Your helicopter went down in an ancient desert, and the only way out is to rebuild it. Excavate sand, track down four hidden flying machine parts, and manage your water supply before the storm buries the whole board — or the heat does you in first. Here’s the whole game in about 5 minutes, nothing important left out.
Our full review: Forbidden Desert Review · New to the series? Start with Forbidden Island Review
Note: This is a condensed version of the rules to get you playing fast — nothing important is left out, but read the full rulebook for every edge case.
What’s In The Box
- 24 Desert tiles (arranged in a 5×5 grid with a gap in the middle — the eye of the storm)
- 4 Flying Machine parts: propeller, engine, compass, solar crystal
- Sand markers (light and dark)
- Storm deck
- 6 Adventurer role cards
- Water Level dials (one per player) and the Storm Meter
Setup
The Roles
Meteorologist
Peek Ahead
Look at the top card of the Storm deck at any time — plan your moves around what's coming.
Archaeologist
Faster Digging
Clear 2 Sand markers for the cost of a single action.
Climber
Move Through Sand
Move across sand-covered tiles freely, and can carry another player along.
Explorer
Diagonal Movement
Move and clear sand diagonally, not just up-down-left-right.
Water Carrier
Share Water
Collect extra water at a Well tile and share it with teammates on the same tile.
Navigator
Move Others Further
Move a teammate's pawn up to 3 tiles for one action.
How a Turn Works
Storm cards come in three flavors. A Sun Beats Down card costs every exposed player 1 water (a Tunnel tile shelters you from it). A Storm Picks Up card raises the Storm Meter a notch, meaning more cards next turn. A movement card shows a number and a direction — that many tiles slide toward the storm’s empty center, and every tile that moves gains a fresh Sand marker.
Locating a part takes two tiles, not one. Each of the 4 Flying Machine parts has two locator tiles — one marks its row, one marks its column. Excavate both, and the part appears where they intersect. Because the storm keeps shuffling tiles around, that intersection point moves too.
How to Win
Recover all 4 Flying Machine parts, get every player to the Launch Pad tile (cleared of sand), and play a Flying Machine card to escape.
How to Lose
You lose immediately if any of these happen:
- Any player’s water reaches 0
- The Storm Meter reaches the skull and crossbones
- The desert runs out of Sand markers to place
How do I refill my water?
Move to a Well tile (once excavated) and spend an action to fill your canteen. The Water Carrier can also share water with anyone on their tile.
What stops me from losing water to Sun Beats Down cards?
Standing on an excavated Tunnel tile when a Sun Beats Down card is drawn protects you from that water loss.
Can I excavate a tile that still has sand on it?
No. A tile can only be flipped face-up (excavated) once every Sand marker on it has been cleared.
What happens to a machine part if the tile under it shifts?
It moves with the tile. Parts, pawns, and Sand markers all travel along with their tile whenever a storm movement card shifts the board.
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Thumbnail image artificially generated for illustrative purposes.
