"Soar to dizzying heights in this electrifying cooperative adventure! Work as a team to explore a mysterious platform that floats at the center of a savage storm. Connect a circuit of cables to launch a secret rocket - all before you are struck by lightning or blown off to the depths below. It’s a high-wire act that will test your team’s capacity for courage and cooperation. One false step and you all could be grounded… permanently!"
I played Forbidden Sky which is the third game in the Forbidden series from Gamewright. Like Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert, it is a game with tiles, but this time you are laying tiles. You find yourself on a floating platform in a stormy sky. You must piece together the platform to uncover a rocket ship and create a closed circuit to power the ship and get off the platform.
Let's ignore the fact that it says it is 2-5 players. It is most definitely a soloable game. I think it plays better with just one player using two characters that have different abilities.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
You start out on a starting grid with a compass that shows the direction the wind is blowing and one Lightning Rod. You choose the level of difficulty on a card. I chose the Normal difficulty which says I would need at least one launch pad with the rocket ship, 2 large capacitors, 3 small capacitors, and 3 lighting rods that have to be all part of the circuit to power the ship by connecting them all by short or long wires. See picture above.
Each character has Health and Rope and a unique ability like the other Forbidden games. They get wounded by lightning striking the lightning rod and lose rope if the wind blows them off the tile.
Each character have 4 actions per turn. Scout (take a tile from the the deck), Move 1 tile, Explore (place a tile down), and Wire (which adds a wire to connect capacitors, lightning rods and launch pad together). Here I already placed a few tiles and even able to place 3 small capacitors.
The orange Lightning Rod was already on the starting tile. When connecting the tiles, you need to connect at least one gold line together. Some tiles have icons like a gear would give you an equipment card which helps, a teleporter where you can teleport to another teleporter tile, a Wind tunnel would protect you from the Wind, and a Faraday cage icon that protects you from Lightning.
At the end of the round, you draw from the Storm deck. Depending on the level on the Storm Intensity meter will determine the number of cards you draw. In image above, I only draw 1 card, but I am close to drawing two. The Storm Intensifies card that was drawn would move the level upwards. When the level reaches the top, you lose.
There would be Lightning strike which zaps the Lightning rod and any tiles connected by gold lines or wires. Any character on those tiles would get wounded. High Winds blow characters to another tile and the compass on the starter tile will determine the direction. Winds Change would change the direction of the wind on the compass.
As you can see, I place more tiles and connected 3 small capacitors on the left. I placed a large capacitor and another Lightning Rod. You can see a partial red circle. When I complete it, that is where the Launch pad with the Rocket ship would be placed. There I need to create a closed circuit.
So here I almost completed the circuit with the Rocket Ship. Make sure all the characters are on a tike touching the launch pad before connecting the last wire to the ship. You lose if everyone doesn't escape.
Now I completed the circuit. I won the game with more than the minimum Normal requirements of one launchpad, 2 large capacitors, 3 small capacitors, and 3 lightning rods. Below is what happens when you close the circuit. I had to add more since the wires couldn't reach. You only get two sizes.
So this was a fun game which only took 30 minutes to play. I like the puzzle aspect of this game like the other Forbidden games in the series. It has a lot of replayability. I don't think it was as challenging as Forbidden Island or Desert, but I will play this more often. Now I have to get my daughter to play with me.
For a more comprehensive look at the rules, click here.