Desert Island

About this board game

Desert Island is a survival game for 4–6 players that plays in about 60 minutes. Washed ashore with fellow castaways, you must gather enough food to endure the island’s dangers while pursuing secret personal agendas.

Each turn, players take an action and play a fate card. The card makes an event more likely to happen and increases the chance that a particular target will be affected. Fate may bring illness, wild boars, or a deadly tsunami, turning every decision into a potential threat.

Choose how to spend your actions carefully. You can forage for food, scavenge for valuables washed ashore, or light the signal fire in the hope of attracting rescue. If resources are scarce, it may be easier to forage from a neighbor’s stockpile instead.

• Forage for the food needed to survive.
• Scavenge for valuables from the shore.
• Light the signal fire and watch for a boat.
• Resolve conflicts by comparing the total size on each side, with a random card added to both sides.

At the end of each turn, check whether a boat was sighted and whether the signal fire is lit. If rescue has not arrived, Fate deals a blow to somebody, and everyone must either eat food or take a wound.

Secret relationships add another layer to the struggle. Your hidden love and secret hate determine victory points, so survival is only part of the story. In Desert Island, managing supplies, anticipating danger, and protecting—or undermining—your fellow castaways all matter.