Spirit Island

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Gameplay Overview ........................................................................................................................... 3
How to Read this Rulebook ........................................................................................................... 3
First-Time Players .................................................................................................................................. 3
Components ........................................................................................................................................................... 4
Game Setup ........................................................................................................................................................... 6
Invader Board .......................................................................................................................................... 6
The Island and Supply ...................................................................................................................... 6
Player Setup .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Invaders’ Starting Action ................................................................................................................. 6
Sequence of Play ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Spirit Phase ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Fast Power Phase ................................................................................................................................... 8
Invader Phase .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Slow Power Phase .............................................................................................................................. 10
Time Passes ............................................................................................................................................. 10
Game Concepts ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Victory and Defeat ............................................................................................................................. 12
Fear and Terror ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Boards and Lands .............................................................................................................................. 13
Presence and Sacred Sites ............................................................................................................ 13
Energy and Card Plays ................................................................................................................... 13
Spirits ............................................................................................................................................................ 14
Invaders ...................................................................................................................................................... 15
Blight ............................................................................................................................................................. 15
The Dahan ............................................................................................................................................... 16
Powers .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Single-Turn Effects .............................................................................................................................. 17
Gaining Power Cards ........................................................................................................................ 18
Power and Fear Effects ................................................................................................................... 18
Tips & Tricks ........................................................................................................................................................ 20
Streamlining Gameplay ............................................................................................................... 20
Basic Strategy ........................................................................................................................................ 21
Gameplay Options ......................................................................................................................................... 22
Solo Player Mode .............................................................................................................................. 22
Adversaries .............................................................................................................................................. 22
Scenarios ................................................................................................................................................... 23
Thematic Map ...................................................................................................................................... 23
Scoring ....................................................................................................................................................... 23
Lore ............................................................................................................................................................................ 24
The Story Thus Far ............................................................................................................................ 24
The Enemy Advances ..................................................................................................................... 26
Reference ............................................................................................................................................................... 28
Adversary & Scenario Difficulty Chart ............................................................................... 28
Credits ......................................................................................................................................................... 28
Design Notes ......................................................................................................................................... 29
Glossary/Index .................................................................................................................................... 30
You are powerful Spirits of the natural world, existing on an isolated Island. Invaders from beyond the known sea
have recently begun their colonization of your Island, killing the native Islanders - a people called the Dahan - and
upsetting the natural balance. The Spirits of the Island must grow in power and throw back the Invaders before the
Island is blighted beyond hope of recovery!
GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW
Spirit Island is a cooperative game for 1-4 players where each player is a Spirit of nature, defending their Island from invading colonists
who have little regard for the well-being of the land or its native inhabitants, the Dahan. Every turn, all Spirits act simultaneously,
employing Powers to push the Invaders back, bolster the Island, and aid the Dahan. But the Spirits start out small and limited, and
will have to learn some new tricks in order to catch up to the rapidly expanding Invaders, whose Actions (automated by the game)
drive them to spread across the Island and establish settlements, spreading Blight in their path. To win, the Spirits (with the help of the
Dahan) must destroy the Invaders and scare away any survivors. However, the game will end in defeat if the Island is overrun by Blight,
if any Spirit is destroyed completely, or if you act too slowly and fail to drive the Invaders off before they become entrenched.
Once you know the game, Spirit Island takes about 90-120 minutes to play - slightly shorter for games with 1-2 players, slightly longer
for games with 4.
HOW TO READ THIS RULEBOOK
The rules are divided into three major sections: Game Setup, Sequence of Play, and Game Concepts. Read Game Setup first. Then
read Sequence of Play and Game Concepts in the order that best suits your learning style. Sequence of Play will introduce you to the
overall game structure while Game Concepts drills down into individual game mechanics.
FIRST-TIME PLAYERS
Spirit Island is a complex game with many moving parts. The first time or two you play, you should:
• Choose a low-complexity Spirit. (Lightning’s Swift Strike, Vital Strength of the Earth, River Surges in Sunlight, or Shadows Flicker
Like Flame.) Of these four, Shadows Flicker Like Flame is the trickiest.
• Take the Power Progression Card for your Spirit. Set aside all the Minor and Major Powers listed on the card. During the game,
when you gain a new Power Card, add the next Power Card on the list to your hand instead of using the standard method.
If everyone is playing the game for the first time, also:

• Don’t use a Blight Card. Instead, use the pre-printed Blight space on the board.
• Don’t use an Adversary or Scenario. They increase difficulty and add additional rules.
Whenever your group is ready for a more challenging game, we recommend the Kingdom of Brandenburg-Prussia as a good first
Adversary - it mostly modifies Setup rather than introducing new rules. The Kingdoms of England and Sweden involve more
fundamental changes to how the Invaders work.
3
COMPONENTS
INVADER BOARD
FEAR DECK PER PLAYER
4 MODULAR ISLAND BOARDS 8 SPIRIT PANELS
VICTORY
DESTROYING A GENERATES 1
WHEN REVEALED
EARNED FEAR CARDS BLIGHT
GENERATED
FEAR
SPIRIT ISLAND PHASE ORDER

INVADER PHASE IF THERE IS EVER
SPIRIT PHASE Blighted Island NO BLIGHT HERE,
Growth Fear YOU LOSE
Gain Energy Ravage TIME PASSES per player
Build THE GAME.
Choose Powers
Explore
Advance Invader Cards
DISCARD
FEAR DISCARD RAVAGE BUILD EXPLORE
36 DAHAN 20 CITIES 32 TOWNS 40 EXPLORERS 38 BLIGHT
52 SPIRIT PRESENCE 12 SINGLE-TURN EFFECT MARKERS

(13 OF EACH IN 4 COLORS) (3 OF EACH IN 4 COLORS)
8 PLAYER AID CARDS 4 POWER PROGRESSION CARDS
32 ENERGY MARKERS 20 FEAR MARKERS

(20 1-ENERGY MARKERS)
(12 3-ENERGY MARKERS)
4
15 FEAR CARDS 2 TERROR LEVEL DIVIDERS 2 BLIGHT CARDS
FEAR OF THE UNSEEN
BLIGHTED ISLAND
Each player removes 1 /
from a land with . DOWNWARD SPIRAL
At the start of each Invader Phase
each Spirit destroys 1 of their .
Each player removes 1 /

from a land with .
5 per player
Any removed from
Each player removes 1 / from a land the board returns here.
with , or 1 from a land with .
If there is ever NO here,
players lose.
15 INVADER CARDS 22 MAJOR POWER CARDS 36 MINOR POWER CARDS 32 UNIQUE POWER CARDS
3 ADVERSARY PANELS 3 ADVERSARY REMINDER TILES

4 SCENARIO PANELS
5
GAME SETUP
For most games of Spirit Island, Setup proceeds as below. However, when setting up Spirit Island
using an Adversary and/or Scenario, select them first, as they can change how the game is set up.
INVADER BOARD
To set up the Invader Board:

1. Place the Invader Board on one side of the play area.
2. Put 4 Fear Markers per player into the Fear Pool.
3. Shuffle the Fear Cards and put 9 on the Fear Deck space. Place the “Terror Level 3” divider 3
cards from the bottom and the “Terror Level 2” divider 3 cards above that, so the deck is divided
into 3 groups of 3 cards each.
The Fear Deck should look like this when splayed out. 4. Make the Invader Deck and put it on the Invader Board on the Explore Action Space (see
sidebar).
MAKING THE INVADER DECK 5. Take a random Blight Card and place it on top of the Blight Space on the board, “Healthy
The Invader Deck is 12 cards: Island” side up, without looking at the back. If you are not using a Blight Card, use the Blight
• 3 Stage I cards on top, then instructions printed on the Invader Board instead. Place the shown amount of Blight onto the
• 4 Stage II cards, then card.
• 5 Stage III cards on the bottom.
Mix up the cards from each Stage and choose THE ISLAND AND SUPPLY
without looking at them, putting unused cards
back in the box. (The game comes with 4 Stage I To set up the Island:
cards, 5 Stage II cards, and 6 Stage III cards, so • Randomly pick one Island Board per player and arrange them to form the Island (see sidebar).
you can just remove one of each.) • Populate the Island Boards with Invaders, Dahan, and Blight (from the box, not the Blight
Card) as indicated by the icons in each land.
To set up the Supply:
• Shuffle the Minor and Major Power Decks. Put them near the board with room for each deck to
have a discard pile.
• Put the Energy, Cities, Towns, Explorers, and the Dahan near the board. Make sure all players
can reach them; you may need multiple piles.
PLAYER SETUP
2-PLAYER MAP
Each player takes all Spirit Presence and Single-Turn Effect Markers of one color, then chooses a
Spirit by taking a Spirit Panel and its four Unique Power Cards, which is their starting hand. New
players should choose a low-complexity Spirit and take its Power Progression Card, as described
on page 3.
Each player starts on a different Island Board and follows Setup instructions on the back of their
Spirit Panel. This always includes putting Presence into one or more lands on their starting board;
some Spirits have additional instructions. (Once the game begins, Spirits are not restricted to play
only on their starting board. Presence and Powers may be placed or used on any board.) Players
then flip their Spirit Panels and place all remaining Presence onto the dashed circles on their Presence
Tracks. The leftmost numbers with solid circles remain uncovered.
3-PLAYER MAP INVADERS’ STARTING ACTION
To finalize the Setup, the Invaders take an initial Action. Reveal the top card of the Invader Deck.
The Invaders Explore in that land type (see Explore, page 10). Then place that card face-up in the
“Build” Action Space.
4-PLAYER MAP SHOWN IN
FULL SETUP DIAGRAM
6
MAJOR
POWER
DISCARD
VICTORY
WHEN REVEALED
4-PLAYER GAME SETUP MINOR

(Not including an GENERATED
FEAR POWER
DISCARD
Adversary or Scenario.) SPIRIT ISLAND PHASE ORDER
Build THE GAME.
Choose Powers
Explore
PLAYER’S
DISCARD
DISCARD
PLAYER’S HAND
PLAYER’S HAND
AREA
PLAY
AREA
PLAY
PLAYER’S
DISCARD
PLAYER’S
DISCARD
PLAYER’S HAND
AREA
PLAY
PLAYER’S HAND
AREA
PLAY
PLAYER’S
DISCARD
7
SEQUENCE OF PLAY
Each turn has the following phases:
1. Spirit Phase
2. Fast Power Phase
3. Invader Phase
4. Slow Power Phase
5. Time Passes
Players play simultaneously within each phase, conferring as they wish. Table talk is not just allowed,
it’s likely necessary for victory!
SPIRIT PHASE
Each Spirit does three things, in the following order:

THE URGENCY OF WAR 1. Grow: Choose one option (unless stated otherwise) next to “Growth” at the upper-right of the
Some Spirits are inclined to take a long time Spirit Panel. Each section is a single choice. You must do everything shown, but may choose the
choosing Power Cards: perhaps several centuries in order. (For more on Growth options, see page 14.)
the case of slow-moving earth Spirits. But the threat 2. Gain Energy: Gain an amount of Energy equal to the highest uncovered number on your
of the Invaders forbids the luxury of infinite time. Energy Presence Track. Place any gained Energy on or near your Spirit Panel.
3. Play and Pay for Power Cards: Select the Power Cards (Fast and Slow) that you will use this
Any player may place a limit on the time available turn. The maximum number of Power Cards you can play each turn is the highest uncovered
to complete the Spirit Phase. This can be done using number on the Card Plays Presence Track (even if you have enough Energy to pay for more).
a timer, setting a condition (“When I get back, we You must immediately pay Energy for all Power Cards played, even Slow ones. Likewise, you
start”), or any other means desired. immediately gain all Elements from played Power Cards, even if the Powers’ effects are Slow.
Do not resolve the effects of the Power Cards yet.
Of course, as this is a cooperative game, it behooves
you to not be too draconian. FAST POWER PHASE
Players resolve Fast Powers - both Innate Powers printed on their Spirit Panel and Power Cards they
played. Power resolution can be done mostly simultaneously. When timing becomes important,
Powers may be resolved in whatever order the players want, so long as no Power interrupts another
WHO DECIDES? partway through.
When the game calls for a decision (where Blight
cascades to, which Invaders to do Damage to, etc)
If a player discovers they do not want to use a Power’s text effect (or cannot use it), they may
and it’s not specified who makes it, what do you do?
choose to skip it entirely. Sometimes, a Power Card will be worth playing purely for its Elements (see
Elements Gained, page 16).
If the decision springs from a Power, the Spirit using
the Power makes the decision.
You can’t delay using a Fast Power until the Slow Phase, even if you want to. Use it now or forego it.
For other situations, players should try come to a
consensus.
But in the rare event that agreement is not possible: EXAMPLE: Player 1 uses their Fast
Power to target a land without Blight where
• For decisions about/within a land: Each Spirit they have Presence (because the range is
makes choices regarding the lands on their 0) and Gathers 1 Explorer from an adjacent
starting board. land into it.
• For other cases: The game owner/organizer Player 2 then uses their Fast Power to target
makes the call. the same land and Gathers 1 Dahan into it.
Player 2 now destroys the Explorer Player 1
previously Gathered into the land with the
Player 1’s Card Player 2’s Card Dahan they just Gathered into the land.
8
INVADER PHASE
FEAR EARNED THROUGH
The Invader Phase has the following parts: FEAR EFFECTS
1. Blighted Island (once appropriate) Most Fear effects do not cause more Fear.
2. Fear They remove Invaders rather than Damaging
3. Invader Actions or destroying them. However, there are
3a. Ravage exceptions. If you do earn a new Fear Card this
3b. Build way, put it at the bottom of the stock of cards
3c. Explore you’re currently resolving.
4. Advance Invader Cards
1. BLIGHTED ISLAND EACH PLAYER

If the Blight Card has flipped to “Blighted Island”, follow the instructions there. If you have trouble Many Fear effects tell “each player” to do
remembering to do this, put a Blight from the box onto the Fear Space as a reminder. something. Players are restricted only by the
card’s instructions in which lands they affect;
2. FEAR the effect represents activity by the Invaders
If any Fear Cards have been earned (see Fear and Terror, page 12), pick up the whole face-down or Dahan, not the Spirits. First one player
stack, flip it over and resolve the cards one at a time in the order they were earned. Then discard follows the instructions fully, then the next
them to the Fear Discard Space on the board. Use only the effect listed next to the current Terror player does, etc.
Level. This could be higher than when the card was earned. Fear effects last only for the current
turn.
3. INVADER ACTIONS LAND ORDER?

The Invader Board has three Action Spaces: Ravage, Build, and Explore. The Invader Card in an If it makes a difference in what order you resolve
Action Space determines which lands will be affected by that Action. (If there is no Invader Card in the lands for a given Action, the players choose.
a space, no action is taken.)
3a. RAVAGE
Look at the Invader Card in the Ravage Action Space on the Invader Board (if any): the EFFECTS OF BLIGHT
Invaders Ravage in each land of the shown type only. First, Invaders deal Damage CASCADING: Whenever you add Blight to a land,
simultaneously to the land and Dahan. Then, any surviving Dahan fight back. if that land already had Blight, you must also add
additional Blight to one adjacent land. (If that adjacent
Whenever there are Invaders in the shown lands, Invaders deal Damage: 1 per Explorer, 2 per land already has Blight, it cascades again from there,
Town, and 3 per City. Reduce the total Damage by any Defend powers played (p. 18), then and so forth.)
simultaneously:
• Invaders Damage the Land: If 2 or more Damage is dealt, add a Blight to the land. (See PRESENCE: Adding Blight to a land destroys one
sidebar.) This only happens once, no matter how much Damage is dealt. Partial Damage Presence from each Spirit in that land. Remember:
to the land is ignored. destroyed Presence is removed from play (set next to
• Invaders Fight the Dahan: Every 2 points of Damage destroys one Dahan. You must the Island), not returned to the Spirit Panels!
destroy Dahan as efficiently as possible; you cannot disperse Damage among multiple
Dahan to avoid killing them. If a Dahan is dealt 1 Damage, turn it over to show that it is (For more on Blight, see page 15.)
Damaged. Any surviving Damaged Dahan will recover at the end of the turn.
After Invader Damage has been fully resolved in a land, any surviving Dahan there fight back.
Each Dahan deals 2 Damage to the Invaders. (See page 15 for Invaders’ Health.) The Dahan
will fight back even if the Ravaging Invaders deal no Damage (for example, due to Defend
Powers), but not if the Ravage Action has been skipped or stopped from happening altogether.
Spirit Presence does not fight back as Invaders do not directly attack the Spirits.
9
SEQUENCE OF PLAY
3b. BUILD
Look at the Invader Card in the Build Action Space on the Invader Board: the Invaders Build in
REMEMBER! each land of the shown type only.
Ravage, Build, and Explore affect only the land
type(s) shown on their cards! Ravage and Build Whenever there are Invaders in the specified type of land, they add either one City or one Town:
Actions only affect lands that have Invaders! Explore • If the land has more Towns than Cities, add a City. (You are not upgrading the Towns, you
only affect lands adjacent to a source of Invaders! FEAR DECK are adding a new City from the supply.)
PER PLAYER
• In all other cases, add a Town.
Do not Build in lands without Invaders.
STAGE II ESCALATION 3c. EXPLORE

Most Stage II cards have a flag icon. Turn the top card of the Invader Deck face-up. Invaders Explore in accessible lands of the shown
Its effect depends on your Adversary. type only, venturing forth from Towns and Cities or approaching from the Ocean. If the card has
If you are playing without an a flag icon and you are playing with an Adversary, first perform the Escalation effect (see
VICTORYsidebar). If there is no card toDESTROYING
turnA up, time has run out and you lose.
Adversary, ignore the flag icons. WHEN REVEALED

GENERATES 2
Escalation effects happen as soon Add an Explorer to every land of the shown type which either:
as the card is revealed, before • Contains a Town or City; or
Explore, unless the Adversary states • Is adjacent to a Town, City, or Ocean.
otherwise. Some may make changes No matter how many sources are in or adjacent to an Explored land, you only add one Explorer.
GENERATED
Explorers are added directly from the supply, not moved around on the board.
to how the upcoming Explore works. FEAR
4. ADVANCE INVADER CARDS
After Explore, slide all of the Invader SPIRIT ISLAND Cards
PHASE ORDERleft: Move the Ravage Card to the discard, the Build Card
SPIRIT PHASE
to the Ravage Space, and Growththe Explore Fear Card to the Build Space, so that next turnYOUthey
Blighted Island NO BLIGHT HERE,
will Ravage
STAGE III
LOSE
Gain Energy Ravage TIME PASSES
where they Built this turn and Build where they Explored this turn.
Build
per player THE GAME.
Choose Powers
Explore
Stage III cards show two terrains Advance Invader Cards
with a “+” between them. Invader

Actions affect lands of both shown
terrains.
DISCARD
SLOW POWER PHASE
Players resolve Slow Powers, which may be either Innate Powers printed on their Spirit Panel or Power
Cards they played. This works just like the “Fast Power Phase”, explained on page 8.
TIME PASSES
This is the wrap-up phase at the end of each turn.
Discard: Players discard all Power Cards played this turn into their personal discard piles.
Damage and Elements Clear: All Elements go away. All Damage done during the turn goes away; if
you turned any pieces on their sides to note partial Damage, turn them back.
If you’re using the reminder tokens for Single-Turn Effects, make sure to remove those at this time.
10
For these examples, the Ravage Action takes place
in Wetlands because of the Invader Card shown.
A) This Wetland has 2 Dahan, 1 Town, and 1 Explorer
RAVAGE EXAMPLES in it. The Town and Explorer deal a combined
Damage total of 3 (2 from the Town and 1 from the
A Explorer) to the land and to the Dahan.
(Step 1) 3 Damage to the land adds a Blight. 3

Damage to the Dahan destroys one of the Dahan
3 DAMAGE TOTAL and deals 1 Damage to the other.
(Step 2) Now it’s the Dahan’s turn to fight back,

dealing 2 Damage. The players choose to direct that
2 Damage at the Town, destroying it. This generates
Wetlands about to Ravage. Step 1 Step 2 1 Fear.
B) The City deals 3 Damage to the land; since at least

2 Damage was dealt to the land, it adds a Blight.
B Because Blight already exists here, the newly added
Blight causes a cascade: another Blight must be
added to an adjacent land of the players’ choosing.
Two of the available options are:
3 DAMAGE 3 DAMAGE
Option 1: The second Blight is added to land #2,
which was previously empty.
Option 2: The second Blight is added to land #7,

destroying 1 yellow Presence (meaning this land is
Option 1 Option 2 no longer a Sacred Site for yellow) and 1 purple
Presence (removing purple from the land entirely).
Option 1 is likely the better choice because it does

BUILD EXAMPLES not destroy any Presence.
A B For these examples, the Build Action takes place in

Mountains because of the Invader Card shown.
A) This land has more Towns than Cities, so a City is
Built here.
B) This land has only Explorers, which means it has
the same number of Town and Cities: zero.
Therefore, a Town is built here.
D C) This land has the same amount of Towns and Cities,
so a Town is Built here.
D) This land has no Invaders, so the Invaders do not
NO BUILD Build here.
C
EXPLORE EXAMPLES For these examples, the Explore Action takes place in
Jungles because of the Invader Card shown.
A A) This land includes a Town or City already, so an

Explorer is added here.
B) This land is not Coastal and is not adjacent to a land
with any Towns or Cities. The Invaders do not
Explore here.
B NO EXPLORE C) This land is adjacent to a land with a Town or City,
so an Explorer is added here.
D) This land is Coastal and is adjacent to a land with
a Town or City. (Either would be sufficient.) An
C Explorer is added here.
D
11
GAME CONCEPTS
PER PLAYER VICTORY AND DEFEAT
At the start of the game, the Invaders are at Terror Level 1. They’re not afraid of the Island and
probably aren’t even aware of the Spirits’ existence. To win, you need to completely clear the Island
of Invaders. As you earn Fear Cards (see Fear and Terror, below) you will reach new Terror Levels with
easier victory conditions. Anytime you meet the current victory condition, you immediately win - the
Invaders have had more than they can take, and abandon the Island entirely.
GENERATES 1
GENERATES 2
You can lose three ways:

Terror Level Space onBLIGHT
the Invader Board. • Too Much Blight: If the last Blight comes off of the Blight Card, you follow the instructions there,
which are often “you lose”.
• A Spirit is Destroyed: If any Spirit has no Presence left on the Island, you lose.
WIN CONDITIONS • Time Runs Out: If you need to draw an Invader Card (to Explore), but the Invader Deck is
RATED
EAR empty, you lose.
PHASE ORDER FEAR AND TERROR

R PHASE IF THERE IS EVER
d Island NO BLIGHT HERE,
ar
Fear is generated by Spirit Powers with the Fear symbol ( ) and by destruction (either directly by
YOU LOSE
age TIME PASSES per player
Terror Level 1: No Invaders on the Island.
ild THE GAME.
lore
vader Cards
an effect or by Damage): destroying a Town generates 1 Fear and destroying a City generates 2 Fear.
Fear terrifies the Invaders as a whole. For each Fear generated, advance one Fear Marker from the
Fear Pool on the Invader Board to the Generated Fear area.
FEAR DECK PER PLAYER (1) When all of the Fear Markers have
advanced, (2) move the top card of
the Fear Deck face-down into the
Terror Level 2: No Towns or Cities on the Island. 1 Earned Fear Cards area. If this reveals
RAVAGE BUILD EXPLORE a Terror Level divider, move it to cover
2 the old Terror Level (which starts at
Level 1, preprinted on the board).
VICTORY
DESTROYING A
DESTROYING A
GENERATES 1
GENERATES 2
(3) Move the Fear Markers back to the
Fear Pool; if you have leftover Fear
WHEN REVEALED
Terror Level 3: No Cities on the Island. EARNED FEAR CARDS 3 after earningBLIGHT
a card, move that many
Fear Markers to the Generated Fear
area.
4 GENERATED
FEAR (4) Cards in the Earned Fear Cards
Space are flipped and resolved during
SPIRIT ISLAND PHASE ORDER the next Invader Phase (see page 9).
SPIRIT PHASE
Growth
INVADER PHASE
Blighted Island
Fear
Like Powers, effects of Fear Cards last
IF THERE IS EVER
NO BLIGHT HERE,
for the current turn only, unless they

YOU LOSE
Build THE GAME.
Choose Powers
Explore
change the board in some way. After
VICTORY
WHEN REVEALED
each Fear Card is resolved, (5) move it
to the Fear Discard Space.
Terror Level VICTORY:
EARNED FEAR Immediate
CARDS victory! BLIGHT
5 When you reveal a new Terror Level
In the rare case that a single Power Card or other
divider, the new Terror Level and
effect causes you to both win and lose, you win a GENERATED DISCARD
victory condition take effect
sacrifice victory: you are destroyed, but the Island, FEAR
immediately, so you might instantly
the Dahan, and many other Spirits survive. FEAR DISCARD RAVAGE win!
BUILD EXPLORE
SPIRIT ISLAND PHASE ORDER
12
Build THE GAME.
Choose Powers
Explore
BOARDS AND LANDS
The game is played with one Island Board per player, laid out to make an Island (see Setup, SANDS
JUNGLE
page 6). Each Island Board is divided into eight numbered lands, with exactly two of each terrain
(Jungle, Mountain, Sands, and Wetland). Most pieces only affect other pieces in the same land, OCEAN
unless explicitly specified.
Two lands are “adjacent” when they touch, even if they’re not on the same Island Board or meet
only at a corner.
Each board also shows a swath of Ocean, to indicate which lands are readily accessible by sea.
Lands adjacent to the Ocean are Coastal. Lands not adjacent to the Ocean are Inland. (The other
Island borders are rocky cliffs and do not count as Coastal.) The Ocean itself is not a land, and is
not in play.
The reverse side of each Island Board shows a thematic map that can be used to play once you’re
more familiar with the game (see Thematic Map, page 23).
PRESENCE AND SACRED SITES WETLAND
Spirit Presence marks the lands a Spirit occupies. Lands with your Presence are sometimes referred MOUNTAIN
to as “your lands”. If your Presence is ever destroyed (for example, by Invaders Blighting the land),
it is removed and put next to the Island. If any Spirit ever has no Presence left on the Island, the
players immediately lose. A land can hold any number of Presence from any number of Spirits.
Game effects that do things with Presence (such as move it or destroy it) always affect Presence on
the Island unless they say otherwise.
DS
DS
LAN
LAN
A Spirit’s Sacred Sites are any lands where that Spirit has more than one Presence. Some Powers
D
can only be used from these places of focused influence.
AN
L
STA
INL
PRESENCE ICON SACRED SITE ICON COA
A card’s Energy cost is

ENERGY AND CARD PLAYS in the circle in the top
left corner of the card.
Spirits affect things on the Island by playing Power Cards from their hand. A Spirit can play
whichever cards they like each Spirit Phase, limited by two things:
• They can only play as many cards as they have Card Plays available, which is the highest Energy can be gained
revealed number on the Card Plays Presence Track. from Growth Options
• They must have enough Energy to pay for the cards they play. or the “Energy/Turn”
Presence Track on the
Every turn, each Spirit gains Energy equal to the highest revealed amount on their “Energy/Turn” Spirit Panel.
Presence Track. Unspent Energy carries over to the next turn. Energy is individual and cannot be
transferred between Spirits. Card Plays are also individual and cannot be shared with other Spirits.
Unused Card Plays do not carry over to future turns.
13
GAME CONCEPTS
COMMON GROWTH OPTIONS SPIRITS
Add one Presence to the board Each Spirit has:
at Range 2 (up to 2 lands away • A Spirit Panel with Growth, Presence Tracks, and Innate Powers;
from your existing Presence) • Four Unique Power Cards. (For example Power Cards, see Powers on page 16.)
Add a Presence
ANATOMY OF A SPIRIT PANEL
Gain 2 Energy (in addition to this 1 7

turn’s normal Energy income) 2
Gain Energy 3
4 8
Gain a Power Card (see page 18) 2 5 1
Gain Power 9
Card
6
Reclaim all played Power Cards 1. Spirit Name
from your personal discard pile, 2. Art: An image of this Spirit.
returning them to your hand. 3. Backstory: The story and history of the Spirit.
4. Setup: Inital Presence placement and any special instructions.
Reclaim Cards 5. Play Style/Complexity: A brief description of the Spirit’s strategy and comparison of its
strengths and weaknesses, as well as a summary of Powers.
6. Special Rules: Any rules that work differently for this Spirit.
REPOSITIONING PRESENCE 7. Growth Options: The Spirit’s options for regathering of strength, reaching out to new lands, and
It is rarely relevant, but whenever you would learning new Powers. When a Spirit chooses a Growth option, they will select one section and
add a Presence from your Presence Track, take all of the actions indicated in it, unless specified otherwise. (See the sidebar for common
you may instead use one of your Presence Growth options, and page 8 for the Growth step of the Spirit Phase.)
from anywhere on the Island. This is most 8. Presence Tracks: Each Spirit Panel contains two Presence Tracks. The top one is Energy
often useful if all your Presence is in play: Gained per turn and the bottom one is Card Plays. To start, all but the leftmost space on
you can still reposition it. each track is covered by Presence. When placing Presence on the Island, you can choose
which track to take it from, but always take it from left to right. As you remove Presence from
each track you reveal progressively greater benefits. Removing Presence from the top track
grants you more Energy while removing Presence from the bottom track allows you to play
ELEMENTAL THRESHOLDS more Power Cards. Spirits use only the highest revealed number on the tracks for their Energy or
Innate Powers have Elemental Thresholds, Card Plays (these benefits are not additive). Note: Destroyed Presence is removed from play,
meaning they can only be used on turns you not returned to the Panel!
have all the required Elements. Elements are • Some Spirits have a “Reclaim One” space. While this space is revealed, the Spirit may
never spent, only checked. return one Power Card to their hand any time during the Spirit Phase (so the ability can
be used the turn it is revealed), letting them go longer before having to take a “Reclaim
Elements from Power Cards do not persist All” Growth option.
from turn to turn. You have them only for as • Some Spirits have bonus Elements on their Presence Tracks. These constantly provide
long as you have the Power Card in play. one of the shown Elements for as long as the space is revealed (see Elements Gained,
page 16). A space marked with “Any” grants one Element each turn: the Spirit may
(See Elemental Thresholds, page 17) choose which Element they get at any time, but then cannot change it until the next turn.
9. Innate Powers: Free Powers that can be triggered using Elements. (For more on Powers, see
page 16). Unless explicitly specified, Innate Powers never cost Energy or use Card Plays. Like all
Powers, they target a single land or Spirit unless explicitly stated otherwise.
14
INVADERS
TRACKING DAMAGE
The Invaders have begun to colonize your Island! While not specifically aiming to exterminate Town and City models are designed to help you
you, their colonization and “taming” of the land has upset the natural balance. The goal of the track how much Damage will destroy them.
game is to drive off the Invaders by meeting the victory conditions of the current Terror Level. As
more Invaders learn to Fear you, the victory conditions will get easier! CITIES: 3 Health
Invaders in a land do not automatically harm Spirit Presence or Dahan there. Invaders harm Cities take 3 Damage
things only when Ravaging (see Ravage, page 9). Each type of Invader has a specified Health. to destroy. You can
To destroy an Invader, you must deal Damage that meets or exceeds its Health in one turn. Some remember this by
effects also destroy Invaders regardless of Damage or Health. counting the number
of individual buildings
There are three types of Invaders: Explorers, Towns, and Cities. A land containing any number of on the model’s base (3)
these is “a land with Invaders”. The number of Invaders is not limited by the supply of pieces; in as it stands upright.
the unlikely case that you run out, use Energy Markers as “1 more / 3 more of this piece” markers.
Explorers represent Invaders willing to travel into uncharted wilderness: mapping

expeditions, the very boldest homesteaders, etc. They have 1 Health and deal 1 Damage
during Ravage. Explorers are not themselves a source when Invaders Explore.
Towns represent homesteads and small frontier settlements. They have 2 Health and
deal 2 Damage during Ravage. Towns act as a source of Explorers when Invaders This City has taken 1 This City has taken
Explore. Damage (2 more will 2 Damage (1 more will
destroy it). It has been destroy it). It has been
Cities are the largest and most pernicious type of Invader piece. They have 3 Health laid on its side with 2 laid on its side with 1
and deal 3 Damage during Ravage. Cities act as a source of Explorers when Invaders buildings facing up. building facing up.
Explore.
TOWNS: 2 Health
Destroying Towns and Cities affects the Invaders’ morale. Whenever a Town is destroyed, it
generates 1 Fear. Whenever a City is destroyed, it generates 2 Fear (see Fear and Terror, page 12).
Towns take 2 Damage
to destroy. The model
BLIGHT
has 2 buildings to
remind you of this.
Invaders slowly but inexorably Blight the land. A certain amount of Blight is normal in nature -
such as damage from a forest fire - but too much will overwhelm the Island. When you add Blight
to the Island during play, take it from the Blight Card - which starts Healthy side up - or Blight
This Town has taken 1
Space on the Invader Board. If you remove Blight from the Island, return it to the Blight Card. If
Damage (1 more will
you run out of Blight on the card, follow its instructions - either “lose” or “flip the card over and do
destroy it). It has been
what it says on the reverse”. Flipped Blight Cards do not flip back; the Island cannot heal from
laid on its side.
Blighted to Healthy within the timespan of the game.
After Setup, whenever you add Blight to a land (including when Blight cascades), two bad things
happen: When a piece has taken Damage equal to or
• Destroy Presence: In that land, destroy one Presence from each Spirit with Presence there. exceeding its Health, it is destroyed. Return it to the
Destroyed Presence is placed next to the Island, not returned to the Spirit Panels. supply, and earn 1 Fear for a Town or 2 Fear for a
• Cascade: If the land already had any Blight, also add one additional Blight to any one City. At the end of each turn, when Time Passes,
adjacent land. (If that adjacent land also has Blight, it will then cascade again from there, Damage clears and all models are reset.
etc.)
(For an example Ravage Phase, see page 11.)

15
GAME CONCEPTS
THE DAHAN
TRACKING DAMAGE The Dahan are the native, semi-nomadic human inhabitants of Spirit Island. They coexist well with
DAHAN: 2 Health the land and the Spirits. They also aren’t too thrilled about the Invaders’ colonization, but are wary
of initiating violence.
The Dahan take 2
Damage to destroy. Each Island Board starts with 6 Dahan pieces. Population growth in the game’s timespan occurs only
with a few Powers which grant blessings of health, fertility, and good harvests. The number of Dahan
This Dahan has taken is not limited by the supply of pieces.
1 Damage (1 more will
destroy it). It has been Dahan only attack Invaders when a Spirit Power prompts them to do so, or when attacked
flipped upside-down. themselves: after Invaders Ravage a land, any surviving Dahan in that land each deal 2 Damage
to the Invaders in that land.
Each Dahan has 2 Health, meaning they are destroyed by 2 Damage from Invaders. Damage from
Spirits does not hurt Dahan, although some Spirit Powers cause Dahan casualties as a terrible
1 2 side-effect.
POWERS
Spirits affect the game using Powers, which are either Power Cards or Innate Powers printed on a
Spirit Panel. Innate Powers function similarly to Power Cards, except they are automatically available
4 every turn (i.e. do not use Card Plays) and require having certain Elements rather than spending
Energy.
5 6 ANATOMY OF POWERS
3 1. Energy Cost (Power Cards only)
2. Name
7 3. Elements Gained (Power Cards only): There are eight Elements: Sun, Moon, Fire, Air, Water,
Earth, Plant, and Animal. When you play a Power Card, you gain the Elements shown. Some
Powers have extra effects if you have gained specific Elements (see #8 on the next page).
8 Elements do not carry over from turn to turn. You gain Elements the moment you pay for a
Power Card, regardless of whether the Power is Fast or Slow, and they go away as soon as it
leaves play (usually during Time Passes).
4. Speed: Fast Powers ( ) resolve their effects before the Invader Phase, while Slow Powers
( ) resolve their effects afterwards. Power Cards also show their speed by a red or blue ring
around the Energy cost.
5. Range: How many lands away from your Presence this Power can reach. This is a maximum;
2 you can always use a shorter Range. A Range of 0 means a land where you have Presence.
5 6 Some Powers have limitations on what sort of land you can use them from (such as only from a
4 Sacred Site, or only from a specific terrain); these are shown left of the range icon.
6. Target: What land type this Power can affect. Most Powers can target any type of land,
but some are restricted by terrain, what’s in the land, or whether it’s Coastal/Inland. Powers
8 always target one single land unless explicitly stated. Some Powers target a Spirit instead of a
land. (See back cover for Targeting reference.)
7. Effects (Power Cards only): What the Power does. All effects take place in the single target land
unless explicitly stated otherwise. (“Destroy all “ means “Destroy all Towns in target land”, not
“Destroy all Towns in the game”!) Perform effects in order, skipping any that cannot be followed.
Effects that do not change anything on the board - such as “Invaders do not Build in target
land” - last only for the current turn.
16
8. Elemental Thresholds: Optional effects which may only be used if the Spirit has gained
certain Elements this turn (see #3 on the previous page). The required Elements are not “used ELEMENTS
up”; the threshold is simply a check to see if they are in play. For instance, a Spirit with 2 Sun: Day, light, heat, dominance,
Water in play could meet any number of thresholds requiring 2 Water. You may always command, constancy
resolve a Power as if you had fewer Elements than you actually do. Resolve the base effect Moon: Night, cycles, darkness, dreams,
and all threshold effects that you meet, in order from top to bottom. transformation
• Exception: If a threshold says “Instead”, it replaces the effects of previous levels. Fire: Heat, anger, destruction, desire,
violent change
GENERAL PRINCIPLE: DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
When resolving a Power’s effects, do as much as you can. If one part does not apply or cannot be Air: Wind, sky, sound, distance, speed,
done, skip it and do the rest. The only targeting restrictions are those in the target bar. trickery, thought
Water: River, fluidity, fertility, empathy,
GENERAL PRINCIPLE: YOU CAN SKIP USING A POWER’S EFFECT healing, disease
If you cannot or do not want to use a Power - perhaps the board situation has changed - you’re Earth: The land, strength, constancy,
allowed to skip its effects entirely. If it was a Power Card, you don’t get your Energy back, but you stasis, resilience
do still get to use the Elements granted by the card.
Plant: Verdancy, growth, entwining,
regeneration
When using a Power with thresholds, you may act as if you have fewer Elements than you really
do, to avoid hitting thresholds. Other than that, it’s all or nothing - you can’t pick-and-choose Animal: Beasts, humans, blood,
instructions. the body, life, death
GENERAL PRINCIPLE: ONE LAND! ONE TURN! ONE USE!

Unless a Power explicitly says otherwise:
• It only affects one single target land. “Destroy up to 3 Explorers” will let you destroy up to 3
Explorers in the same land - not in multiple different lands. If a Power has multiple effects, DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
they ALL apply to the same land. You do not have to be able to use every
• It only affects the current turn. “Dahan have +3 Health” or “Invaders do not Ravage in target part of a Power Card’s effect to be
land” affect this turn only, not the rest of the game. Any permanent changes to the game will able to play it. For example, even if a
be represented by changes to a board - pieces leaving, Fear Markers moving, etc. Power Card reads:
• It can only be used once this turn. You cannot choose to pay for a Power Card twice and use it
twice. Innate Powers only trigger once even if you have twice as many Elements as you need.
If something makes a Slow Power Fast, you only get to use it during the Fast Phase, not both.
SINGLE-TURN EFFECTS
A few Powers have temporary effects on a land (such as “Invaders skip all Actions”). There are
Reminder Tokens you can use to mark those lands for the turn if you want; just remember to
remove them at the end of the turn!
you don’t have to target it on a land with Dahan!
If you did, the target bar would say so, looking
something like this:
REMINDER TOKENS
17
GAME CONCEPTS
GAINING POWER CARDS
You will usually gain new Power Cards via Growth, but some Power effects can grant them. New
Power Cards always go into your hand.
WHAT POWER CARDS CAN I FORGET? Whenever you’re told to “Gain a Power Card”:
Any of your cards! From your hand, your discard,
• Choose whether you’re gaining a Minor or Major Power. Draw 4 cards from that deck. If you
or (if you somehow gain a Major Power mid-turn)
need to, reshuffle the deck’s discard pile.
from your cards in play. It can even be the Major
• Keep one drawn Power Card in your hand. Discard the others into the discard pile for that deck.
Power you just chose. If you Forget a Power Card
• After you get a new Major Power, you must Forget - permanently lose - one of your Power
from play, you immediately lose the Elements it
Cards. Put the Forgotten Power Card into the discard pile for its deck. Place it under your Spirit
provided, and if you haven’t used it yet, you don’t
Panel if it is one if your Unique Powers.
get to. If you already used it, its effects continue
until end of turn as usual.
If you are playing with a Power Progression, instead of drawing 4 and keeping 1, simply take the next
card in your Progression. (See First-Time Players, page 3.)
POWER AND FEAR EFFECTS

DAMAGE HURTS INVADERS
Invaders are not the only recipients of Damage in
DAMAGE, DESTRUCTION, AND REMOVAL
Spirit Island: the land and Dahan can take Damage
Some effects remove Invaders, representing them fleeing in terror. Return the specified pieces to the
from Invaders Ravaging. But the overwhelming
supply. Some replace Invaders: first you remove the Invader, then you put something else in its place.
majority of Damage in the game is done to Invaders.
A replaced Invader keeps any Damage it had. More Powers destroy Invaders outright. Return the
Any time a Power, Fear Card, or other game rule
specified pieces to the supply. Destroying a Town generates 1 Fear and destroying a City generates 2
does Damage, it always means “Damage to Invaders”
Fear, but removing or replacing does not.
unless explicitly specified otherwise. Most Spirit
Powers do not harm the land or Dahan.
Whenever a Power or other effect says “Damage”, it always means “Damage to Invaders” unless
explicitly specified otherwise. When dealing Damage, it is done to any Invaders in the target land,
divided among them however you choose. If an Invader has taken Damage equal to or greater than
its Health (see Invaders, page 15), it is destroyed immediately. Damage may be combined from
DAMAGE TOKENS? multiple Powers. However, any remaining Damage on survivors heals at the end of the turn.
There are no tokens in Spirit Island for tracking
Damage. Instead models are built to be rotated DEFEND
to help track Damage done to them. Some Powers let you Defend a target land, which reduces Damage done by Invaders to the land
and/or Dahan. “Defend 2” means “Whenever Invaders deal Damage in target land this turn, reduce
(For more details, see sidebars on page 15 and 16.) by 2 the Damage done to the land and to Dahan.” If multiple Defend effects are used in one land,
they add together. Defend effects last for the entire turn. There are optional tokens you can use to
help you remember that a land is Defended this turn.
FEAR FROM DESTRUCTION
Whenever a City or Town is destroyed (via
Damage or otherwise), it frightens the Invaders.
You generate 2 Fear for each City destroyed and
1 Fear for each Town destroyed (in addition to DEFEND SIDE OF REMINDER TOKENS
any Fear done explicitly by the Power).
REMOVING BLIGHT
If you remove or replace a City/Town, it does not When you remove Blight from the Island, return it to the Blight Card, on whichever side is currently
generate this automatic Fear. face-up. The Blight Card will not flip from Blighted back to Healthy during the timespan of the game,
no matter how much Blight you remove.
18
GATHER AND PUSH
Some Powers tell you to Gather things into the target land (such as “Gather 1 ”, or “Gather up to
3 ”). This means “Move that many things into the target land from land(s) adjacent to it”. Gather EXAMPLE CARD WITH
only pulls things in from lands adjacent to the target; boosts to a Power’s Range do not affect BOTH GATHER AND PUSH
Gathering distance.
Other Powers tell you to Push things from the target land (such as “Push 1 ”, or “Push up to 3 ”).
This is the exact reverse of Gather. It means “Move that many things out of the target land, to
adjacent land(s)”. Push only sends things one land away; boosts to a Power’s Range do not affect
Pushing distance. If Pushing multiple things, they may go to different lands or not, as you wish. You
can only Push into a valid land, not off the board or into the Ocean.
EXAMPLE OF GATHER AND PUSH

GATHER PUSH
Invaders are currently set up to Ravage Using the card “Call to Migrate”, the Then, the Spirit uses the second half of
in the Sands next turn. The players want blue Spirit Gathers 2 Dahan from the card’s effects to Push 3 Dahan from
the nearby Dahan to fight back against adjacent lands into the target land #5. target land #5 into land #6. Now, when
that City in land #6. the City Ravages, it will destroy one of
the Dahan and add a Blight, but the
other two Dahan will fight back and
destroy the City.
REPEAT
Repeating a Power lets you activate its effect again. It does not give you Elements again (you gain
Elements for putting a Power Card in play, not for using its effect) and Repeats cannot be chained
(ignore any “Repeat” effects on a Repeated Power). The Repeated Power is Slow or Fast, whichever
the original Power is. Here are some additional fine points:
• Changes to a Power carry over to the Repeat use. (For instance, if a Power is made Fast or
given additional Range, that also applies to the Repeat.)
• You may make different choices when Repeating a Power.
• If a Repeat specifies where to use it, obey those instructions (instead of the usual Range and
Target restrictions). Otherwise, you can choose any valid target by the usual rules, including the
same target as its first use.
• Repeating a Power Card doesn’t count as playing another Power Card. (For, e.g., Boon of
Vigor.) It does count as using a new Power. (For, e.g., Bringer of Dream and Nightmares.)
19
TIPS & TRICKS
STREAMLINING GAMEPLAY
• As you play Power Cards, put the required Energy on top of them. This will help you remember
WHOOPS! to pay for them.
You suddenly realize that for the past 4 turns you’ve
• When you resolve a Power Card, you can push it forward or turn it sideways to note that it has
been using a Power Card on lands it can’t actually
been used. Don’t discard it until end of turn, because you may be making use of its Elements for
target. What to do?
Innate Powers!
• When you resolve a Fear effect that affects an Invader Action (such as “Defend 2 in all lands”),
The answer is: don’t sweat it.
place it atop the affected Invader Card so you don’t forget to apply it.
• Every board has exactly two lands of each terrain. Knowing this can make it easier to search out
Especially on your first play or two, you’ll likely make
all lands of a particular terrain.
minor mistakes here and there. They’re unlikely to
• When resolving Invader Actions, be clear about which player is handling what, so you don’t
break anything: the game will just be slightly
accidently double Explore, Build, or Ravage. Some groups have each player manage the
easier/harder.
Invader Actions on their starting board. This can help new players understand how the Invaders
act.
So long as everyone’s having fun, it’s all good, there’s
• During Setup, once you’ve put Blight on the Blight Card and the Island, return the rest of the
no need to try and “rewind” and fix things. Just take
Blight to the box. This prevents accidently taking Blight from/returning Blight to the wrong
note of what the correct rule is, and use it going
place! It’s easy to access the box a single time when the Island becomes Blighted.
forward.
• When coordinating with your fellow Spirits, trying to remember every detail of what every
player is doing is a recipe for overload. It can be much more fruitful to focus on objectives,
diving into details only when necessary.
• Some players enjoy the game with a very analytical and carefully planned style, while others
prefer very fast-and-loose “good enough!” play. The game works either way (or anywhere
between) but both extremes at the same table can cause frustration. Try to make sure everyone
is on the same page regarding time taken. (See The Urgency of War, page 8.)
20
BASIC STRATEGY
Feel under no obligation to read or use these - refer to them if you’re feeling lost in your first games.
FIGHTING THE INVADERS

• Clear lands of Invaders before they Build. Often, a newly Explored land will have just 1
Explorer; moving or Destroying it before the next Invader Phase keeps the Invaders from
building a Town there.
• Destroy Invaders before they Ravage to keep them from harming the land and the Dahan.
• Once Invaders Explore into a particular terrain, you know they’ll Build there next turn, and
Ravage there the turn after that. That predictability is useful when planning how to use Slow
Powers.
• Focus most on land types about to Build or Ravage, as those are the most imminent threats.
WHERE SHOULD I PUT MY PRESENCE/SACRED SITES?

• Put your Presence close enough to the Invaders that you can use all your Powers on them.
• Avoid lands where Invaders are about to Ravage and add Blight. It will destroy your Presence.
• Spread your Presence out across the Island so you can collaborate with other players. Three
“1 Damage” Powers can destroy a City!
• Many Damaging Powers and beneficial Fear Effects require Sacred Sites, so put them close
to the Invaders.
WHERE SHOULD I MOVE THE DAHAN?

• Into lands with a few Invaders. Many Fear Effects will scare off Invaders from lands with
Dahan, or inspire the Dahan to take the offensive. If Invaders are about to Ravage there,
surviving Dahan will fight back.
• Out of lands with many Invaders. If the Dahan will be wiped out when the Invaders Ravage,
save them by getting them out of harm’s way!
MISCELLANEOUS
• Blight spreads quickly once it starts cascading. Try to clean up lands before a second Blight is
added.
• If you are having trouble finding good targets for your Powers, that can mean one of two
things: GAME TOO HARD?
1. That you are winning! If you have the Invaders on the ropes, focus on achieving victory! If you’re getting crushed and it’s no fun:
2. That your Presence/Sacred Sites aren’t close to the parts of the board you want to affect. • For a slightly easier game, give all Spirits a
Focus on getting Presence and Sacred Sites in places where your Powers will be able to bonus Growth at the end of Setup.
reach the Invaders. • For a moderately easier game, omit the
• If you are feeling constantly low on Energy, try placing more Presence from your Energy Invaders’ initial Explore at the end of Setup.
Track, not using all of your Power Card plays, choosing less expensive Power Cards, or taking • For a much easier game, do both.
an Energy-granting Growth option for a turn or two.
Note: Two Blight rules can make the game
extremely punishing if misplayed. Ravaging adds
only one Blight to a land (not one per 2 Damage!),
and Blight only cascades to a single adjacent land
(not to all of them!)
21
GAMEPLAY OPTIONS
SOLO PLAYER MODE
Solo games work much like normal games, but with a single board as the whole Island. The only
difference is that you can target yourself with Powers that specifically target “Another Spirit”, though
you do not gain extra benefits from Powers that are better when used on another Spirit, like Gift of
Constancy or Elemental Boon. Also, the luck of the draw is high, and you have no fellow Spirits to
compensate for your Spirit’s weaknesses and limitations.
ADVERSARIES
ADVERSARY CARDS
Adversaries are specific colonizing Powers from the world of Spirit Island. Including an Adversary in a
game is optional, but doing so adds an additional layer of depth and strategy to the game. Be sure
to choose your foe before Setup begins, as some may change the rules of Setup.
The Adversary Panel specifies an Escalation Effect, which is performed when the is revealed on
Stage II Invader Cards (see page 10). Some Adversaries also include additional loss conditions. These
two rules are the ‘base level’ of an Adversary, providing a small difficulty boost. From there, each
Adversary offers multiple increased difficulty levels, indicated by the number on the left. All listed
game effects are cumulative: if you’re fighting vs. Level 3, you also use the effects from Level 1 and
Level 2. Some Adversaries modify the Invader Actions. There are Reminder Tiles to put below the
Invader Action spaces on the Invader Board to remind you that the rules for those Actions are
modified. For a full list of each Adversary’s difficulty rating, see the chart on page 28.
FEAR CARDS
As the difficulty increases, reaching higher Terror Levels becomes harder. Each Level shows how
many Fear Cards to use and how many cards go in the top/middle/bottom of the Fear Deck.
THE KINGDOM OF BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA

• Excellent first Adversary with few new rules; most of the changes occur during game Setup.
• Speed is the name of the game: the Invaders do everything at a faster tempo. Cards with 2
land types come up much earlier, often before the Spirits have had time to prepare.
• This Adversary is notably harder for Spirits which need substantial time to develop.
THE KINGDOM OF ENGLAND

• Buildings, buildings, and more buildings - England sends so many immigrants that the colonies
spill over into unexplored lands. It doesn’t start out fast, but constantly pushes its borders
forward. They will push hard to found a capital during Stage II.
• England is notably easier for Spirits good at wrecking Towns (e.g. Lightning’s Swift Strike).
• This Adversary is notably harder for Spirits which rely on moving/killing Explorers to prevent
Invader Builds (e.g. Shadows Flicker Like Flame).
THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN

• Sweden’s Ravages are more dangerous than most, with advanced military tactics and a large
population interested in farming and mining. The Crown’s policies favor assimilating the Dahan
where possible, though these efforts will only work where Invader population is large.
• This Adversary is notably easier for Spirits which can prevent Ravages (e.g. A Spread of
Rampant Green or Vital Strength of the Earth).
• A Note Regarding Setup: The Kingdom of Sweden can add Blight during Setup. Blight added
during Setup does not cascade or destroy Spirit Presence.
22
SCENARIOS SCENARIO CARD
Scenarios change the situation the Spirits find themselves in, or the capabilities of the Spirits.
They may involve different victory conditions or additional prerequisites for the standard victory
condition, in addition to other rules changes. All Scenarios have a number in the upper-right corner
that denoted their difficulty rating on a scale from 0 (no change) - 10 (insanely difficult).
Playing with Scenarios is optional. You may play a game with an Adversary and a Scenario or just
using one or the other. If rules changes from a Scenario and an Adversary contradict each other,
the Scenario takes precedence.
THEMATIC MAP
The reverse side of each Island Board shows an alternate map. These maps represent the canonical
Spirit Island, and prioritize theme more highly than the front “balanced” sides: land types cluster
together, wet terrains tend to be on the windward side of mountains, etc. 2-PLAYER MAP
The Thematic Boards are intended for experienced players, both because finding terrains at a
glance is harder with the more realistic art style, and because some of the changes make the game
more difficult: more lands per board, clustered terrains, more starting Invaders, etc. WEST EAST
THEMATIC BOARD SETUP
The Thematic Boards have a fixed layout relative to each other. You can use any of them that you
want - but for the definitive geography at each player count: 3-PLAYER MAP
• 1 Player: Use Northeast.
• 2 Players: Use West and East, touching on the side opposite the Ocean.
• 3 Players: Use West and East as above, plus Northeast above East.
• 4 Players: Use West, East, Northwest, and Northeast in the usual four player layout. NORTH
EAST
Some lands overlap slightly onto other boards. A land is always considered to be on the board
where its land number and Setup icons are. Ignore any unattached land fragments; they aren’t in
play.
Some lands have Setup icons for tokens from the Branch & Claw expansion; ignore them when WEST EAST
playing with just the core game. Illustrations of Spirits, rivers, and wildfires are for flavor and do not
alter gameplay.
SCORING 4-PLAYER MAP
If you would like to score your games (to compare your group’s performance across game plays):
• Victory: Score 5x Difficulty, +10 bonus for winning, +2 per Invader Card remaining in the deck.
• Defeat: Score 2x Difficulty, +1 per Invader Card not in the deck (both in the discard and NORTH NORTH
face-up under Invader Actions). WEST EAST
• Victory or Defeat: +1 per X living Dahan and -1 per X Blight on the Island, where X is the
number of players in the game.
WEST EAST
23
LORE
The Dahan’s agriculture and animals brought Blight to the land and conflict
with the Spirits, triggering the First Reckoning. The Dahan capitulated
THE STORY THUS FAR quickly, and an accord was reached: the Spirits would tranform crops and
animals to be more compatible with the ecosystem. The Dahan would
change their methods of farming and seek counsel from friendlier Spirits.
The two became neighbors, though unequal: the Dahan were reliant on and
The world of Spirit Island is roughly similar to our own world’s past. Details obligated to the Spirits.
differ, but the overall trends of society and technology across the globe are
broadly the same. THE SECOND RECKONING
Many generations later came the Second Reckoning, when the Dahan
Europe is no exception: its politics have taken a different turn, but the discovered their advisors and protectors had not been entirely candid with
customs and attitudes of its people are similar to our own history. There is them, and the power balance between Dahan and Spirits evened out - but
some belief in the supernatural - religion speaks of good and evil powers, that is another story. Suffice it to say that the Dahan no longer view the
there are folk customs and superstitions - but nowhere in Europe or other Spirits as gods.
large empires of humanity is there a place where the stones will speak to you
or trees draw up their roots and rove across the land. THE INVADERS
The Invaders found Spirit Island a decade ago. Early coastal contact with the
It is no wonder the Invaders fail to understand Spirit Island when they arrive. Dahan was fairly peaceful. The Dahan saw these new seafarers as analogues
of their those-who-travel, and offered them appropriate hospitality. The
THE ISLAND Invaders saw a fertile, sparsely-populated Island, and brought word home of
The Island has existed far longer than humans have lived there. But despite a land ripe for the taking.
the continued existence of first-hand witnesses, assembling a coherent history
is virtually impossible. Even among the most trustworthy Spirits, tales of the The first colony ships arrived five years later, bringing both settlers and an
past are rife with contradictions, all maintained to be true. Did Voice of the onslaught of foreign diseases which tore through the Dahan. Spirit assistance
Deepest Gorge sacrifice itself, or descend to some greater destiny, or remain helped many Dahan survive - but even so, as the game opens, they are just
unchanged as an oracle of sorts? All three, apparently. Estimations of time regaining their footing, mourning their dead, and discovering that these
and ordering are similarly hazy. scourges were not the act of angry Spirits. They are divided on what to do:
some see the Invaders as a menace to drive away, while others still think of
THE SPIRITS them as “our new neighbors”, or are fascinated with their lifestyle, tools, and
The Spirits of the Island are many and diverse: thronging wisps of breeze, beliefs.
strange half-seen shadows across still water, the sunbeam which forms
perfect patterns even through tangled deadwood. Most do not fight the The larger Spirits of the Island live and act on much longer timescales than
Invaders: the smaller Spirits are too weak; the greatest ones too slow or so humans. The most common reaction to the Invaders’ arrival was “oh, great,
strong they’d destroy the Island. Some, like Watcher Acts Not, are restrained more humans - here we go again”, tempered with some optimism that
by their own nature; and others can’t be bothered. Not every grove or gully Spirit-speakers of the Dahan could act as intermediaries to avoid another
has a Spirit - but there are certainly more Spirits than Dahan. confrontation.
THE DAHAN But the Invaders refused to listen, and spread impossibly quickly, with more
The Dahan were the first humans on Spirit Island. They immigrated centuries and more colony ships arriving each year. In the blink of an eye there were
ago, in a time when Ocean’s Hungry Grasp prowled nearby waters less nearly as many Invaders as Dahan, methodically reshaping the land,
frequently. Their lore spoke of Spirits, and they expected their new home destroying Spirit and Dahan alike in their heedless, swarming expansion...
would have some, but were greatly surprised by the Spirits’ numbers, vitality,
and intensity of manifestation. Some mistook the greater Spirits for gods.
YOU ARE THE SPIRITS. CAN YOU SAVE YOUR ISLAND?
24
25
LORE
THE KINGDOM OF ENGLAND
Queen Elizabeth I of England married Robert Dudley, son of the Duke of
THE ENEMY ADVANCES Northumberland, in 1562. The marriage was intially a scandal due to the
suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Dudley’s first wife, and
inspired a revolt of several noble houses. However, the co-monarchs Robert I
and Elizabeth I grew in popularity after the suppression of the revolt in 1564
and the birth of their son Edward in 1566. With the defeat of an attempted
invasion from Spain and Scotland in 1587, the Kingdom of England became
one of the premier naval powers in the North Atlantic. After the death of
Robert in 1588 and Elizabeth in 1603, their son Edward VII became King of
England.
England was only briefly involved in the religious wars on the continent in the
17th century. Following a disastrous invasion attempt in France in 1633 and
a clash with Scotland in 1651, the Kingdom of England focused on fortifying
the Scottish frontier and building up its naval power.
Unable to project power on the continent and constrained to southern

Though the Adversaries may seem familiar, upon closer inspection you will Britain, the Kingdom of England was one of the first to seek colonies in the
find that the Explorers of Spirit Island have a slightly different story to tell New World, using its overseas possessions to provide citizens with
than your history books. The year is A.D. 1700, and the Great Powers of opportunities that were increasingly hard to come by at home.
Europe have begun a scramble for colonies throughout the world. In the
alternate history setting of Spirit Island, this scramble is even more intense KINGDOM OF SWEDEN: KING ERIK XV
than in our own world, as historical events have transpired to lead to the rise Following his triumph at the Battle of Lützen in 1632, King Gustavus
of many major naval powers. Adolphus led the Kingdom of Sweden to further victories over Catholic
armies, defeating and partitioning the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
THE KINGDOM OF BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA: FREDERICK II with Bradenburg and Russia in 1644. Following his death in 1651, Gustavus
Frederick William inherited the Duchy of Prussia and Electorate of Adolphus was succeeded by his son, King Gustav III, who went on to defeat
Brandenburg upon the death of his father George William in December the Kingdom of Denmark in a series of campaigns between 1657 and 1668
1640. Eschewing the ineffective and vacillatory foreign policy of his father, and secure total Swedish dominion over the Baltic Sea.
Frederick William abandoned the Polish Vasa dynasty and allied with King
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden against Catholic Poland. The triple alliance of Gustav III was succeeded by his son Erik in 1683, who became the eighth
Sweden, Russia, and Brandenburg-Prussia resulted in the resounding defeat Vasa ruler of Sweden. Under his rule, constrained from further growth on the
of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1644, and its subsequent partition continent by Russia to their East and the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia to
more than doubled the size of Prussian lands. their south, Sweden began leveraging their powerful navy to set up colonies
throughout the world.
As a result of this victory, Frederick William, the Great Elector of
Brandenburg, declared himself Frederick I, King in Prussia, and set about the The absorption of former Polish lands in the eastern Baltic has given Sweden
process of building infrastructure and extending Prussian control throughout a significant influx of Slavs and other non-Scandanavian people. While a
his newly acquired territory. Upon his death in 1701, his son Frederick II tremendous boon to their economic and military power, this demographic
inherited a throughly Prussian kingdom and one of the premier European shift has also been a source of internal turmoil as the Kingdom of Sweden
armies. attempts the historically difficult task of integrating a multi-ethnic society.
Along with a desire for more natural resources, Sweden’s desire for a “safety
Frederick II sought to further expand Prussian territory without upsetting valve” outlet for discontents and political agitators has driven their desire to
the continental balance of power between Sweden, Russia, France, and the establish themselves as a colonial power.
Habsburgs. Building up the Prussian navy, the new king strove to catch up to
other European colonial powers and quickly integrate new colonies into the
Prussian economy.
26
27
REFERENCE
ADVERSARY & SCENARIO DIFFICULTY CHART
SCENARIOS THE KINGDOM OF THE KINGDOM THE KINGDOM
BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA OF ENGLAND OF SWEDEN
DIFFICULTY 0 BLITZ
(NO CHANGE) GUARD THE ISLE’S HEART
DIFFICULTY 1 BASE LEVEL BASE LEVEL BASE LEVEL
DIFFICULTY 2 LEVEL 1 LEVEL 1
DIFFICULTY 3 RITUALS OF TERROR LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2
DIFFICULTY 4 DAHAN INSURRECTION LEVEL 2 LEVEL 2
DIFFICULTY 5 LEVEL 3
DIFFICULTY 6 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4
DIFFICULTY 7 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 5
DIFFICULTY 8 LEVEL 6
USING THEMATIC MAPS (SEE PAGE 23) INCREASES THE GAME DIFFICULTY BY 3.
Please note that Difficulty is a rough guide: some Spirits are better/worse against certain Adversaries and Scenarios, and
Scenario/Adversary combinations will vary in how much they combo with each other. Add the Difficulty of a Scenario and
Adversary together for a very rough estimate of combined Difficulty.
Each point of Difficulty is a noticeable step up. When increasing Difficulty, we recommend going up by 1 at a time, or perhaps 2 if you’re having crushing
victories (the Blight card never flips).
Game Designer: R. Eric Reuss

CREDITS
Developer: Ted Vessenes
Editor-in-Chief: Christopher Badell
Creative Director: Adam Rebottaro
Managing Art Director: Jennifer Closson
Graphic Design: SaRae Henderson, Darrell Louder
Cover Art: Joshua Wright
Cover Vines: Nolan N. Nasser
3-D Model Design: Jorge Ramos Spirit Island is the property of Greater Than Games, LLC © 2016-2018
Editors: Brian Blankstein, Dylan Thurston, Ted Vessenes
Alternate Historian: Paul Bender For more information about this and other great games,
go to www.GreaterThanGames.com. If you have any questions,
Thanks beyond all words to my wife Anne Cross for many years of loving or require replacement pieces, please email
support and to Ted Vessenes for many years of development and suggestions. [email protected].
Spirit Island wouldn’t have happened without either of you. – Eric
28
DESIGN NOTES
The seed for Spirit Island was prompted by a colonization action in some other game - Goa? Navegador? Endeavor? - where I thought, “I
wonder how angry the locals are about this new colony of foreigners? We’ll never know, because this game has entirely abstracted away the
people who already lived there. Well, that’s kind of rude.” I shared the thought, maybe people laughed, then we got back to the game.
The idea stuck with me, though, because so many Euros have themes from that era: some explicitly colonial, others social or mercantile. It seemed
like a game portraying the opposite point of view - that of being the subject of colonialism, trying to fight it off - could be interesting, and perhaps
highlight the prevalence of eurocentric colonial themes.
In retrospect, I could have gone an entirely different route: find a specific colonial-vs-anticolonial struggle to try and model, going down a path
similar to e.g., King of Siam. Instead, my brain imagined a conflict that never was, but which could serve as a stand-in for struggles against
different colonial powers throughout history. Spirit Island poses the question: what if actual (or semi-actual) colonizers from the Age of Discovery
tried to colonize a place where they faced opposition of a nature they never expected?
(There is, incidentally, a reason that Spirits exist in abundance on Spirit Island, but are unknown to most empires of humanity. It goes back
millennia, and has to do with binding bargains.)
I set as my design goal a cooperative game as thematically evocative as strong ‘experience’ games like Arkham Horror, but with substantially
deeper and more strategic gameplay, a playtime of roughly two hours, and no ‘alpha player’/’quarterbacking’ problem that some groups have
with co-ops. It’s been a long road, but I’m pleased with how it’s turned out - and I hope you have even more fun playing it than I’ve had creating
it.
You can read more design notes on Spirit Island at is.gd/spiritIsland_designdiary and posts linked therefrom.
– R. Eric Reuss
PLAYTESTERS
Daniel R. Abraham, Vivian Abraham, Joel Aernouts, Andy Arenson, Bernie Bagin, Ben Barden, Rick Baxter, Geoffrey Benedict, Mark Bigney,
Brian Blankstein, Mike “Spiff” Booth, Chris Burton, Galen Garrick Brownsmith, Trey Chambers, Danielle Church, Chris Cieslik, Justin du Coeur,
Jesse Cox, Christopher Dade, Nathan Dilday, Nathan Engert, Kathryn Goldenoak, Jeremy Gottesman, Shoshana Gourdin, Bryan Graham, Luke
Hagerling, Betsy Helms, David Helms, Tim Hogue, Donner Holten, Prescott Jenner, Paul Kalmar, Robert Kamphaus II, Dave Kapell, Kathryn
Kun, Andy Latto, Charles Leiserson Jr., Brian W. Lenz, Russ Luzetski, Andrew Menard, Hung Nguyen, Leanna Opaskar, Mark Opaskar, Alex
Pogue, Danielle Reese, Curtis Reubens, Anna Roberts, Uncle Don Ross, Ariel Segall, Cameron T. Seitzman, Randy Smith, Kevin Spak, Brock
Stafford, Rick Stefanich, David A. Stern III, Tyler Stewart, Bill Stull, Dylan Thurston, Jared Tinney, Brent Ur, Carolyn VanEseltine, Rebecca
Vessenes, Ted Vessenes, Paul Watson, Katarina Whimsy, Sameer Yalamanchi, and countless people who gave feedback at conventions. Many
thanks to all of you!
ARTISTS
Jason Behnke, Loic Belliau, Kat G. Birmelin, Cari Corene, Lucas Durham, Rocky Hammer, Sydni Kruger, Nolan N. Nasser, Jorge Ramos, Moro
Rogers, Graham Stermberg, Shane Tyree, Joshua Wright
29
GLOSSARY/INDEX
Action: See Invader Action. Fear Card: A card from the Fear Deck, earned by doing Fear to the Invaders.
Add: To put onto the board from the supply. The Terror Level dividers are not Fear Cards. [p. 9, 12]
Adjacent Land: Sharing a border or corner. [p.13] Fear Effect: Anything done by an earned Fear Card. [p. 12, 18]
Adversary: A specific colonizer to fight against. Boosts difficulty and changes Forget a Power Card: Permanently lose a Power Card from your hand,
how the game plays. [p. 22] discard pile, or in play. Put it in the discard for its deck, or out of the game
+Any: Any one element, chosen anew each turn. Once set for a turn, cannot if it’s Unique to your Spirit. [p. 18]
be changed until the next turn. [p. 14] Gain a Power Card: In a normal game, draw four Minor Powers or four
Blight ( ): A piece showing environmental/spiritual harm to the Island. [p.15] Major Powers and keep one. If using a Power Progression for your first
Blight Card: A card that holds the Blight pieces that are not on the Island. play, take your next Power Card. When you gain a Major Power by any
Starts off on the Healthy side, and may flip to the Blighted side during the means, you must Forget (lose) a Power Card. [p. 3, 18]
course of the game. [p. 15] Gather: Move into a land from adjacent land(s). [p. 19]
Blighted Island: The Island becomes Blighted when all the Blight on the front Growth: The first part of the Spirit Phase. Lets you place Presence, gain new
of the Blight Card goes onto the board. If all Blight on the Blighted side Powers, and reclaim played Power Cards. [p. 8, 14]
runs out, the players lose. [p. 15] Health: How much Damage an Invader or Dahan can take before it is
Board: See Island Board or Invader Board. destroyed. [p. 15, 16]
Build: An Invader Action. Adds a Town or City. [p. 10] Healthy Island: The Island starts the game Healthy. It becomes Blighted
Card Plays: The number of Power Cards a Spirit may play each turn, when the first pool of Blight on the Blight Card is emptied and the card
determined by the highest revealed number on a Spirit’s lower Presence flips to the Blighted side. [p. 15]
Track. [p. 14] Inland Land: A land not adjacent to the printed Ocean area. [p. 13]
Cascade: Upon adding Blight to an already Blighted land, you must also add Innate Power: A Power printed on your Spirit Panel. [p. 14, 16]
one Blight to one adjacent land. [p. 15] Invader: A City, Town, or Explorer. [p. 9-11]
City ( ): A type of Invader piece. Does 3 Damage, has 3 Health. Destroying Invader Action: One of three bad things the Invaders do during the Invader
a City causes Fear. [p. 15] Phase - Ravage, Build, or Explore. [p. 9-11]
Coastal Land: A land readily accessible to ships, adjacent to the printed Invader Board: The board which governs the Actions of the Invaders,
Ocean area. [p. 13] including places for the Invader Deck and each of their three Actions.
Dahan ( ): A piece representing a clan/village of local Islanders. Does 2 Additionally, the Invader Board features the Fear Pool, the Fear Deck,
Damage, has 2 Health. [p. 16] and the Blight Space where a Blight Card is placed during Setup. [p. 6]
Damage: Harm done to Invaders, the land, or Dahan. Whenever a card Invader Card: Card in the Invader Deck, indicating in which lands the
doesn’t specify, it always means “to Invaders”. Damage equal to an Invaders will act. Divided into Stage I, Stage II, and Stage III. [p. 6]
Invader or Dahan’s Health destroys it. Dealing 2 or more Damage to a Island: The entire playing area of the game comprised of one or more Island
land adds one Blight to the land. [p. 18] Boards. [p. 6-7, 13]
Defend: Guard a land against the Invaders. Reduces the Damage done by Island Board: An individual punchboard piece that comprises the Island. The
the Invaders to the land and Dahan by the specified amount. [p. 18] reverse has a thematic map for more experienced players. [p. 6-7, 13]
Effect: The text instructions of a card or other game element. Land: A bordered area on the Island map (other than Ocean). Whenever a
Element: Affinity with an aspect of nature, usually granted by a Power Card. land takes 2 Damage, you add a Blight to it. [p. 13, 15]
Lets you use threshold effects. [p. 16, 32] Land Type: A description of what sort of land to act upon. This may be a
Elemental Thresholds: See Threshold Effects. terrain, Coastal/Inland, or a requirement for what’s in/not in the land
Energy: Pays for Power Cards. Carries over from turn to turn. [p. 13] (e.g. “A land with Invaders”). [p. 13, 16]
Escalation Effect ( ): Something an Adversary does each time Exploring Land with (Blight, Dahan, Invaders): A land having at least one (Blight,
reveals an Invader Card with an Adversary icon on it. This icon appears Dahan, Invader).
only on Stage II cards. [p. 10, 22] Move: To put into a land from somewhere else on the Island, via Pushing,
Explore: An Invader Action. Adds Explorers to accessible lands. [p. 10] Gathering, or other means.
Explorer ( ): A type of Invader piece. Does 1 Damage, has 1 Health. [p. 15] Ocean: Where the Invaders sail in. The stretch of Ocean on each Island
Fear: Fright done to Invaders. Advances Fear Markers, earning Fear Cards. board determines which lands are Coastal. Oceans are not lands. [p. 13]
[p. 12]
30
Outnumber: “where A outnumbers B” can be true in lands where there is no
B. (For instance, “where Dahan outnumber Cities” is true in lands with no
Cities, so long as there’s 1 or more Dahan.)
Permanent Element: An element shown on a Presence Track. While
uncovered, it gives an Element of that type. [p. 14]
Power: A Power Card or Innate Power. [p. 16]
Power Card: A Power on a card. May be a Minor Power, a Major Power, or a
Unique Power. [p. 16]
Power Progression: A fixed sequence of Power Cards a Spirit gains instead
of the usual “Draw 4, keep 1” from a Power Card Deck. Used in
introductory games only. [p. 3, 6]
Presence ( ): A piece showing where your Spirit lives in the land. [p. 13]
Push: Move to adjacent land(s). [p. 19]
Range: The maximum number of lands away you can use a Power or effect.
You may always act closer! Measured from your Presence unless otherwise
specified. [p. 16]
Ravage: An Invader Action. Invaders simultaneously deal Damage to the
land and Dahan; surviving Dahan then fight back. [p. 9]
Reclaim: Take all played Power Cards from your personal discard pile into
your hand of available Power Cards. [p. 14]
Reclaim One: Take a single Power Card from your personal discard pile into
your hand of available Power Cards. When revealed on a Presence Track,
may be done once Spirit Phase, starting immediately. [p. 14]
Remove: Take off the board and return to the supply. Distinct from Destroy;
Removing Invaders does not cause Fear. [p. 18]
Repeat: Use the text effects of a Power again. Doesn’t grant additional
Elements. Repeats never chain. [p. 19]
Replace: Remove one piece and put another piece in its place. [p. 18]
Sacred Site ( ): A land where a Spirit has 2 or more Presence. [p. 13]
Scenario: A situation providing alternate rules/victory conditions. Boosts
difficulty and changes how the game plays. [p. 23]
Target: The land or Spirit a Power affects. [p. 16]
Terrain: Jungle, Mountain, Sands, or Wetland. Each land has one terrain.
[p. 13]
Terror Level: A number from 1 - 3, representing how frightened the Invaders
are. Sets the current Victory Condition. [p. 12]
Threshold Effects: Part of a Power’s effects which depend on having certain
Elements that turn. [p. 14]
Town ( ): A type of Invader piece. Does 2 Damage, has 2 Health.
Destroying a Town causes 1 Fear. [p. 15]
Type of Land: See Land Type.
Up To: May be zero. “Up to 3” means “0, 1, 2, or 3”.
Your Land: A land with your Presence in it. [p. 13]
31
ICONOGRAPHY
Explorer: A type of Invader. Does Fear: Fright done to Invaders.
RANGE
Advances Fear Markers, earning A land with your Presence.
1 Damage, has 1 Health.
Fear Cards.
Range 1 from a Mountain with your Presence.
Town: A type of Invader. Does
2 Damage, has 2 Health. 1 Fear Presence: A Spirit’s Presence disk -
where they live in the land. Range 2 from a land with your Sacred Site.
when destroyed.
Sacred Site: A land where a Spirit Increases Range by 3 lands.

City: A type of Invader. Does 3
Damage, has 3 Health. 2 Fear has 2 or more Presence.
PRESENCE TRACK
when destroyed.
Fast Power: Resolve its effects
Dahan: A clan/village of local before the Invader Phase.
Islanders. Does 2 Damage, has 2 Energy: Each Spirit Phase, gain Energy
Health. Slow Power: Resolve its effects equal to the highest uncovered number.
after the Invader Phase.
Blight: Environmental/spiritual Card Plays: Each Spirit Phase, play no
harm to the Island. more than the highest uncovered number.
Reclaim One: Each Spirit Phase, you may

return one Power Card from discard to hand.
Refers to both Explorers and Towns.
“Push 2 / ” can Push 2 , 1 and 1 , or 2 . Bonus Element: Gained so long as it is
uncovered.
Refers to both Town and Cities.
“A land with / ” means a land with at least 1 , at least 1 , or both.
TURN ORDER (All play is simultaneous.)
TARGET
Spirit Phase
• Growth
Target is any one land. Target is a Mountain or Wetland. • Gain Energy
ANY
• Play and pay for Power Cards
Target is a land touching an Target is any Spirit. Fast Power Phase (Cards and Innate)
COASTAL Ocean. ANY Invader Phase
Target is a Spirit other than • Blighted Island Effect
Target is a land not touching ANOTHER yourself (except in solo game). • Fear Effects
INLAND an Ocean. • Ravage: Invaders Damage the land and Dahan.
Target is a land with Dahan. Add Blight if the land takes 2 or more Damage.
Surviving Dahan fight back.
INVADERS Target is a land with Invaders. • Build: If Invaders are present, add a Town or City.
Target is a land with Blight.
• Explore: If a source of Invaders is adjacent/present,
Target is a land without add an Explorer.
INVADERS Invaders. Target is a land without Blight.
• Advance Invader Cards
Slow Power Phase (Cards and Innate)
Time Passes
? For specific card clarifications and answers to any other questions,

visit the Living FAQ at http://is.gd/sifaq/
• Played Power Cards go to personal discards.
• Damage and Elements go away.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

HOW TO READ THIS RULEBOOK

If everyone is playing the game for the first time, also:

4 MODULAR ISLAND BOARDS 8 SPIRIT PANELS

EARNED FEAR CARDS BLIGHT

SPIRIT ISLAND PHASE ORDER

FEAR DISCARD RAVAGE BUILD EXPLORE

36 DAHAN 20 CITIES 32 TOWNS 40 EXPLORERS 38 BLIGHT

52 SPIRIT PRESENCE 12 SINGLE-TURN EFFECT MARKERS

32 ENERGY MARKERS 20 FEAR MARKERS

Each player removes 1 /

3 ADVERSARY PANELS 3 ADVERSARY REMINDER TILES

To set up the Invader Board:

3-PLAYER MAP INVADERS’ STARTING ACTION

EARNED FEAR CARDS BLIGHT

4-PLAYER GAME SETUP MINOR

FEAR DISCARD RAVAGE BUILD EXPLORE

Each Spirit does three things, in the following order:

1. BLIGHTED ISLAND EACH PLAYER

3. INVADER ACTIONS LAND ORDER?

STAGE II ESCALATION 3c. EXPLORE

Adversary, ignore the flag icons. WHEN REVEALED

with a “+” between them. Invader

FEAR DISCARD RAVAGE BUILD EXPLORE

SLOW POWER PHASE

This is the wrap-up phase at the end of each turn.

A Explorer) to the land and to the Dahan.

(Step 1) 3 Damage to the land adds a Blight. 3

(Step 2) Now it’s the Dahan’s turn to fight back,

B) The City deals 3 Damage to the land; since at least

Option 2: The second Blight is added to land #7,

Option 1 is likely the better choice because it does

A B For these examples, the Build Action takes place in

A A) This land includes a Town or City already, so an

You can lose three ways:

PHASE ORDER FEAR AND TERROR

for the current turn only, unless they

PRESENCE AND SACRED SITES WETLAND

A card’s Energy cost is

Gain 2 Energy (in addition to this 1 7

Explorers represent Invaders willing to travel into uncharted wilderness: mapping

(For an example Ravage Phase, see page 11.)

GENERAL PRINCIPLE: ONE LAND! ONE TURN! ONE USE!

POWER AND FEAR EFFECTS

EXAMPLE OF GATHER AND PUSH

FIGHTING THE INVADERS

WHERE SHOULD I PUT MY PRESENCE/SACRED SITES?

WHERE SHOULD I MOVE THE DAHAN?

THE KINGDOM OF BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA

THE KINGDOM OF ENGLAND

THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN

SCORING 4-PLAYER MAP

Unable to project power on the continent and constrained to southern

Game Designer: R. Eric Reuss

Sacred Site: A land where a Spirit Increases Range by 3 lands.

Reclaim One: Each Spirit Phase, you may

TURN ORDER (All play is simultaneous.)

? For specific card clarifications and answers to any other questions,

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