Wild Island – My Father’s Dragon is a family board game based on the film My Father’s Dragon. Each player represents a team of boy Elmer and dragon Boris. The island on which they find themselves is sinking, shaking, and changing shape all the time. But there is still time to save the island by smartly moving around the island visiting different animals and finding the right energy source.The first one to do so is the winner of the game.
The island consists of 16 tiles, randomly placed in a 4×4 grid. Each tile has nine spaces with trees and paths. Players move around the island by rolling a special die trying to reach their objectives. From the second round, the island starts to shake intensely and the tiles are shifted and moved by the players. There are multiple icons that can help players reach their objectives faster: Elmer and dragon Boris can go into the caves and come out in any other cave on the island, fly icons allow dragon Boris to fly to any other adjacent tile, and courage icons represent their bravery when trying to save the island. With them, they get courage tiles to be even more flexible when moving around and shaking the island. Some of them have to be used immediately and some can be saved in Elmer’s backpack and used in one of the later turns.
The objective tiles each player has, are in the shape of jigsaw puzzle pieces. When the player visits their objective, they are turned around and when all four objectives are reached the image of a saved island is assembled as a small jigsaw puzzle.
Number of players: 2-4
Suggested age: 6-99
Game duration: 10-30 min
Contents:
- 16 island tiles,
- 4 sea tiles,
- 24 courage tiles,
- 16 objective tiles,
- 4 cardboard figures with plastic stands,
- Custom die,
- Rulebook.
ABOUT THE FILM MY FATHER’S DRAGON
An exquisite film from five-time Academy Award®-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers) and Academy Award®-nominated director Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner). The film is inspired by the Newbery-honored children’s book from author Ruth Stiles Gannett.
The story: Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elmer’s adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island and the friendship of a lifetime.
Board’s Eye View –
“If family members have enjoyed watching My Father’s Dragon then Wild Island could be the perfect choice as one of this year’s filler-length stocking fillers.”
https://www.boardseyeview.net/post/wild-island
Jim –
“Wild Island is a delightful game. It is full of charm and character. Just like the book and film. If you are a fan of the original story then I think you will love this and I would strongly recommend checking this game out. Everything in this production has been based on the recent Netflix adaptation, and children who enjoy the film are going to love this game.(…)
I can see this game being enjoyed a lot whilst my children are young. It is definitely suited to under 12’s. Time will tell if the game continues to be enjoyed beyond then, however, either way, I will cherish this in my collection for years to come. As I love the movie and art style this is as much of a collectable as a great game for me. ”
https://www.whatboardgame.com/post/wild-island-board-game-review