# Cooper Island

Cooper Island is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 60–120 minutes and is meant for ages 12 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 3. It is rated 7.7 out of 10 by 48 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $52.49 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 60–120 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 12+
- **Complexity:** 4.2 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2019
- **Categories:** Exploration, Nautical
- **Mechanics:** Worker Placement, Worker Placement, Different Worker Types, Income, Turn Order: Claim Action, Layering, Tile Placement
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.7 out of 10, from 48 reviews
- **Owned by:** 115 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 266
- **Unique players:** 208

**Designers:** Andreas Odendahl

**Artists:** Javier González Cava

**Publishers:** Frosted Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cardhaus Games | 52.49 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/cooper-island/ |
| Alphaspel | 299 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/348685-cooper-island |
| Svet deskovych her | 860 Kč | https://www.svet-deskovych-her.cz/produkty/7486/cooper-island-de |
| Games Empire | 69.99 $ | https://gamesempire.com.au/products/cooperisland |
| Mono de Juegos | 49.95 € | https://www.monodejuegos.shop/juego-de-mesa/cooper-island/ |
| Zatu Games | 42.99 £ | https://zatu.com/products/cooper-island |
| World of Board Games | 699 kr | https://www.worldofboardgames.com/cooper-island |
| Spielezar | 64.9 Fr. | https://www.spielezar.ch/brettspiele/cooper-island |
| Game Ninja | 799 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/cooper-island/ |
| TLAMA games | 1849 Kč | https://www.tlamagames.com/deskove-hry/cooper-island/ |
| Fantasiapelit | 91 € | https://www.fantasiapelit.com/index.php?main=ai&kat=single&mista=indeksi&etsittava=_201791 |

## Expansions

- [Cooper Island: New boats](https://www.ludoya.com/games/cooper-island-new-boats)
- [Cooper Island: Solo Against Cooper](https://www.ludoya.com/games/cooper-island-solo-against-cooper)
- [Cooper Island: The Skilled Workers](https://www.ludoya.com/games/cooper-island-the-skilled-workers)

## Similar games

- [Darwin's Journey](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey)
- [Underwater Cities](https://www.ludoya.com/games/underwater-cities)
- [Chimera Station](https://www.ludoya.com/games/chimera-station)
- [Village: Big Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/village-big-box)
- [Nippon: Zaibatsu](https://www.ludoya.com/games/nippon-zaibatsu)
- [From the Moon](https://www.ludoya.com/games/from-the-moon)
- [Vasco da Gama](https://www.ludoya.com/games/vasco-da-gama)
- [Village](https://www.ludoya.com/games/village)
- [Nusfjord](https://www.ludoya.com/games/nusfjord)
- [The Great Wall](https://www.ludoya.com/games/the-great-wall-2)
- [Jisogi: Anime Studio Tycoon](https://www.ludoya.com/games/jisogi-anime-studio-tycoon)
- [Anachrony](https://www.ludoya.com/games/anachrony)

## Rules questions

### Where can I place an islet tile during the income phase?

Place the islet's landscape on an uncharted space that is adjacent to at least one existing landscape and not occupied by a ruin, and place the islet half onto a water space covering only half of its sand bank (you may not cover the sand bank completely). After placement you put one resource cube on the landscape and may perform the islet action; in the very first income phase the islet must go to the water space to the right of your harbor (see rulebook p.10).

### Can I place a double landscape tile on a space that already has resource cubes or a building on it?

No — when placing a double landscape tile on top of existing landscape spaces, those spaces must not be occupied by any item (for example resource cubes or buildings). You can use the Storage anytime action to move cubes to your storage spots before placing (see rulebook pp.11 and 20).

### When I cover existing spaces with a double tile, does the settlement piece have to match the underlying terrain?

No — settlement spaces are the exception and may be placed onto any landscape type, while forest/meadow/mountain must match the underlying type and the two targeted spaces must have the same cultivation level (see rulebook p.11).

### On high mountains can I take gold instead of stone when placing tiles?

Yes — on mountain spaces of cultivation level 3 or higher you may mine gold instead of placing a stone cube, choosing either one when you place the tile (see rulebook p.11).

### When I gain helm points what exactly happens with ship movement, islets and harbors?

Choose one sail ship and spend all helm points on it; passing over an islet immediately triggers that islet's action, landing on a bay water space gives a log book token and its action, and landing in a harbor gives a log book token but also requires paying a harbor fee or taking an anchor (anchors stop that ship from moving until removed by spending helm points); helm points from one gain cannot be split between ships (see rulebook p.16).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/cooper-island)
- [Cooper Island in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/cooper-island)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/269511)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._