Board Game Arena - User contributions [en]

Gamehelpphotosynthesis

2023-03-17T22:34:12Z

BobcatMailService: /* iv. Collect scoring tokens */ Added the light point cost for collecting scoring tokens from a large tree

=== Objective ===
Help your species of tree outcompete the others in the forest to absorb as much sunlight as possible over the course of three (or four) full rotations of the sun. When a tree reaches the end of its lifecycle, you will earn points based on the richness of the soil it was growing in.

=== Components ===
Each player has their own personal Player Board from which they can purchase new seedlings and trees of various sizes. The costs of purchase are indicated next to each space, and items must be purchased from the bottom up (cheapest first). Any items purchased are stored next to the board, to the right hand side. This supply represents seeds and trees that are available for planting.

In the centre of the table is a map of the forest, which is split into 4 zones differentiated by the number of leaves printed in each hex. The further towards the centre of forest, the more rich (and general more valuable in terms of points) is the soil.

At one corner of the board is a "Sun Segment". This indicates the direction that the sun shines from on any given round. During the game it will rotate around the board three times (four in the long game), taking 6 rounds to make each full rotation around the board.

=== Setup phase ===
Players take turns to place one of their available small trees onto the edge of the main board, in the "one leaf" zone. This is then repeated until every player has placed two of their small trees.

=== Playing a round ===
Each time the sun is in one position, a round of two phases is played.

==== Photosynthesis Phase (collecting "light points") ====
Except for the first round of the game, the current first player will rotate the Sun Segment clockwise around the board to its next position. Every player receives light points based on the size of their trees (see table below) '''unless''' they are being shaded by any other trees in the forest.

===== Shade =====
Any tree will cast a shadow behind it (i.e. in the direction opposite to the sun). A seedling or tree that is in shadow will not generate light points '''unless''' it is at least one size category larger than the tree casting the shadow. The species of tree casting the shadow is not relevant (meaning a player can affect their own trees).

The length of shadow each size of tree casts is shown in the table below.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Tree Size
!Light Points Generated / Length of Shadow / Seed Throw Distance / Growth Costs
|-
|Seedling
|0
|-
|Small
|1
|-
|Medium
|2
|-
|Large
|3
|}

===== Life Cycle Phase (spending light points to perform actions) =====
Starting with the first player, players can spend their light points on a number of actions. Any unspent light points can be saved for future rounds.

'''Where an action involves activating a tree, note that each tree's space may only be activated once per round.''' This means that you cannot grow the same tree more than once per round, or throw out a seed from and grow the same tree, or grow and collect the same tree on the same round.

====== Possible Actions ======

====== i. Buy new items ======
Spend light points to purchase items from your Player Board for the indicated costs. Items may be purchased from any column but must be purchased from the bottom up (i.e. cheapest first). Purchased items are placed to the right of the Player Board to denote that they are available to be planted.

====== ii. Plant a seed ======
So long as a seed is available to the right of the player board, that tree can be activated (using the ^ icon) to throw out a seed into a nearby empty space. The distance a tree can throw out its seeds is based on its size as shown in the table above.

'''(NB - under the Heavy Shadow variant, the planting action is not available while the source tree is in shade.)'''

====== iii. Grow a tree ======
So long as the next size of tree is available to the right of the player board, a planted seedling or tree can be activated (using the ^ icon) to grow to the next size. The original token is then placed back onto the Player Board in the topmost available space of that type. If no space is available, then the token is removed from the game.

'''(NB - under the Heavy Shadow variant, the growth action is not available while the tree you wish to grow is in shade.)'''

====== iv. Collect scoring tokens ======
A large tree can be activated for 4 light points (using the ^ icon) to end its life cycle and collect a scoring token from the top of the pile corresponding to its soil type. If the pile has already been exhausted, then the player would receive the topmost token from the next lowest available pile of tokens.

The tree itself is removed from the main board and returned to the Player Board as per the removal rules under "Grow a tree" above.

Although the collecting player may not activate the space again that round, the vacant space '''may''' be used by other players to plant a new seedling later in the same round.

==== End of a round ====
When all players have had a turn, the first player passes in a clockwise direction and a new round begins, starting with the rotation of the sun and the photosynthesis phase.

Once the sun completes one full revolution of the board, the top Sun Revolution token is removed from the game.

=== End of the game ===
Once the Sun Revolution tokens have been exhausted (i.e. after 3 full rotations - or 4 in the variant rules) the game will end. Players count the value of their scoring tokens and add 1 point per 3 unspent light points (round down). The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most seeds and trees on the main board is the winner. In the case of a further tie, all tied players win.

=== Variant rules ===

==== Long Mode ====
Add a fourth Sun Revolution token, extending the game length from the standard 18 rounds to 24.

==== Heavy Shadow ====
Players cannot activate trees in shade to perform the "plant a seed" or "grow" actions.

Gamehelpforbiddenisland

2020-12-31T14:21:25Z

BobcatMailService:

In Forbidden Island, you play as a cooperative team. Your goal is to collect all the four treasure items hidden on the sinking island: the Earth stone, the Crystal of Fire, the Ocean's Chalice, and the Statue of the Wind. If someone from your team acquires 4 of one treasure card in their hand they must then go to the treasures lair to collect it. When your team have secured all four treasures you all make a desperate helicopter escape via Fools Landing.

This game is in a cooperative game series with Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Sky.
The game is for 2 to 4 players.

== Gameplay ==
Each player has three actions which they may take on their turn. If it is advantageous, a player may choose to take fewer than three actions. After taking their actions players draw two cards from the treasure card deck. After resolving any Waters Rise cards they then draw the appropriate number of cards from the flood card deck, according to the current water level. It is then the next player's turn.

The game is won by the players capturing all four of the treasures and returning to the Fools' Landing tile. Once all pawns are on that tile someone can play a Helicopter Lift card to win the game, regardless of whose turn it is or what phase of play it is.

The game is lost immediately:
* if Fools' Landing sinks at any point, or
* if both tiles for a treasure that has not yet been captured sink, or
* if a tile with a pawn on it sinks and that pawn cannot be rescued, or
* if the Waters Rise to the tenth water mark (indicated on the water meter with a red skull)

=== Actions ===
Adjacent here means tiles sharing an edge. tiles that touch only at corners are not considered to be adjacent.

'''Move:''' Any player may move to an adjacent tile

'''Shore Up:''' Any player may flip one adjacent flooded tile (or the tile they are on if it is flooded) to its unflooded side.

'''Give Card:''' Any player may give any card to another player on the ''same'' tile. You may only give regular treasure cards, not special action cards. You also cannot ''take'' a card from another player during your turn.

'''Capture Treasure:''' If a player has four matching treasure cards, and is on a tile with the same matching symbol, they may capture that treasure. The player discards the four matching cards and matching treasure is taken from the board into the player's play area. The team is now one step closer to winning the game!

=== Roles ===
Each player plays a different role on the expedition team. Depending on their role they have abilities that make it easier to win the game. A role is assigned randomly to each player at the start of each game.

'''Diver:''' ''(Black)'' May move through flooded or sunk tiles for one action, but must end their movement on a tile. (ie. not in a sunk tile square) Note this movement is still only through adjacent tiles, and it does not allow moving through spaces where there was never a tile, such as the open ocean around the island, or any holes in the initial setup, such as the lava in the volcano island setup.

'''Engineer:''' ''(Red)'' May shore up two tiles in a single action, provided they can reach both flooded tiles normally.

'''Explorer:''' ''(Green)'' Tiles that touch at corners only are considered to be adjacent for the explorer. Thus they may both move and shore up tiles diagonally.

'''Messenger:''' ''(White)'' May give treasures to any player, regardless of where their pawns are.

'''Navigator:''' ''(Yellow)'' May move another player's pawn up to two adjacent tiles for a single action.

'''Pilot:''' ''(Blue)'' May move to any tile, not just adjacent tiles but only once per turn.

=== Treasure Cards ===
There are four treasure cards with five copies of each type: the Earth stone, the Crystal of Fire, the Ocean's Chalice, and the Statue of the Wind; which match the four treasures the team needs to find. There are also five special action cards, two sandbags and three helicopter lifts. Finally there are three Waters Rise cards, for a total of 28 cards in the treasure deck.

The Hand Limit is 5 cards. Immediately after a player has more than 5 cards, the player must discard down to 5 cards, even if it not on his/her turn.

Special action cards can be played at any time, whether it is that player's turn or not. Indeed it is often necessary to play a special action card during another player's turn to win the game. Also, if required to discard, a player may instead immediately play a special action card instead of discarding.

'''Sandbags:''' When played allows the player to shore up any flooded tile anywhere on the island.

'''Helicopter Lift:''' When played during the bulk of the game it allows a player to move any number of pawns from a single tile to any other tile on the board. Note the start and end tiles must be the same for all pawns moved, but you need not move all pawns from the start tile.
The Helicopter Lift card is also necessary at the end of the game in order to win, in which case it lifts all players off of the sinking island with their treasures, but only if all pawns are on the "Fool's Landing" tile.

'''Waters Rise:''' This card does not go into the players hand but is immediately discarded. The water level is then increased to the next water mark (possibly increasing the number of flood cards to be drawn) and any cards in the flood card discard pile are shuffled and placed on top of the discard deck.

= Implementation =

=== Player Actions ===
The implementation provides a limited '''Undo''' feature. The undo is provided for 'moves' only and only if another player has not played a special action card (Sandbags or Helicopter Lift).

=== ELO ===

ELO is awarded for winning based on a fictitious game opponent with an experience level determined by the '''Difficulty''' level of the game and the '''Number of Players'''.

The following table provides the reference values:

:'''Novice'''
:* 2-players => 1350
:* 3-players => 1400
:* 4-players => 1450

:'''Normal'''
:* 2-players => 1550
:* 3-players => 1600
:* 4-players => 1650

:'''Elite'''
:* 2-players => 1750
:* 3-players => 1800
:* 4-players => 1850

:'''Legendary'''
:* 2-players => 1950
:* 3-players => 2200
:* 4-players => 2500

== See also ==
[[Tips_forbiddenisland|Strategy Page]]