Spirit Island

Playtime: 90-120 minutes

Recommended Age: 13+

Number of Players: 1-4

Themes: Fantasy

In the most distant reaches of the world, magic still exists, embodied byspirits of the land, of the sky, and of every natural thing
Spirit Island is a complex and thematic cooperative game about defending yourisland home from colonizing Invaders. Players are different spirits of the land,each with its own unique elemental powers. Every turn, players simultaneouslychoose which of their power cards to play, paying energy to do so. Usingcombinations of power cards that match a spirit's elemental affinities cangrant free bonus effects.

Faster powers take effect immediately, before the Invaders spread and ravage,but other magics are slower, requiring forethought and planning to useeffectively. In the Spirit phase, spirits gain energy, and choose how / whetherto Grow: to reclaim used power cards, to seek for new power, or to spreadpresence into new areas of the island.

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

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

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

At game start, winning requires destroying every last settlement and city onthe board – but as you frighten the Invaders more and more, victory becomeseasier: 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, orif the Invader deck is depleted before achieving victory.

The game includes different adversaries to fight against (eg: a SwedishMining 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 asyou gain skill.