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

TLDR: The 4-stars is for the comparison to Forbidden Island. Buy Island first. If you enjoy that and want more variety, then buy Desert.Forbidden Desert is the stand-alone spiritual successor to Forbidden Island.Desert is an action-based, ability-focused cooperative game. You move around the map (created by placing the desert squares), digging through sand, excavating tiles to discover directions to the treasure (or nothing at all!), and making sure you have enough water to survive the heat. Each player has a unique ability that defines their gameplay and makes each player focus on different aspects. After each player's turn, the sandstorm moves around the map, dumping sand and potentially sapping your strength and your water away. If you manage to discover all the pieces of the treasure and make it out alive and hydrated, you win!Desert is a great game. It forces you to work as a team, talk things out, and struggle to survive. You will lose; you will probably lose due to dehydration more than anything. Difficult cooperative games are great, though, as the challenge is always appreciated. That said, Island offers the same gameplay, just with more succinct rules, better art (subjectively, of course), quicker gameplay, and a touch less difficulty. Island also offers the opportunity for you to go outside the rules and make "hunt and seek" games for toddlers.I will happily play either, with a softer spot in my heart for Island.My wife prefers Desert. She disagrees on the art, and she enjoys the expanded mechanics of Desert.My kids, age 6 and 8, are on Island (with my help). The water mechanic in particular makes Desert difficult for them at the moment.So, if you are looking to travel to Forbidden lands, start with Island. If you enjoy it and want more variety and harder mechanics, know that Desert is a great game and you will be happy with the purchase of that as well.Happy exploring!