Forbidden Desert is a cooperative board game developed by Matt Leacock and published by Gamewright Games. It is a sequel to the game Forbidden Island. It is also available on mobile.
Premise
Legend tells of an ancient technologically advanced civilization hidden deep within the desert. According to the legend, the civilization was capable of creating a solar-powered airship. Two to five players represent a group of explorers flying over the desert in search of ruins. However, as they're exploring the desert, their helicopter is caught in a desert storm, and they crash into the desert. While the explorers survived, they must now search the desert and find the airship, or they will be stuck in the desert forever.
Setup
Each player receives one role card, which explains what actions they can take, as well as their role's special ability. Each player also receives a water meter marker, which they use to represent the level of water they have in their canteens. The board is created with 24 desert tiles placed in a 5 x 5 formation, with a space in the center of the board, representing the storm. All desert tiles are facing the same direction. 8 sand markers are placed on the board in a diamond formation. All player markers start at the crash site. The level of difficulty (Novice, Normal, Extreme, Legendary) is selected, and the storm meter marker is placed on the corresponding level of the storm meter. The gear deck and storm deck are shuffled, and they, along with the airship, airship pieces, and sand markers, are placed off to the side.
Gameplay
The thirstiest player goes first, and turns move clockwise. The current player can take up to 4 normal actions, or one free action. The same type of action can be done more than once during that turn. Actions include: Moving: A player can move to a neighboring desert tile, but not diagonally. Players may only move across desert tiles with fewer than 2 sand markers on them. Tiles with 2 or more sand markers are considered blocked. Dig: A player may remove a sand tile from a desert tile that they are on or adjacent to (but not diagonally). Collect an airship piece: If a player is on an excavated tile with one or zero sand tiles, the player may pick up the airship piece and place it on the airship. Excavate: If a player is on a desert tile without sand, the player may flip over the tile. Give Water(Free Action): A player that is on the same tile as another may drop one water level, so the other will gain one water level(players cannot go above their maximum water level). Some tiles have a special icon on them, and may have special effects when excavated. These icons include: Tunnels: Tunnels help protect players from losing water when a Sun Beats Down card is drawn. Additionally. If two or more tunnels have been excavated, and have less than two sand markers on them, the players may move from one tile tunnel to another, regardless of their position on the board. Gear: When a desert tile is excavated, and the tile has a gear icon on it, the player who excavated the desert tile will receive a gear card from the gear deck. Airship Clue: There are 8 tiles marked with an airship piece, as well as a set of arrows, which represent which row/column an airship piece is located. When both the row and column tiles for an airship piece have been excavated, the corresponding airship piece will be placed at the row/column intersection. If the location for the piece would be in the storm, it will move to the next desert tile that would replace the storm at that location. Oasis/Mirage: There are 3 desert tiles which are marked with a water drop. Two of them contain an oasis underneath, and one of them is barren. If a player excavates a tile, and an oasis is underneath, all players on that tile receive 2 water levels(but cannot go past their maximum water level). Launch Pad: When all 4 Airship parts have been collected, and all players are on the launchpad, the game is over, and the player wins.