How Do You Play Forbidden Sky (5 Minute Guide)

Forbidden Sky is a 2-5 player cooperative, tile placing board game brought to us by Matt Leacock and publisher Gamewright. This high stakes adventure is the third in the Forbidden series, after Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert. As the name suggests, the story has taken us to the dangerous and stormy skies, and collaborative strategy is the key to survival! Whether you’ve played a game in the series before or you’re a fresh face to the franchise, we can get you started in lightning-strike speed.

If you don’t own Forbidden Sky already, check it out here on Amazon.

GAMEPLAY

Objective:

In Forbidden Sky, your objective is to build a complete electric circuit using a combination of small and large capacitors, lightning rods, and wires. You must ultimately connect this circuit to a rocket launch pad, using the force of the storm around you to power your escape. This must all be done while surviving the perils of the storm, and all players must be present on the launch pad when it is connected.

Setup:

Forbidden Sky comes with a starting grid of four connected tiles. If this is your first time opening the game, you will need to assemble the small wind compass arrow through the provided hole on the grid, and snap the bottom connector into place to secure it.

Place the starting grid in the center of your playing area. Position the wind compass arrow pointing downwards, and note the yellow square with the lightning bolt on the lower portion of the grid. This square signifies a lightning rod can be placed, so place a yellow rod on the grid.

Set remaining plastic components to the side of the playing area: the small capacitors, large capacitors, lightning rods, launch pad, and wires. Also set to the side your large stack of square tile pieces, within reach of all players.

Now set up the storm. Place the red tracking clip on the storm meter according to the number of players, as shown by icons on the meter itself. These color ranges depict how many Storm cards will be drawn during the players’ turns.

There are four types of cards in Forbidden Sky: Storm cards, Equipment cards, Adventurer cards, and Blueprint cards. Set the Storm and Equipment card decks in the center of the playing area so all players can reach. The front and back of the Blueprint cards depict the minimum required components you will need to complete the circuit, creating 4 overall difficulties. Decide which you wish to follow, lay it on the table for easy reference, and then return the extra Blueprint card to the box.

All players now select one random Adventurer card. Return leftover cards to the box. Each Adventurer has a unique ability, so go over those now. Take two black clips and slide them onto your Adventurer card at the top of your health meter and rope meter, respectively.

Each player places a pawn matching their Adventurer’s color onto the landing pad tile of the starting grid, directly beneath the compass arrow tile. Give each player one square tile piece, face up, and now set up is complete!

Order of Turns:

Whoever last traveled by air in your group is first and play continues to the left. Each turn follows the same cycle:

Player takes up to 4 actions: Move, Scout, Explore, or Wire. Any combination of the 4.
After taking their 4 actions, the player draws and resolves Storm cards equal to the Storm meter’s intensity.

Actions:

Move: Player moves their pawn up, down, left, or right. Diagonally is not allowed. Players can only move to tiles connected by platforms.
Scout: Player draws 1 square tile and places it face-up in their hand. Players may only have 3 tiles max in their hand.
Explore: Player places a tile onto the platform. Tile must be adjacent to the tile the player’s pawn is on. Newly placed tiles can be rotated but must have at least one printed copper wire connected to one printed copper wire on the current tile.
- If the tile you place has a lightning rod symbol, place a lightning rod there immediately.
- If the tile you place completes a color-filled circle, place the matching circuit component over it.
Wire: Player adds a physical wire piece to a circuit component on their pawn’s tile to another circuit component. Short or long pieces can be used. If a piece does not reach, the wire cannot go there.
- Each component may only have two physical wire connections.
- Player may instead remove a physical wire during this action.

Drawing Storm cards:

After the player takes their 4 actions, they must draw the storm meter dictated number of storm cards and resolve them immediately.

Lightning Strikes! Qty: 6 cards. When drawn, all lightning rods in play are struck by lightning. Any player on a lightning rod tile receives 1 “jolt” and must move their health clip down one. Jolts travel through any copper wires attached to lightning rods, printed and physical, so any player on a wire-connected tile also receives 1 jolt. If a player’s health clip reaches the red skull, they have died and everyone loses the game.
Winds Change: Qty: 2 cards. These change the direction of the wind. Move the compass arrow accordingly.
High Winds: Qty: 4 cards. When drawn, all characters are “blown” over 1 tile space in the direction of the compass arrow. If there is no tile there, or a gap of clouds between platforms, the player does not move and instead loses 1 rope point. Slide the rope clip down accordingly. If a player’s rope clip reaches the red skull, their rope snaps and everyone loses the game.
Storm Intensifies: Qty: 3 cards. When drawn, move the red clip of the storm meter up by one.

Additional Tile Symbols:

Teleporter: Hexagon shape with teal lines. For 1 action cost, Players can move between any tiles with this symbol.
Gears: Gear shape. When Player place a tile with this symbol, they may draw an Equipment card. Most Equipment can be used at any time, but cannot reverse or interrupt storm effects.
Wind Shelter: Blue circular shape. Pawns on this tile are not affected by High Winds cards.
Faraday Cage: Gray circular shape with red center. Pawns on this tile are not affected by Lightning Strikes! cards.

Winning the Game:

Once all necessary circuit components have been built and wired to each other (with the exception of the final wire needed to connect to the launch pad for take off) place the rocket onto the launch pad. All players must now move to the 4 tiles of the launch pad. The final step will be one player adding the final wire to complete the circuit. With the circuit complete, the rocket launches and the game is won!

Losing the Game:

There are 4 ways to lose the game.

Electrocution. If any player’s health reaches the red skull.
Falling. If any player’s rope snaps.
Swept away. If the storm meter reaches the red skull.
Abandoned. If the rocket is launched before all players reach the launch pad.