Forbidden Desert is the second game in the Forbidden series by Gamewright Games: Forbidden Island, Forbidden Desert, Forbidden Sky, and Forbidden Jungle. If you are looking for a challenging cooperative game, Forbidden Desert may be just what you need.
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When I was initially stocking our boardgame library and looking at cooperative games, I assumed that all the Forbidden games were similar so never pursued anything past Forbidden Island. That, and I heard that Island was the easiest and it was plenty hard for my family. However, when I saw this one at a thrift store, I couldnât resist and Iâm so glad I didnât!
Similar To, But More Difficult Than Forbidden Island
Forbidden Desert is definitely harder than Island. Weâve played a few times and have yet to win. However, weâre getting better and itâs a lot of fun. There are some similarities between Desert and Island, but enough differences that itâs worth having both games.
Forbidden Desert is another game whose board is composed of tiles. However, in addition to being flipped over, these tiles also move! The 24 tiles are initially arranged in a 5×5 grid with an empty space in the center, to show where the center of the storm is.
Forbidden Desert Roles
Six roles get randomly assigned:
- Explorer: can move, clear sand, and use sand blasters diagonally
- Climber: can move to blocked tiles
- Navigator: can move another play up to three blocked tiles per action
- Meteorologist: can spend actions to draw fewer storm tiles, can spend one action to look at the number of storm tiles equal to the storm level, AND can place one at the bottom of the deck.
- Water Carrier: can take two water from excavated water tiles for one action AND can give water to players on adjacent tiles for free at any time
- Archeologist: can clear two sand from one tile for one action
As with many of these games with different roles (in addition to Forbidden Island, Pandemic has different roles), the key to success lies in utilizing your special capabilities to the utmost. So far, weâve always had a Water Carrier and used them heavily; Iâm not sure how winning could be possible without a Water Carrier.
Equipment Cards
The game also contains 12 equipment cards:
- 3 Jet Packs: you and one other player (that was already on the same tile as you) may move to any unblocked tile
- 2 Terrascopes: peek under any excavated tile
- 3 Dune Blasters: remove all sand from your tile or an adjacent tile
- 2 Solar Shields: all players on your tile may ignore the effects of Sun Beats Down until the start of your next turn
- 1 Secret Water Reserve: all players on your tile receive two water
- 1 Time Throttle: allows a player to take two extra actions in a turn (this is the only card that must be played during a playerâs turn)
These equipment cards are collected when tiles are initially excavated. They can be used at any time and donât count as an action, but theyâre removed from the game once used.
Forbidden Desert Storm Cards
Finally, there are the Storm cards:
- 4 Sun Beats Down cards: all players lose one water
- 3 Storm Picks Up cards: move the Sand Storm meter up one tick mark
- 24 cards showing the direction and distance the wind blows
The wind may blow in any of the four cardinal directions and up to three tiles. When one of these cards is drawn, the cards next to the storm center move in the indicated direction. So if the first Storm card drawn has an arrow pointing south and one square, then the tile north of the center moves into the empty space. If the next Storm card has an arrow pointing south and three squares, then only one tile can move into the empty space (because there arenât any more tiles north of that one). However, if the next card drawn has an arrow pointing north and three squares, then three tiles will be moved north. After each Storm card is drawn and any tiles are moved, any tile that was moved gets another sand marker.
Winning and Losing
There are several ways to lose at Forbidden Desert:
- If a Sun Beats Down card is drawn when ANY party members are at 0 water
- If a Storm Picks Up card is drawn when the Sand Storm Meter is at the top marker
- If you need to place a Sand Marker and donât have any more to play
To win, players need to locate, dig out, and pick up all four parts to the flying machine. All players then need to get to the launch pad. Weâve gotten close, but we havenât actually managed to win yet.
Locating the Flying Machine Parts
Of the 24 tiles that make up the playing space, 8 help you find the 4 parts. Each part has 2 tiles to indicate its location; one tile indicates its latitude and the other its longitude. When both locator tiles are excavated for a part, place the part where they intersect. Now, that part will stay on that tile, even as it is blown about in the storm.
Frustrations and Challenges
Many of these cooperative games can get overwhelming, with multiple factors to manage and multiple lose conditions. However, Forbidden Desert, with the moving tiles, adds another level of complexity and potential frustration. We prefer to plan ahead for our turns so that we have less time waiting as someone tries to figure out what they can do during their turn. However, if the storm blows you (or surrounding tiles, or the tile youâre trying to get to) around too much, it can make advance planning moot. And sometimes the storm moves quite a bit, even in just one turn.
Forbidden Desert is challenging enough that my family hasnât won yet; however, we still have a lot of fun. When my kids were younger, though, I donât think we could have even had fun with the game. Like many people, my kids have struggled with sportsmanship and their tempers. Just a few years ago, I could see major melt-downs happening. Usually, my kids are capable of playing games âtoo oldâ for them, but this game is rated for ages 10 and up. (At the time of this writing, my kids are 10 and 11.) Iâm sure some younger players could successfully play Forbidden Desert, but I donât think those kids are mine. I think I found it at the perfect time.
If your family is looking for another cooperative game or if you find it cheap, Forbidden Desert is worth it. However, it is on the difficult side of things. We like having a range of difficulties in our cooperative games so we can choose a game we can all have fun with. Forbidden Desert works well on the challenging side.
Sample Game Play (ONLY the storm moving the tiles; no players moving)
These are all of the tiles face-up. As you can see, there are two water tiles, one launch pad, two tunnel tiles, twelve equipment tiles (look in the bottom right corner of the tiles), and eight tiles to indicate part location (two per part).