As children of Sinbad, you have set yourselves a new challenge to explore the 1001 islands and find the treasures of your father, the great sailor.
1001 Islands is a tile-selection and -distribution game in which you score points by matching your dream tiles and your island tiles as best as possible. A game takes 16 rounds, with each player adding one tile to their personal board to build their island or collect dream tiles, then players tally their points.
In more detail, when you're the active player, you draw as many tiles as the number of players, keep one and play it on your board, then pass the remaining tiles to the player of your choice. Whoever receives the final tile has no choice, but they start the next round. The dream tiles score you points based on what's visible on your island at game's end, so don't take a Fennec fox dream tile if your island is devoid of Fennec foxes! Palm trees earn points on their own, as does the pairing of a Rukh bird and its huge egg. Have too many bandits, and you'll lose points — and if you collect a third magic lamp, you have to flip two tiles face down, costing you whatever points you would have received.
Enjoyed the 1001 Arabian nights? Come extend your stay in 1001 Islands! Check out our review.
Justin and his kids take on the 1965 dexterity game Operation from time to time. How has it aged?
In First Take Fridays we offer hot takes on games that are new to us. This week we have Barrakuda, Tucano, Speakeasy Blues, Planet Unknown, and 1001 Islands.