# Forbidden Island — A Guide by Balam

*Greetings, mortals. I am Balam. Jaguar god. Keeper of the night sky, the crossroads, and what lives between them. I have walked eternity, yes, pero your little planet… it is fascinating to me. Especially these — how do you call them — "juegos." Your games. I have studied many. This one, Forbidden Island, it speaks to me in a language I recognize: the language of the world consuming itself.*

*Come. I will teach you. Pay attention — the island does not wait.*

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## What Is This Game?

Forbidden Island is a cooperative adventure for up to four players. You do not compete against each other. No, no — you compete against the island itself, which is slowly, inevitably, sinking into the sea.

Together you must:
1. **Collect all four ancient treasures** hidden across the island
2. **Gather at Fools' Landing** — the one helicopter pad — with all treasures in hand
3. **Escape by helicopter** before the waters close over everything

Everyone wins together, or everyone loses together. There is no in-between. *Como en la vida real,* yes?

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## The Island

The island is made of **24 tiles** arranged in a diamond shape — a beautiful thing, like a jade mosaic. Each tile is a named location: temples, caves, gardens, palaces. At the start of the game, six tiles are already flooded. *El agua ya viene.* The water already comes.

Each tile can be in one of three states:

| State | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| **Dry** | Safe to walk on, normal |
| **Flooded** | Water is rising — shore it up or it sinks |
| **Sunk** | Gone. Beneath the waves. Do not go there. |

When a flooded tile is flooded again — it sinks. A sunk tile is removed from the game. *For ever.*

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## The Four Treasures

Hidden on this island are four sacred relics. Each treasure can be found at **one of two special tiles**. You must stand on one of those tiles and discard four matching treasure cards from your hand to claim it.

| Treasure | Tiles Where It Is Found |
|----------|-------------------------|
| The Earth Stone | Temple of the Moon, Temple of the Sun |
| The Statue of the Wind | Whispering Garden, Howling Garden |
| The Crystal of Fire | Cave of Embers, Cave of Shadows |
| The Ocean's Chalice | Coral Palace, Tidal Palace |

*Mira* — if BOTH tiles for an unclaimed treasure sink before you capture it, the treasure is lost forever. And so are you. *Game over, mis amigos.*

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## The Adventurers

Each player commands one of five adventurers, each with a unique power. These are not ordinary people, comprende? They are specialists. *Como yo.*

| Role | Color | Special Power |
|------|-------|---------------|
| **Pilot** | Blue | Once per turn: fly to ANY tile on the island for one action |
| **Engineer** | Red | Shore up TWO flooded tiles for the cost of ONE action |
| **Navigator** | Gold | Move another adventurer up to two tiles per action |
| **Diver** | Black | Swim through flooded AND sunk tiles to reach dry land |
| **Explorer** | Green | Move and shore up diagonally, not just the four cardinal directions |

Choose your team carefully. The island does not care how strong you are — only how smart.

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## On Your Turn

Each adventurer takes a turn with **three phases**:

### Phase 1 — Take 3 Actions

You have exactly **three actions** to spend. Each of the following costs one action:

- **Move** — step to any adjacent tile (up, down, left, right). The tile must not be sunk.
- **Shore Up** — flip a flooded tile back to dry. You may shore up your own tile or an adjacent one.
- **Capture a Treasure** — if you stand on a treasure tile AND hold four matching treasure cards in your hand, discard those four cards and claim the treasure. *Magnifico.*
- **Give a Card** — pass one treasure card from your hand to another player **on the same tile** as you.
- **Navigator: Move Another** — if you are the Navigator, spend an action to move any other adventurer up to two tiles.
- **Pilot: Fly** — if you are the Pilot, spend one action to fly to any tile on the island. You may do this only once per turn.

You may take the same action multiple times. You may pass (do nothing) if you wish, pero *¿por qué?*

### Phase 2 — Draw 2 Treasure Cards

After your actions, draw two cards from the Treasure Deck. These are handed to you — you do not choose them. Most cards are treasure cards in four types (earth, wind, fire, ocean). But some cards are special:

- **Helicopter Lift** — play at any time to fly any group of adventurers to any non-sunk tile. Or, if all four treasures are claimed and everyone is at Fools' Landing, use it to escape and WIN.
- **Sandbags** — play at any time to shore up any one flooded tile on the island, from wherever you stand.
- **Waters Rise!** — not a gift. The water level rises one step, and the flood discard pile is shuffled back on top of the flood deck. *Dios mío.* The same tiles flood again.

Your hand limit is **five cards**. If you draw past five, you must immediately discard down to five. Choose wisely what you keep.

### Phase 3 — Flood the Island

Draw a number of Flood Cards equal to the current water level. Each card names a tile:

- If that tile is **dry**, it becomes **flooded**.
- If that tile is **flooded**, it **sinks** — remove it from the island permanently.

Flooded tiles go to the Flood Discard pile. When the Flood Deck runs out, the discard pile is reshuffled and reused. *The same tiles flood again and again, more and more often.* That is the horror of this game, yes?

After the flood phase, your turn ends and the next adventurer begins.

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## The Water Level

On the side of the board sits the **Water Level track**. It starts at your chosen difficulty and climbs whenever a Waters Rise! card is drawn.

| Difficulty | Starting Level | Flood Cards Per Turn |
|------------|---------------|----------------------|
| Novice | 1 | 2 |
| Normal | 2 | 2 |
| Elite | 3 | 3 |
| Legendary | 4 | 3 |

As the water rises, more flood cards are drawn each turn. At the highest levels, five cards per turn. If the water level reaches the skull marker — *the maximum* — the island is consumed and everyone loses.

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## The Ways to Lose

There are four ways the island defeats you. *I have seen them all.*

1. **Fools' Landing sinks** — your only way off the island is gone.
2. **Both tiles for an uncaptured treasure sink** — the treasure is lost forever.
3. **An adventurer cannot swim to safety** when their tile sinks beneath them.
4. **The water level reaches the skull marker** — the sea wins.

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## How to Win

All four conditions must be met:

1. All four treasures have been captured — by any player, in any combination.
2. All adventurers have gathered at **Fools' Landing**.
3. One adventurer plays a **Helicopter Lift** card to escape.

*Then* you win. *Todos juntos* — together, or not at all.

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## Balam's Notes from the Field

I have observed your kind play this game. I offer you what I have learned:

1. **Shore up early, before you need to.** A flooded tile is a warning. An ignored warning becomes a sunken tile. Do not wait for disaster — prevent it. *Your ancestors knew this. Some of them, anyway.*

2. **The Messenger's gift crosses any distance.** If you have the Messenger on your team, they can hand cards to anyone on the island regardless of position. Use this to concentrate four matching cards in one hand quickly.

3. **The Helicopter Lift does two things.** It rescues — and it wins. Do not play your last one just to reposition a player. Save at least one for the escape.

4. **Flood cards cycle.** The tiles that flood once will flood again. Watch the discard pile. When Waters Rise! hits, whatever was recently flooded goes back on top of the deck — and floods first. *The island has a memory.*

5. **Capture treasures early, not late.** In the endgame, the island is shrinking fast. Take treasures when you have four cards and a chance. You may not get another one.

6. **The Diver is worth more than they look.** When half the island is sunk or flooded, the Diver swims through it like it is nothing. In the late game, they become the only one who can reach certain tiles at all.

7. **Regroup before the final escape.** Getting everyone to Fools' Landing while it is still above water is harder than it sounds. The Navigator can pull teammates in. The Pilot can fly in alone. Plan this move before the island forces your hand.

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*And so, adventurers — that is Forbidden Island. A game of water, time, and trust. I find it muy hermoso, in its terrible way. It reminds me of things I have watched — civilizations reaching for what they treasure most, racing against a tide they cannot stop.*

*I will be watching from the shadows, sí? Always watching.*

*Now go. The island does not wait.*

*— Balam, Jaguar God, Keeper of Crossroads, Occasional Visitor to the Realm of Earth*