Modular Board

"Welcome, girls and boys. My name is Rattlebones, and you have been cordially invited to spend the day at my Fabulous Festival of Dice! Play games! Win prizes! Ride the train! I'll be wandering about the park, and if you're the first one to find me, you win! Won't that be delightful?"

Rattlebones is a game about transforming dice. You start with standard six-sided dice, and throughout the course of the game you can remove sides and replace them with other sides that let you do all sorts of wonderful things. Every time you score points, you get closer to finding Rattlebones and, er, winning the game. Yes, winning! It's an experience to six-sided-die for!

Ready to start exploring a previously uncharted island? Good! You and the other players each have a team of five scientists, and you want to capture animal species so that you can study them — and, of course, score points.

The game board in La Isla consists of a set of oddly-shaped tiles that are placed in a circular arrangement around a central polygonal tile. Thirty-five animal tokens (seven each of five types) are placed at random on spaces numbered 2, 3 and 4 on the game board; these numbers equal the number of camps that surround these spaces.

On a turn, a player has three cards that he places face-down in the A, B and D spaces on his card display. All players reveal their A cards at the same time, then place them in one of the three slots at the top of their display; the image depicted on the top of this card shows the special power that the owner of this card has available. Once a player has filled all three slots on her display, future cards placed with the A action cover an existing card.

After revealing the cards in their B slots simultaneously, the players collect the goods depicted in the lower-left corner of their individual card.

Each player in turn then places one of his scientists on a camp, first paying two resources of the type matching that camp. (If all of a player's scientists are on the board, she moves one of these scientists.) If the player now has a scientist on each camp surrounding an animal space, she takes that animal tile, scoring points for it as noted on the board (4, 3 or 2 points).

Finally, the card in the D slot increases the value of one animal. You (and only you!) immidiately score one point per animal of the type you moved up on the scale. If you don't have an animal of that tpe you don't get any points. Each animal has a points threshold so that if you move an animal up, say, four times, each animal of this type is worth an extra point at the end of the game. The scale goes up to five so that every animal can be worth up five points at the end of the game. When the sum of these values for all five animals equals seven, nine or eleven (based on the number of players), the game ends at the conclusion of the round. Players then tally their final scores to see who wins.

Forbidden Island is a visually stunning 'cooperative' board game. Instead of winning by competing with other players like most games, everyone must work together to win the game. Players take turns moving their pawns around the 'island', which is built by arranging the many beautifully screen-printed tiles before play begins. As the game progresses, more and more island tiles sink, becoming unavailable, and the pace increases. Players use strategies to keep the island from sinking, while trying to collect treasures and items. As the water level rises, it gets more difficult- sacrifices must be made.

What causes this game to truly stand out among co-op and competitive games alike is the extreme detail that has been paid to the physical components of the game. It comes in a sturdy and organized tin of good shelf storage size. The plastic treasure pieces and wooden pawns are well crafted and they fit just right into the box. The cards are durable, well printed, and easy to understand. The island tiles are the real gem: they are screen-printed with vibrant colors, each with a unique and pleasing image.

With multiple levels of difficulty, different characters to choose from (each with a special ability of their own), many optional island formats and game variations available, Forbidden Island has huge replay value. The game can be played by as few as two players and up to four (though it can accommodate five). More players translates into a faster and more difficult game, though the extra help can make all the difference. This is a fun game, tricky for players of almost any age. Selling for under twenty dollars, oddly, Forbidden Island is a rare game of both quality and affordable price.
For those who enjoy Forbidden Island, a follow-up project by Gamewright titled Forbidden Desert was released in 2013.

From the publisher's website:

Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss!

Atrévete a descubrir la Isla Prohibida! Únete a un intrépido grupo de aventureros en una misión para capturar los cuatro tesoros sagrados de este peligroso paraíso." La Isla Prohibida es un emocionante juego colaborativo en el que los jugadores tratan de hacerse con los tesoros de una mítica isla misteriosa, antes de que las aguas la cubran por completo.

Mayfair's update of the Galloglass game, HellRail (Second Perdition). There are several refinements, but the major change is the addition of many more circle powers and the circle powers are now randomly distributed (and can change during the game). And yes, the train engines are wood instead of pewter.

Game description from the publisher:

It is 1926, and the museum's extensive collection of exotic curios and occult artifacts poses a threat to the barriers between our world and the elder evils lurking between dimensions. Gates to the beyond begin to leak open, and terrifying creatures of increasing strength steal through them. Animals, the mad, and those of more susceptible minds are driven to desperation by the supernatural forces the portals unleash. Only a handful of investigators race against time to locate the eldritch symbols necessary to seal the portals forever. Only they can stop the Ancient One beyond from finding its way to Earth and reducing humanity to cinders.

Elder Sign is a fast-paced, cooperative dice game of supernatural intrigue for one to eight players by Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson, the designers of Arkham Horror. Players take the roles of investigators racing against time to stave off the imminent return of the Ancient One. Armed with tools, allies, and occult knowledge, investigators must put their sanity and stamina to the test as they adventure to locate Elder Signs, the eldritch symbols used to seal away the Ancient Ones and win the game.

To locate Elder Signs, investigators must successfully endure Adventures within the museum and its environs. A countdown mechanism makes an Ancient One appear if the investigators are not quick enough. The investigators must then battle the Ancient One. A clever and thematic dice mechanism pits their exploration against monsters and the sheer difficulty of staying sane and healthy, all within the standard game duration of one to two hours.