Spirit Island is a complex and thematic cooperative game about defending your island home from colonizing Invaders. Players are different spirits of the land, each with its own unique elemental powers. Every turn, players simultaneously choose which of their power cards to play, paying energy to do so. Using combinations of power cards that match a spirit's elemental affinities can grant free bonus effects. Faster powers take effect immediately, before the Invaders spread and ravage, but other magics are slower, requiring forethought and planning to use effectively. In the Spirit phase, spirits gain energy, and choose how / whether to Grow: to reclaim used power cards, to seek for new power, or to spread presence into new areas of the island.

The Invaders expand across the island map in a semi-predictable fashion. Each turn they explore into some lands (portions of the island); the next turn, they build in those lands, forming settlements and cities. The turn after that, they ravage there, bringing blight to the land and attacking any native islanders present.

The islanders fight back against the Invaders when attacked, and lend the spirits some other aid, but may not always do so exactly as you'd hoped. Some Powers work through the islanders, helping them (eg) drive out the Invaders or clean the land of blight.

The game escalates as it progresses: spirits spread their presence to new parts of the island and seek out new and more potent powers, while the Invaders step up their colonization efforts. Each turn represents 1-3 years of alternate-history.

At game start, winning requires destroying every last settlement and city on the board - but as you frighten the Invaders more and more, victory becomes easier: they'll run away even if some number of settlements or cities remain. Defeat comes if any spirit is destroyed, if the island is overrun by blight, or if the Invader deck is depleted before achieving victory.

The game includes different adversaries to fight against (eg: a Swedish Mining Colony, or a Remote British Colony). Each changes play in different ways, and offers a different path of difficulty boosts to keep the game challenging as you gain skill.

SLEEVING:

119 cards size 63,5x88mm (standard)

15 cards size 45x68mm (mini euro)

COMPONENTS:

Power Cards: 36 Minor Powers; 22 Major Powers; 16 Unique Powers (4 per spirit).

15 Invader Cards (in 3 groups).

4 modular island boards;

Invader board;

3 Blight Cards;

15 Fear Cards;

16 Fear markers

Energy tokens;

Invaders: 45 Explorers (white pawns); 35 Towns (white houses); 20 Cities (larger white buildings)

28 Blight cubes;

30 Dahan (islander) huts;

Four sets of 13 Spirit Presence (colored wooden discs)

4 Spirit panels (each for a unique Spirit);

4 Spirit cards (for those Spirits)

4 Power Progression cards (one for each spirit);

12 Play-aid cards

4 "Single turn effect" tokens.

Rules

AWARDS & HONORS:

2021 Gra Roku Advanced Game of the Year Nominee

2019 Spiel der Spiele Hit für Experten Recommended

2019 As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année Expert Nominee

2017 Golden Geek Most Innovative Board Game Nominee

2017 Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Nominee

2017 Golden Geek Best Thematic Board Game Nominee

2017 Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Nominee

2017 Golden Geek Best Solo Board Game Nominee

2017 Golden Geek Best Cooperative Game Nominee

2017 Golden Geek Best Board Game Artwork & Presentation Nominee

2017 Cardboard Republic Striker Laurel Nominee

2017 Board Game Quest Awards Game of the Year Nominee

2017 Board Game Quest Awards Best Coop Game Winner

2017 Board Game Quest Awards Best Coop Game Nominee

BGG Link