Set collection

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.

In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go!, you are eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you've eaten it all, finish your meal with all the pudding you've got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be just what they need to beat you!

Sushi Go! takes the card-drafting mechanism of Fairy Tale and 7 Wonders and distills it into a twenty-minute game that anyone can play. The dynamics of "draft and pass" are brought to the fore, while keeping the rules to a minimum. As you see the first few hands of cards, you must quickly assess the make-up of the round and decide which type of sushi you'll go for. Then, each turn you'll need to weigh which cards to keep and which to pass on. The different scoring combinations allow for some clever plays and nasty blocks. Round to round, you must also keep your eye on the goal of having the most pudding cards at the end of the game!

In Uchronia, you are the patriarch of a great Uchronian noble house, competing with the other houses that commit their wealth to building the city, enriching it with new constructions, and striving to win over the people.

In game terms, players start with six resource cards in hand, then each discard a card to the shared forum; each resource card shows the type of resource (with color-coded five resources in the game), an activity icon (with, for example, all yellow clay cards showing a pick), and an order (with yellow showing Production). Five building cards are placed face-up in the Great Works area and can be built by the players; any time a building is taken from this area, reveal another building card.

On a turn, you first move any card(s) played the previous turn to the forum, then you either Command or Plot. To Command, you play one card from your hand with the order you want to carry out or two identical cards, which allows you to take any order. The orders are:

Production: Place one card from the forum into your stock. For each Production activity you have, take the action again.
Exploration: Place one card from your hand into your stock. Repeat for each Exploration activity.
Draconians: Show one card from your hand, then move one card of this type from the forum to your stock; in addition, each player who commanded in his previous turn must give you a card of the same type from his hand, if possible. For each Draconians activity you have, you can show one more card, which lets you claim more from the forum and possibly more from opponents.
Trade: Transform one resource in your stock to an activity. Repeat for each Trade activity.
Construction: Start a new building (by discarding a matching color resource from the forum) or transfer a resource from your stock to a building in progress. Repeat for each Construction activity.

When you complete a building, you gain its special ability for the remainder of the game. You can have only two activities, plus one more for each completed building you own. If you have more of a particular ability than anyone else, you claim the monopoly card for this activity, making each of these activities worth 1 victory point (VP) and allowing you to claim a matching resource whenever anyone completes a building of this color.

If you Plot instead of Command, you first copy one order showing in another player's area (if you have an activity of the same color), then you either draw until you have five cards or draw one card (if you already have at least five).

The game continues until one or more players hits a VP threshold (14-20 depending on the number of players). After completing the round (giving everyone the same number of turns), the player with the most VPs wins.

In Continental Express, players add train cars to their station in the hope of fulfilling objectives and maximizing the value of their secret contract. To start the game, each player chooses one of two contract cards dealt to them; these contracts require players to collect icons of a particular color or groups of like-colored icons or icons and company tokens of differing colors.

Players then take turns drafting cards from three face-up rows; the card on the end of each row costs nothing, the card in the middle costs $1, and the card closest to each of the three decks costs $2. Players start with no money, however, and the only way to get some is to draft it – but naturally that means you'll be forgoing other cards. If a player has train cars matching one of the three face-up objective cards, he can choose to discard those train cars and claim the objective – and since the objectives have the icons that satisfy contracts, you'll probably want to do that.

In addition to train cars and money, players can draft characters, taking the special action of a character when he drafts one. Actions include things like taking a train car of your choice from the card array, stealing all money from one player, and taking a company token of the color of your choice. The card decks also include two events, and those cards flush either the objective cards on display or the smaller cards that players draft.

When a player claims his fourth objective, each other player takes one more turn, then the game ends. Players tally the points scored for their contract (if any), their claimed objective cards, and any money still in hand. Whoever has the highest score wins!

In The Builders: Middle Ages, the cards represent buildings or workers. Players score points (and gain money) by completing the construction of buildings, while placing a worker on a construction site costs money. Each building has four characteristics (carpentry, masonry, architecture, tilery) rated between 0 and 5, and the workers have the same characteristics valued in the same range. To complete a construction, the player must add enough workers to cover the four characteristics of the building.

Each player starts the game with 10 ecu and an apprentice. Five workers and five buildings are placed face-up on the table, with the others set aside in separate decks. On a turn, you can take three free actions, then pay 5 ecu for each additional action. The possible actions are:

Open a site - Take one of the five buildings, place it front of you, then draw a replacement from the deck.
Recruit a worker - Take one of the five workers, place it front of you, then draw a replacement from the deck.
Assign a worker to a building - Pay the cost of the worker (as he won't work for free!), then place him on a building; when the building's needs are met, you earn the points and coins indicated, then flip the building over. The workers return to your pool of available labor.
Get money - Forgo one, two or three actions to earn 1, 3 or 6 ecu.

Some completed buildings join your labor pool as they can be used to complete other buildings. As soon as a player reaches 17 points, players finish the round so that everyone has the same number of turns, then you tally points, with each completed card having a point value and each 10 ecu being worth 1 point. Whoever has the most points wins.