# Spirit Island: Branch & Claw

Spirit Island: Branch & Claw is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 90–120 minutes and is meant for ages 14 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 2. It is rated 9 out of 10 by 18 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $26.95 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–4 (best with 2)
- **Playing time:** 90–120 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 14+
- **Complexity:** 4.2 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2017
- **Categories:** Fantasy, Expansion for Base-game, Fighting, Mythology
- **Mechanics:** Hand Management, Variable Player Powers, Modular Board, Cooperative Game, Open Drafting, Simultaneous Action Selection
- **Ludoya rating:** 9 out of 10, from 18 reviews
- **Owned by:** 201 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 139
- **Unique players:** 30

**Designers:** R. Eric Reuss

**Artists:** Jorge Ramos, Nolan Nasser, Lucas Durham, Loïc Billiau, Kat G Birmelin, Rocky Hammer, Shane Tyree, Jason Behnke, Graham Sternberg, Adam Rebottaro, Joshua Wright (I), Cari Corene, Sydni Kruger, Moro Rogers

**Publishers:** Greater Than Games, LLC

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cardhaus Games | 26.95 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/spirit-island-branch-claw/ |
| Rampi Games | 29.71 € | https://www.rampigames.com/juego-de-mesa/spirit-island-branch-claw/ |
| Mathom | 35.16 € | https://mathom.es/es/spirit-island/47264-spirit-island-branch-claw-8421005001311.html |
| Ludifolie | 26.9 € | https://www.ludifolie.com/7859-spirit-island-de-branches-et-de-griffes.html |
| Philibert | 26.95 € | https://philibertnet.com/fr/intrafin/78905-spirit-island-branch-claw-5425037740302.html |
| World of Board Games | 325 kr | https://www.worldofboardgames.com/spirit-island-branch-och-claw-exp |
| Zatu Games | 24.99 £ | https://zatu.com/products/branch-claw-expansion-spirit-island |
| Good Games | 49 $ | https://www.goodgames.com.au/products/spirit-island-branch-and-claw-expansion |
| Games Empire | 56.99 $ | https://gamesempire.com.au/products/spirit-island-branch-claw |
| Zacatrus | 35.95 € | https://zacatrus.es/spirit-island-branch-claw.html |
| Alphaspel | 429 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/78105-spirit-island-branch-claw |
| Game Ninja | 429 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/spirit-island-feather-flame/ |
| Mono de Juegos | 40 € | https://www.monodejuegos.shop/juego-de-mesa/spirit-island-branch-claw/ |
| Uplay | 40.99 € | https://www.uplay.it/it/gioco-da-tavolo-spirit-island--branch---claw.html |

## Rules questions

### 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)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/spirit-island-branch-and-claw)
- [Spirit Island: Branch & Claw in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/spirit-island-branch-and-claw)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/193065)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-24. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._