Review on Survive The Desert With Gamewright'S Forbidden Desert: A Cooperative Strategy Board Game by Corey Listner

I think some of the reviews differ on this game because the experience is very different depending on the number of players. I will get to that in the minute.If you like Forbidden island and Pandemic, this may be the game for you. It has elements from both games. I like how you are not just pretending to build the ship as you play. You have a little boat and parts to equip it with. It seems more complicated than it is. The rule book is pretty clear on how you are supposed to play. Once you have played to the end of your first game, it's not difficult to set up and play your next one without having to go back to the book to check how exactly something works. Definitely has replay value in my household.The playing pieces are pretty sturdy. They look the same as the pictures featured on Best Buy. One of the plastic boat parts did arrive bent but not broken. I was able to bend it back without breaking it but there is a white line where the bend used to be. It doesn't interfere with it's function. The printing quality is professional for both the cards and the cardboard pieces. The tin looks really nice and arrived dent free for me.My biggest problem with the game is how different the experience is when you change the number of players. I see why people call it "easy" and a "kid version" of pandemic but also tell you it's too difficult and you should buy a different game. The more players you play with, the harder it gets. So hard, in fact, the game seems unwinnable with larger groups. The four difficulty settings should be the only things, in my opinion, that changes how difficult it is to play.So mom and dad want to play just the two of them at a more difficult level. Great! The two kids want to play together at the easiest level. Great! Mom and Dad want to play with their two kids on the easiest level. Too bad. It doesn't exist for four players so either someone is going to have to watch people play or everyone is just going to get frustrated when they lose every game together.This is also a problem when you are introducing it to a gaming group that hasn't played before. People usually want to try games at the easiest level when they are first learning it and try the harder later to fit their skill level. If you have more than two adults that you are introducing this game to, they are likely going to get frustrated with this game fast and not be willing to play it with you again.The sand storm meter rises faster and faster the more players you have. The one additional line in the meter that is added at three players and then another additional line at five players does not make up for this problem. This meter controls how many negative effect cards you draw for the storm which throws off the balance between those cards and the actions you can take as individual players.I've been trying out different suggested house rules to even out the difficulty between player numbers but so far nothing has fixed the problem. If I find one, I will post the solution here. For now, it's a fantastic 1-2 player game in this household to the point we made our own figures for it.