One of the most complex games I own, but all of the rules and mechanics feel natural and flow nicely. Having so many options to play and having to think and plan future turns ahead make for rewarding gameplay. Best played solo or two player. 3 or 4 player works well, but it will slow the game down as everyone needs to play collaboratively to win.

This game is super fun and has many variations and increasing challenges.Shipping was also really fast with Watchtower. The game looked like it was packaged with care. I had never heard of Watchtower before purchasing this game, and there weren't many reviews online so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out great and I'd totally get more board games here!

Superb game, solo & co-op. Original theme, with a wide variety of asymmetric spirits for you to choose each game and find your favourites and see how they work together. There is little randomness (just enough) so the complexity comes in thinking ahead to combat the biggest threats in the best way. It's a puzzle.This base game comes with tons of replayability due to the spirits, the different island tiles, the variety of powers, three adversaries and four scenarios!The expansions (particularly Jagged Earth) offer a MASSIVE additional dose of replayability. If you get all the expansions I honestly don't think you'll be able to exhaust the game, even just from the variety and complexity of the spirits alone.

This game is a real challenge bc there are so many rules and components and eays to lose. But once you commit the rules to memory and figure out how to make your fast and slow movements work across all your god characters in round, it's a very exciting co-op experience. The art is also just beautiful, which keeps you engaged, along with the cleverness of the mechanics for each god's abilities. You play as a set of gods trying to protect an island from being overrun by settlers. You work together to keep the settlers at bay and keep the locals fearing your power. There's a lot to it, and It can be a hard game to wrap your head around, but it makes for such great game play I think it's worth the effort especially for couples who enjoy a good game night together.

Wow! Is this a beautiful game! Super challenging but a thrill to play. I will earn you this is not an easy game to learn. There are quite a few rules but once you get them down it's a beautiful game to have. You are playing as spirits of an island that are desperately trying to scare off invaders as they pillage the land. There are a ton of ways to lose this game, so your first few playthroughs will be a challenge and you'll have to eaen your victory. It's a fun coop game which really interested me as I entered thw world of gaming because I hadn't heard of many games before that you wanna beat the game before it beats you. The art in this game is beautiful and all the spirits have a different set of challenges and powers you can use. Some easier to master than ... MoreWow! Is this a beautiful game! Super challenging but a thrill to play. I will earn you this is not an easy game to learn. There are quite a few rules but once you get them down it's a beautiful game to have. You are playing as spirits of an island that are desperately trying to scare off invaders as they pillage the land. There are a ton of ways to lose this game, so your first few playthroughs will be a challenge and you'll have to eaen your victory. It's a fun coop game which really interested me as I entered thw world of gaming because I hadn't heard of many games before that you wanna beat the game before it beats you. The art in this game is beautiful and all the spirits have a different set of challenges and powers you can use. Some easier to master than others. Weather you win or lose this game it'll be a blast to play!

A Fast Favorite

This game has a bit of a learning curve, but once you’ve got it down it’s so smooth and fun. I’ve played around 6 games now including two or three solo (none over two players yet). It takes some time to teach, but not too bad. Expect your first game to take around 2-3 hours until everything clicks.Fast-paced area control, a deck-building aspect, “fire fighting,” and micromanaging… what’s not to love?! There’s tons of characters to play and it’s so fun trying to make them work together to solve the puzzle and win. Very satisfying when you beat the game. I’ve got around 12 new strategy games this year and this is my favorite for solo and 2-player. Check it out!

Brilliant, in-depth cooperative game

Players control spirits on a small island being colonized by an foreign invader. They must work together to repel the invaders using a large deck of spiritual powers that can push, pull, harm, and frighten the unwelcome visitors. This game's crowning jewel is the asymmetry, as it comes with eight spirits that each boast radically different playstlyes and unique powers.

Great cooperative strategic game

I played 2 games with 3 players and 1 by myself, all with low difficulty, to understand how to play. I love the game already. It seems that we'll be able to play many times without feeling like it's gonna be repetitive: you can play a different spirit with different powers, against different enemies with different levels of difficulty, and adding scenarios for more changes, with 2 types of maps as well... And there are many different cards, so you'll never have the same hand. It's a lot of strategy, some cards can help you and change the game, but it's not relying on any dice or pure luck. You really have to work your way to victory!Love it, excited to play the many games to come.

Spirit Island (Core Game)

Awesome game. Really good bridge between those who don't like competitive games and those who like the challenge that tends to only come from those sorts of games. The wonderfully crafted elements of the game mean that you have to get to know what you're doing yourself and there can't just be one person telling everyone what to do otherwise their head might spin and/or the game would take a whole lot longer. Basically, it's a really good collaboration game that is actually collaborative...!If you like the game, you can't really get bored. It takes a lot of getting to know the game to progress to the upper levels of complexity and you can shape the spirits in different ways (especially the higher complexity ones) not to mention that you can apply scenarios and make ... MoreAwesome game. Really good bridge between those who don't like competitive games and those who like the challenge that tends to only come from those sorts of games. The wonderfully crafted elements of the game mean that you have to get to know what you're doing yourself and there can't just be one person telling everyone what to do otherwise their head might spin and/or the game would take a whole lot longer. Basically, it's a really good collaboration game that is actually collaborative...!If you like the game, you can't really get bored. It takes a lot of getting to know the game to progress to the upper levels of complexity and you can shape the spirits in different ways (especially the higher complexity ones) not to mention that you can apply scenarios and make the invaders come from historical invader empires.

The best co-op game for a reason

I had always seen this on top of best game lists, and I see why. The game flow is SO clean and tight. I am a big fan of Root and this was a similar style game. But what's great is it's co-op. So instead of my friends dreading playing for 2-3 hours just to lose, we get excited to replay and can all win together. Also, it's easy to scale on difficulty!The rules can be hard to grok, so make sure to give yourself grace to learn. There are FAQs online to address frequently mistaken rules for beginners. For example, blight only removes ONE presence, energy persists across turns, etc.