2019-06-01_Games_World_of_Puzzles

june 2019 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 47

BY THOMAS L. MCDONALD •BOARD GAME REVIEWS•

COOPERATIVE

FORBIDDEN SKY

GAMEWRIGHT, $40

AGE RANGE: 10+

PLAY TIME: 1 HOUR

PLAYERS: 2–5

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T

his hapless group of adventurers
has moved from one disaster
to another, each more difficult
to escape than the last. In Forbidden
Island, they had to get back to the he-
licopter before the lost civilization they
were exploring disappeared beneath the
waves. That helicopter crashed in the
next game, Forbidden Desert, leaving
our heroes to seek an airship to escape
before the desert sands swallowed them
up. Now, in Forbidden Sky, that airship
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feet in the air and they must power a
rocket ship in order to escape.
A few things link these games, de-
signed by Matt Leacock, creator of the
best-selling Pandemic franchise. They’re
all cooperative. They all use tiles to
create changing game boards. They all
generate suspense as the environment
works against them. And each has been
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Forbidden Sky is the most challeng-
ing yet. It also has some of the most
satisfying and frustrating elements of
the series. Let’s get the negatives out of

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were gorgeous, the art and color palette

of Forbidden Sky—sickly purple clouds

with teal and orange pieces—is not

particularly attractive. The components

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as you piece them together. Finally, the

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Still, Forbidden Sky is not without its

charms. Players work as a team to cre-

ate a rocket platform, “wire” it for power,

get to it without dying, and then blast off

to safety. If one player dies or isn’t at the

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everyone loses. As a novel bonus, the

rocket is battery-powered, with lights

and sounds.

During a turn, players can perform up

to four actions: move a pawn, draw a tile,

place a tile, and place or remove a wire.

The tiles create the platform, and each

must connect to at least one copper wire

on an adjoining tile. As tiles are laid, the

platform takes shape, creating spaces

for various capacitors, as well as the

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tallic pieces are linked with magnetized

plastic “wires” in a complete circuit, the

rocket takes off with a swoosh.

There’s a lot more going on here than

we have space to explain. Cards are

drawn to indicate lightning and wind,

which might at any moment fry players

or blow them to their doom. There are

teleporters, Faraday cages, and fraying

safety ropes. Some characters have

special skills allowing them to help other

members of the team. Those are just a

few of the things players will encounter.

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order! Forbidden Sky throws a little too

much at people who just want to play a

game. At times, it tilts the challenges for

which the “Island” series is justly famous

from suspenseful to irritating. At other

times, however, it all works just right,

the team clicks, and you get a satisfying

liftoff. How much you enjoy it will depend

largely on which of these possibilities

you experience. Q

GOOD CHOICE FOR FANS OF: FORBIDDEN ISLAND RATINGC

PUZZLE

FOLD-IT

THINKFUN, $18

AGE RANGE: 8+

PLAY TIME: VARIABLE

PLAYERS: 1–4

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I

’m entering my third decade as a
game reviewer, and it’s not often a
puzzle defeats me. Some of Fold-
It’s advanced challenges, however,
left me a quivering puddle of fail, and
that’s the highest compliment I can
give the game.
Fold-It is a simple idea done well.
Order cards display one to four plates
of food. Four silky cloths are printed
front and back with a pattern of foods
in a 4×4 grid, so four players can try to
solve the puzzle at once. The object is
to fold the cloth so that only the items
shown on the card are visible.
On the basic orders, this is simple to
moderately challenging. The cloth has
a nice feel to it, and folds and unfolds
easily. Heck, you could even use it as

a pocket square for handy entertain-

ment during dull dinners. The puzzles

themselves are fun and the solutions

usually present themselves with time.

Some of the advanced cards, however,

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were a few I never cracked. Unlike most

ThinkFun games, there are no hints or

solutions on the cards, which some

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It’s really just a puzzle and plays best

without any of the “game” rules that are

bolted on after the fact. The box comes

with “recipe cloths,” order cards, and

various tokens. The game element is

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tion in the shortest time possible, with

tokens grabbed and discarded until

slow players are eliminated. It’s neither

an interesting nor satisfying way to

gamify a puzzle and there’s little reason

to bother with it.

This plays best as either a solo

activity or non-competitive challenge

rather than as a game. It’s marvel-

ously clever, well-made, and engaging.

Another version, sans food—Color

Fold—is also available. Q

GOOD CHOICE FOR FANS OF: TANGRAMS RATINGB