GamewrightForbidden Jungle - Cooperative Board Game

My 10 year old had been eyeing all the forbidden series of games after playing Forbidden Desert with his friend. I "researched" (ie- read lots of reviews) to see which one to buy him for his birthday-- perk for me, it's a cooperative game, which is helpful to keep the level of noise down in my home (versus a heated competitive game!).I was unsure which to get; Sky seems to be unavailable. Island is the first, and although good, more "basic". He liked Desert, but also likes new games, so I opted for Jungle despite the poor reviews (winnability, piece quality, etc). I'm glad I did. He has LOVED it. He won the first time (luck of the draw??), but has won several times since, so it's definitely possible, but not easy as he has also lost. The pieces have never fallen (so maybe they updated them?). It's been fun playing with him, and him strategizing with me based off of what card we drew to defeat the alien horde. :)

The "Forbidden" games have always been some of my husband's favorites. Somehow I'd missed that this one had come out so I ordered one for his bday.We enjoyed it quite a bit and look forward to playing with friends.He found this one to be as good the original.... Forbidden Island. It's challenging without being overly complex, and has some familiar mechanics but also enough new and interesting ones that it doesn't feel like a copy of the others.Its kinda like Forbidden Island and a slide puzzle had a baby. And then that baby grew up and spawned more and more babies until you have an infestation of fun.

As someone who enjoyed previous games like Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert, this cooperative tile-based board game has a lot of the same appeal. The addition of potentially dangerous alien wildlife scurrying around the board contributes some excitement. One of the bigger challenges here is the need to use tiles that let you slide other tiles around, to arrange goal tiles into a specific formation that's needed to win. This is quite challenging, and requires finding those tiles via exploration first. It's not an easy game in my experience (I've yet to win a match!), but it's well-explained by the rules and simple to learn.

This game is great, that is once you read the extremely long instructions and play a few rounds so you understand them. Here is the basic break down. This is a cooperative game. You all have to stay alive and win together as a team. It is played by placing tiles face down in a pattern. The pattern is on a card and you choose the pattern based on what level of difficulty you'd like.You landed on an alien planet, in their jungle and have to escape.There are a lot of pieces which can be intimidating but it's ok. UNLESS the tin (we will get to that) falls out of your truck into the middle of the road and you have to pick ALL of said pieces up.Ok, so it comes in a pretty awesome tin and not a cardboard box so that's a huge plus for me because boxes get damaged so easily.You shuffle the "who are you" (not what they are called but you'll understand if you get the game) cards and pass them out without looking to see which color you are and what you are capable of. (Ie. The biologist can remove hatchling and adults) oh, right we didn't talk a out that because my review is almost as long as the instructions.There are little plastic orange eggs, teal? Hatchlings (toddler aliens) and then dark blue (borderline purple) adult aliens that move and appear and can sting you (adults only,). They are set up on the layout and have actions based on the threat cards you pick up.Yep, after each person's turn you have to draw cards based on the threat level, which rises when you draw a threat card after your turn.Confused yet? See, this game is meant for those who have patience and can explain the game well enough to those who do not.The last person that touched a tree goes first.Your goal is to use 1-4 actions per turn which are explained on the back of the who you are card, and explore the jungle trying to find a portal and 4 nest crystals and an electrifier to turn on the portal to escape.Like I said, long I lnstructions but super fun to play and my 8yr old plays with us. I think if patient a younger 6-7 could play but would need to be a "fake team mate" that you let be a color but really you and the others are aying for them while letting them make all of the movements. Could easily be a cause for a tantrum if they are super independent.Ok. I am done hope this helps. Not for like 1st grade and under.

My family has been playing the Forbidden series of games for years. I have appreciated how the games have grown in complexity as my children have grown up, giving us a constantly evolving series of challenges to keep us playing.This one adds some monstrous enemies to increase the complexity of maneuvering your way through this mysterious world and escaping the dangers of the jungle. Unlike some cooperative games, the adversaries aren't difficult to run, but the mechanics create a challenge that can easily overwhelm you if you aren't keeping them under control. We haven't played this enough to understand its long-term difficulty, but the first few games have been fun and engaging.

Even more complex than the previous games in the series. Cool!

Great game. Some of the pieces broke early on but contacted the manufacturer who quickly and efficiently replaced them.

We love these games, cooperation is important and these games help us teach it to our kids! they are also fun and challenging as you get better at the game. We also loved Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert which are similar and from the same game maker.