat at first. Once you learn some strategy through trial and error, victory is much easier (which is why scenarios, adversaries, and blighted island cards are in the game, all of which increase the difficulty and/or complexity)

Jogo veio em perfeito estado. É um jogo muito complexo, com uma dificuldade bem alta. Ele é coop, o que pode ser frustrante quando é tão difícil de ganhar.

The quality of these tokens is unfortunately much lower than expected. I didn't know that such light wood even existed. Even the original tokens feel heavier. The wooden tokens are also smaller than the original, adding to the feeling of a cheap product. I somehow regret that I bought these tokens, but I felt I just had to because I enjoy Spirit Island so much.

Acknowledging that this is not cheap and definitely a luxury add-on, my wife and I play Spirit Island enough that I could justify the purchase. It makes handling the game tokens much nicer and improves the experience. If you are a casual player and Spirit Island doesn’t hit your table too often you can probably skip this but if you play this game regularly, it’s a nice “premium” upgrade.