Spirit Island

Objective

Protect your island from colonial Invaders. Win by meeting a Fear-based victory condition or by destroying all Invaders and their presence on the island. Lose if Blight covers the island completely, if a Spirit's Presence is entirely wiped out, or if the Invader Deck runs out while your victory condition is unfulfilled.

The Basics

Spirit Island is a fully cooperative game in which each player controls one of the island's ancient Spirits — elemental beings with unique powers and asymmetric abilities. The Spirits work together to terrorize, damage, and ultimately expel or destroy the colonizing Invaders (Explorers, Towns, and Cities) while protecting the native Dahan villages and keeping the island from being Blighted beyond recovery.

Setup

Assemble the island using one board per player (arranged per the setup guide). Place starting Invader pieces on the board as directed by your chosen Adversary (difficulty modifier) or the standard setup. Prepare the Invader Deck (a shuffled stack of terrain cards divided into three increasing stages), the Fear deck (9 cards in three escalating Terror Levels), and the Blight card (which tracks total Blight on the island). Each player chooses a Spirit, takes its 4 Unique Power cards and Spirit Panel, and places Presence on the island per the panel's starting setup.

We strongly recommend playing without an Adversary and without Branch & Claw content on your first few games.

Turn Structure

Each turn (called a Round) follows this sequence:

1. Spirit Phase

Each Spirit simultaneously:

• Growth — Choose one Growth option from your Spirit Panel: place Presence on the island, reclaim played cards into your hand, gain Energy, or gain a new Power card.
• Gain Energy — Collect Energy equal to your current Energy per Turn (shown on your Presence track).
• Play and Pay for Power Cards — Choose cards from your hand to play this turn; pay their Energy costs. Fast Powers are resolved in step 3; Slow Powers in step 5.

2. Fast Power Phase

Resolve all Fast Powers (marked with a lightning bolt), in any order players choose.

3. Invader Phase

Three steps, in order:

Ravage — Invaders deal damage in every land shown on the top Invader card. Each Explorer deals 1 damage, each Town 2, each City 3, to the land and to each Dahan present. Surviving Dahan fight back (1 damage each). If the land takes 2 or more total damage, add 1 Blight. If the island's Blight supply runs out, the Blight Card is flipped, often triggering severe ongoing penalties.

Build — In every land on the second Invader card, Invaders build: if there are more Towns than Cities, add a City; otherwise add a Town. If no Invaders are present in a land, nothing is built.

Explore — Flip the top card of the Invader Deck. In every land that is adjacent to a City, Town, or the Ocean (coastlines), add 1 Explorer.

Advance all Invader cards one step (Explore card → Build position → Ravage position; the old Ravage card is discarded).

4. Slow Power Phase

Resolve all Slow Powers (marked with a turtle), in any order.

5. Time Passes

Discard all played Power cards to personal discard piles. Remove Damage markers from all lands.

Powers

Powers target specific lands and have elements (Sun, Moon, Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Plant, Animal) associated with them. Collecting elements across your played cards unlocks bonus effects on your Spirit Panel's Presence track and on cards themselves. Powers can: push or gather pieces, add Presence, deal damage, add Blight (to your own island, strategically), generate Fear, prevent Builds or Explores, or protect Dahan.

Minor Powers are drawn from a shared deck; Major Powers are more powerful but require you to Forget one of your existing Power cards permanently when gained.

Fear and Victory

Every time you destroy a Town or City, you generate Fear markers. When enough Fear is generated to fill the current Fear card, flip it — its effect triggers immediately and you advance Terror Level (1 → 2 → 3). At Terror Level 3, many Fear cards themselves represent victory conditions (e.g., "if all Invader Cards have been played, Spirits win"). Check after each Fear card is earned.

Branch & Claw (expansion content)

Branch & Claw adds four types of island tokens (Beasts, Wilds, Disease, Strife) and an Event Deck. Each Invader Phase, one Event card is drawn and resolved before Ravage, adding positive and negative surprises. The tokens interact with new Power cards, Spirits, and the Adversary:

• Beasts — Wild animals that deal damage during Ravage.
• Wilds — Prevent Explore in their land.
• Disease — Prevent Build in their land.
• Strife — Attached to an Invader; that piece deals reduced damage.

Branch & Claw also adds 2 new Spirits (Sharp Fangs Behind the Leaves and Keeper of the Forbidden Wilds), a new Adversary (France), new Scenarios, and additional Minor/Major Power cards. Playing with a Blight Card is required when using Branch & Claw content.

Key Rules

• Spirits are not constrained to their starting island board — Powers can affect any land with their Presence, or within range.
• Dahan are not your pieces — they are natives you protect. They fight back during Ravage automatically.
• Damage does not persist between phases; it is removed at the end of each turn.
• Sacred Sites (lands with 2+ Presence) unlock certain Power options.

At the Table

Coordinate with your fellow Spirits constantly. Prioritize stopping Ravages in heavily Dahan-populated or Blight-prone lands. Generate Fear to accelerate your Terror Level — higher Terror Levels make victory conditions easier to trigger.