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A good strategy is to shore up all of the locations that you need to play the game. These are the places for the items and fools landing. If fools landing sinks, you lose. You also should shore up any cards that help you get to the important places. If both of the places for each item sink and you haven't collected the item, you lose.  After these places are shored up then shore up any others you can.  This is especially important early in the game. Each spot sunk is one less card in the deck.  So the ones you need will come up more often.  By shoring up the spots early in the game you will have more cards available later in the game when you need to focus on other things like collecting treasure.
Success at Forbidden Island is about setting priorities so that you know which actions to take and when to use special cards. It isn't always clear-cut, but in general you want the following priorities:


Feel free to use the sandbags and helicopters frequently. There are only a limited number but they are reshuffled into the deck every time you run out of cards. The more you use them the more frequently they come up again.
1. Shore up critical locations in danger of sinking.<br/>
2. Retrieve treasures for which you have four cards.<br/>
3. Trade cards to get sets of 4 treasures.<br/>
4. Shore up non-essential flooded tiles.


The next tip is useful for getting the cards to the right person.  Clump together in the beginning so you can shuffle cards to get the ones to the people needed.  Then use the helicopter to take you to the tile for collecting the treasure unless it is nearby.
'''Shore up critical locations in danger of sinking.'''  You lose the game if Fools' Landing sinks--or if both of the locations for any treasure sink before that treasure has been retrieved.  These are critical locations and should be shored up, if possible.  There are some situations in which flooded locations are not in immediate danger (when all three Waters Rise have been played and there are still at least two cards left in the treasure deck), but mostly any flooded locations are vulnerable to sinking.   


Don't forget to shore up frequently.
'''Retrieve treasures for which you have four cards.'''  You especially want to turn in sets of cards before the treasure deck gets reshuffled!  The more cards you can return to the treasure deck, the more turns you will have at lower flood levels.
 
'''Trade cards to get sets of 4 treasures.'''  Two pawns must be in the same location in order to transfer a card.  If you want to receive a card from another player, it can be beneficial to position your pawn so that it is easy for them to reach you (or so that you're already co-located when their turn starts).  Early in the game, when you hopefully have fewer critical threats, you'll likely want to have all the pawns clumped together to facilitate transfers.  Sometimes the best player to give all the cards to is the one who could collect the treasure the soonest, rather than the player holding the most of them.
 
'''Shore up non-essential flooded tiles.'''  Not all non-essential tiles are created equal.  When you have the option, prefer shoring up tiles that maintain movement--especially to/from Fools' Landing.  In general, the more tiles you keep from sinking, the more of a buffer your critical tiles have in the deck.
 
Many turns will see you wanting to accomplish more things than you have actions for.  Sometimes a clever use of a Helicopter Lift or Sandbags will help you stretch your actions so that you can accomplish all or most of what you want.  Usually this is a good idea!  But beware of using the last of them for marginal return--you may want one for a real emergency!  Sometimes using your special cards right before the treasure deck is reshuffled is helpful--it may help you squeeze out an extra turn or two at a lower flood level.

Latest revision as of 14:47, 1 August 2023

Success at Forbidden Island is about setting priorities so that you know which actions to take and when to use special cards. It isn't always clear-cut, but in general you want the following priorities:

1. Shore up critical locations in danger of sinking.
2. Retrieve treasures for which you have four cards.
3. Trade cards to get sets of 4 treasures.
4. Shore up non-essential flooded tiles.

Shore up critical locations in danger of sinking. You lose the game if Fools' Landing sinks--or if both of the locations for any treasure sink before that treasure has been retrieved. These are critical locations and should be shored up, if possible. There are some situations in which flooded locations are not in immediate danger (when all three Waters Rise have been played and there are still at least two cards left in the treasure deck), but mostly any flooded locations are vulnerable to sinking.

Retrieve treasures for which you have four cards. You especially want to turn in sets of cards before the treasure deck gets reshuffled! The more cards you can return to the treasure deck, the more turns you will have at lower flood levels.

Trade cards to get sets of 4 treasures. Two pawns must be in the same location in order to transfer a card. If you want to receive a card from another player, it can be beneficial to position your pawn so that it is easy for them to reach you (or so that you're already co-located when their turn starts). Early in the game, when you hopefully have fewer critical threats, you'll likely want to have all the pawns clumped together to facilitate transfers. Sometimes the best player to give all the cards to is the one who could collect the treasure the soonest, rather than the player holding the most of them.

Shore up non-essential flooded tiles. Not all non-essential tiles are created equal. When you have the option, prefer shoring up tiles that maintain movement--especially to/from Fools' Landing. In general, the more tiles you keep from sinking, the more of a buffer your critical tiles have in the deck.

Many turns will see you wanting to accomplish more things than you have actions for. Sometimes a clever use of a Helicopter Lift or Sandbags will help you stretch your actions so that you can accomplish all or most of what you want. Usually this is a good idea! But beware of using the last of them for marginal return--you may want one for a real emergency! Sometimes using your special cards right before the treasure deck is reshuffled is helpful--it may help you squeeze out an extra turn or two at a lower flood level.

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