Tabletop games
Spirit Island
Intrafin GamesR. Eric Reuss2017
- players
- 1–4
- minutes
- 120
- years
- 13+
In the box
Modular Island boards · Spirit boards · Power, Fear and Invader cards · Presence, Dahan, Explorers, Towns and Cities · Blight and Fear tokens
Box details
- Designer
- R. Eric Reuss
- Publisher
- Intrafin Games
- Mechanics
- CooperativeAsymmetric PowersSimultaneous Action SelectionHand ManagementSolo Play
- Expansions
- Spirit Island: Branch & Claw · 2017
- Spirit Island: Jagged Earth · 2020
- Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate · 2023
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
A cooperative game: the island's spirits must work together to drive out the Invaders before the island is laid waste. Each round, every spirit grows, gains Energy and plays its Power cards, Fast ones before the Invaders act or Slow ones after, while the Invaders Ravage, Build and Explore according to the Invader cards. You win when the Terror Level's condition is met or the Fear deck is emptied; you lose if Blight overruns the island, a spirit loses all its presence or the Invader deck runs out.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
1 spirit each, 12 Invader cards, 9 Fear cards
- Each player takes on a spirit, with its board, its four unique Power cards and its presence on the island.
- Each player gets a section of the island; the Dahan, the island's people, are placed on it, along with the starting Invaders and Blight shown on the board.
- The Invader deck has 12 cards: 3 Stage I cards on top, then 4 Stage II, then 5 Stage III.
- The Fear deck, 9 cards, is split into three groups of three by the Terror Level dividers; the Fear Pool gets 4 markers per player.
- The Blight card, placed Healthy Island side up, receives the Blight supply it shows.
- Before the first turn, the Invaders Explore once.
How to play
Growth, Fast and Slow powers, Ravage, Build, Explore
- Each round, the spirits grow: each one picks a Growth option (presence, a new Power card, reclaiming their cards…), gains the Energy shown on its track, then plays and pays for its Power cards.
- They then use their powers, Fast ones before the Invaders act or Slow ones after.
- The Invaders first suffer any Fear cards earned, then Ravage, Build and Explore, according to the Invader cards.
- When Ravaging, each explorer deals 1 Damage, each town 2, each city 3; two or more Damage to a land adds a Blight there. Surviving Dahan then fight back, dealing 2 Damage each.
- Each Blight added destroys one presence of every spirit in that land; if the land already had Blight, another Blight spreads to an adjacent land.
- Frightening the Invaders raises the Terror Level, which makes the victory condition easier. Destroying a town generates 1 Fear, a city 2.
Scoring
No score required, Win or lose together
- No score is required: you win or lose together.
- Optional score from the rulebook, to compare your games: on a victory, 5 × the difficulty + 10, +2 per card left in the Invader deck; on a defeat, 2 × the difficulty, +1 per Invader card out of the deck. Either way, +1 per X living Dahan and −1 per X Blight on the island, X being the number of players.
End of the game
Victory by Terror Level, Fear deck empty: win, Defeat by Blight
- Victory as soon as the condition for the Terror Level reached is met: at Level I, no Invaders left on the island; at II, no towns or cities; at III, no cities. Emptying the Fear deck means immediate victory.
- Defeat if Blight overruns the island, if a spirit loses all its presence, or if you must draw from an empty Invader deck.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Are the Dahan allies?
Yes: after a Ravage, each surviving Dahan deals 2 Damage to the Invaders in its land, and several powers rely on them.