Spirit Island Jagged Earth Review - with Jason Perez

Jason Perez takes a look at the Jagged Earth expansion to a heavy cooperative game, Spirit Island.

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[chins]

I would argue that this kind of expansion is actually better than a "you must have this" expansion. I don't think an expansion should feel like a necessity (and if it does feel like a necessity, then I think that mostly means the base game wasn't very good). I think an expansion **should** be aimed at the biggest fans of the game, the people who have played the base game so much that they feel like they know everything there is to know about it. Since that's what Jagged Earth is, and since it does that well, I think that should get it a Seal of Excellence.

[chrissiestern]

Thank you for the review Jason! I'm late to the party on the expansions 😂

[watchmaker]

Just got a 4 player and then a 3 player game in yesterday using all the expansions. We had a new player, so the first play was a beginner game against Brandenburg-Prussia level 2. After the newbie left we grabbed our best characters and took down Russia level 5 (a foe who has long been our undoing) in a nail biter. Both games together clocked in at a little under 6 hours total. Spirit Island game days are amazing, and I cannot recommend all the expansions highly enough. As the second was my 185th game, I would say this qualifies as a lifestyle game for my casual game group. (My other group plays 18xx.)

[kristiandjura]

Great review, got SI few days ago, and it blew my mind. Played 5 solos, and 1 2P game, and cant wait to play more and more, and start adding difficulcy.

I will sure get 2 expansions, but in a few months.

[pesmerga]

Good review Jason and completely agreed. This isn't the kind of expansion you buy alongside the base game, it's the kind you get when you're sure you love the game with high complexity spirits and want more of that. Even the moderate spirits of Jagged Earth are more complex than the original ones bc they rely on new mechanics.
I'd basically say if you enjoy playing Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares in the base game, or at least appreciated the new wrinkles it adds, then go for Jagged Earth. Some of the new spirits make it worth the price if you like it, as they do some fun stuff with the system.

[kevinerskine]

Adding a 6th player doesn't add time???? We went from 2-3 and it added more than an hour. You have to do so much coordination. I can't imagine a 6 player game. That's insane. I'll definitely get this if it ever gets to retail.