Spirit Island: Branch & Claw

2017 · Fighting

Spirit Island: Branch & Claw

Adds new spirits, adversary options, and mechanics that expand the base game’s ecosystem and threats. Introduces two playable spirits with unique powers, a new adversary, and an Event step during the Invader Phase to inject per-turn variability. Provides new tokens representing Wilds, Disease, Strife, and Beasts that block or aid invaders and interact with many new Power cards (31 Minor, 21 Major), along with additional Fear, Blight, and Scenario cards to increase replay options.

Players
1–4 best 2
Playing time
90–120 min
Age
14+
Complexity
4.2 / 5
9 on Ludoyafrom $26.95Expansion for Base-gameFantasyOpen DraftingModular BoardCooperative Game

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On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
138
Plays logged
30
Players
1h 26m
Average play
199
In collections
8
On wishlists
1
Pre-ordered

9.0/10

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

When during the Invader Phase do we draw and resolve an Event card — before or after Ravage/Fear?

Each Invader Phase you draw and resolve one Event Card after applying any Blighted Island effect and before resolving Earned Fear Cards and the Ravage/Build/Explore steps (see new turn order). (p.8, p.24)

If a land has a Wilds or Disease token, do Invaders still Explore or Build there?

Wilds prevents the next Explore into that land and is removed instead of Explorers entering; Disease prevents the next Build in that land and is removed instead of a Build occurring. (p.10, examples p.12–13, summary p.24)

How does Strife work — does it stop damage and when is the token removed?

Strife is placed under a specific Invader and causes that Invader to deal exactly 0 damage the next time it would Damage Dahan and/or the land, and the Strife is then removed; it applies after individual modifiers and is removed when the Damage is dealt (e.g., during Ravage before the Dahan fight back). (p.11, example p.13, summary p.24)

What if there are multiple (or no) Invader cards on an Action space — do we do the action more than once?

If an Action space has no cards you skip that Action; if it has multiple cards you perform the Action once per card (resolving them in the order they arrived, bottom/first card first), and stacked cards advance together on the track. (p.14)

On a Choice Event that says “Aided by [Element]”, how can Spirits pay that cost?

An “Aided by” cost can be met by Forgetting power cards that grant that Element (+4 Energy each), discarding power cards from hand that grant it (+2 Energy each), or counting +1 Energy per relevant Element you have in play; each power card may only be used for one of those bonuses. (p.9, p.24)

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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.