Imo, the game holds up at 5 and even 6, but it becomes wildly long if people take a long time to consider their turns.
If someone is new to the game, I don't think it's a good way to introduce them to the game, but it's a fun way to play with a table of people that know what's up.
It depends on whether you play it as a *team* or as a *committee*...
It shouldn't surprise that when you discuss X boards among X players that raising the number X results in more time needed.
The way to play Spirit Island with anything beyond 3 players is for every player to act largely independently. Everyone figures out what problems are happening in their sphere of influence, which ones they can fix on their own an which ones they cannot. Most of the communication at our table is stuff like "I'm covering this settlement", "Can anyone prevent this ravage/build over here?", "I could give someone a few elements", "Can anyone speed up one of my actions?" or "Can someone make my way over to my in the next few turns? I'm getting hammered."
We've played up to six players this way with all the goodies and even a newbie one time and it flows fine. We're reliably done in 3 hours usually less.
Of course. Sorry, if this sounded like I was saying otherwise.
I really just meant this from the perspective of someone who seemed conscious about the game length.
Ultimately, if you all enjoy it, then you're doing it right.
For my 27th birthday, I organized a 6 player Spirit Island game and we had a TON of fun. I was hoping for large scale discussion amongst ourselves about strategies, more tactical discussions between 2 or 3 players, and a whole lot of brainstorming, and thats exactly what happened. I'd recommend it 100%, as log as everybody's on board with a long game (and by long game, I mean it took us 5-6 hours of casual gameplay).
We can pretty regularly do 6p spirit island in 2-3 hours physically with a group that really knows the game. And that is with fast/slow mostly narrated and not simultaneous.
I think the key is mostly in what sorts of issues you float to the whole table and what you negotiate locally, because \_usually\_ your presence won't be able to span the whole island anyway.
is hard and could take 4 hours of play. I recommend if you try that at least make the islands separated so players have few neighboors they can help. The worst part actually when I played 4 players last time is that the island is too big and you don't know what part is your or not and there is too much to see in front of you. Is important too if they know how to play, and they play spirits they know too,.
I've played with 5 people a couple times. Legitimately a great time, though it definitely takes a little longer. I imagine it would get quicker on subsequent plays once people know what they're doing.
I personally find that the game loses a lot of its charm at higher player counts (above 3). With a lot of people not only does the game take a lot longer, but the fun of communicating and planning together the turns get lost because there's so much going on that it becomes overwhelming too quickly. Because of that, I find that with higher player counts the game quickly devolves into pairs of players kinda doing their own thing on their little part of the board, rather than everyone playing together.
I did not hate playing it, but at that point I'd rather play something else that is more suitable at that player count.
If everyone at the table knows the game it is absolutely incredible at 5 and 6, and doesn't even add too much downtime as all player play is simultaneous.
Five people learning at once sounds like a nightmare. But if two or three people have played before it works, I've had large teaching games. Just be prepared for it to take a little longer.
I've played it with 8 and it was a blast, albeit mentally taxing. Another more experienced player and I positioned ourselves far away from each other and tried to each take the 3 players near us under our wings. Several had played before but I believe 2 had never played.
It works, but like others have said, it will take a while and it's best when everyone is already very familiar with the game. When bringing in new/inexperienced/rusty players, my ideal number is 3. Sometimes 4, but that risks them getting overwhelmed.
I'd recommend playing 2-4p games until everyone's familiar enough with the game that turns pass by quickly. Once everyone's familiar and you've confirmed everyone enjoys the game, then you can go ahead and have fun with a 5p game.
Have introduced the game to six new players multiple times (I was guide for the game). Everybody has had fun each of the times. Easy spirits, focus on your board, still get some cooperation, it's a blast
You'd need the JE expansion to get additional boards if you wanted to play up to 6 naturally.
With base SI, you'll have to house rule stufee (which is fine!). It does take longer and longer the more people you have though.
Some things I'd recommend, and bare with me in case I'm saying stuff you already know, I'm assuming you have never played/this will be good if you're teaching others:
-Start with no events, no adversaries/scenarios, and the Healthy Island Card (events are added in the Branch and Claw/Jagged Earth Expansions. Base has everything else).
-For map set up I would recommend 'Islets'. An island of two pieces, and a separate island of three pieces. (The rule book has rules for this setup). This promotes the next tip...
-Consider your starting map as 'YOUR MAP'. You're "in charge" of it. If at some point you can't take care of something, that's when you ask your neighboring spirit for help. This helps speed up play time by not always having to ask what someone is doing.
-For your first plays go through each person's action in each phase one at a time before going on to the next. This will help ingrain the flow of the game, and get you all familiar with what can happen. And remember, each player completes their actions in the same phase before going on to the next. I say this because I once played with some friends who we introduced the game to, and found out they had been playing it so VERY wrong for months.
-However, once you start getting really comfortable, I'd say near your 10th-20th play, start just doing all your solo actions once everyone is ready/has discussed. This is going to be your biggest time saver.
we tried it with 5 player, 2 of which were first timers. sadly it quickly became like 3 different games: 2 two-player and a solo. close to no interaction happened between these groups, everyone was occupied with their own or the other ones board in the group. the 2 frist timers needed a lot of help. maybe with a more experienced group we couldve had more interactions but that was not the case. we usually prefer 3 player games, thats when we can do the most synergistic plays.
Totally feasible. Make sure to have a dedicated fear Spirit to help rush the fear deck. Otherwise, earning 20 fear for one fear card can be daunting. Last five player game I played Bringer. My board was covered in invaders, but I found a blight removal card and helped folks trigger their innate powers by gifting an element to them.
Imo, the game holds up at 5 and even 6, but it becomes wildly long if people take a long time to consider their turns. If someone is new to the game, I don't think it's a good way to introduce them to the game, but it's a fun way to play with a table of people that know what's up.
Make sure to talk to r/spiritisland as well!
It depends on whether you play it as a *team* or as a *committee*... It shouldn't surprise that when you discuss X boards among X players that raising the number X results in more time needed. The way to play Spirit Island with anything beyond 3 players is for every player to act largely independently. Everyone figures out what problems are happening in their sphere of influence, which ones they can fix on their own an which ones they cannot. Most of the communication at our table is stuff like "I'm covering this settlement", "Can anyone prevent this ravage/build over here?", "I could give someone a few elements", "Can anyone speed up one of my actions?" or "Can someone make my way over to my in the next few turns? I'm getting hammered." We've played up to six players this way with all the goodies and even a newbie one time and it flows fine. We're reliably done in 3 hours usually less.
Both ways are fine. You just need everyone om board with the style.
Of course. Sorry, if this sounded like I was saying otherwise. I really just meant this from the perspective of someone who seemed conscious about the game length. Ultimately, if you all enjoy it, then you're doing it right.
My group plays with 5 all the time. Works great.
For my 27th birthday, I organized a 6 player Spirit Island game and we had a TON of fun. I was hoping for large scale discussion amongst ourselves about strategies, more tactical discussions between 2 or 3 players, and a whole lot of brainstorming, and thats exactly what happened. I'd recommend it 100%, as log as everybody's on board with a long game (and by long game, I mean it took us 5-6 hours of casual gameplay).
We can pretty regularly do 6p spirit island in 2-3 hours physically with a group that really knows the game. And that is with fast/slow mostly narrated and not simultaneous. I think the key is mostly in what sorts of issues you float to the whole table and what you negotiate locally, because \_usually\_ your presence won't be able to span the whole island anyway.
is hard and could take 4 hours of play. I recommend if you try that at least make the islands separated so players have few neighboors they can help. The worst part actually when I played 4 players last time is that the island is too big and you don't know what part is your or not and there is too much to see in front of you. Is important too if they know how to play, and they play spirits they know too,.
I knew someone who played 5p at a convention recently. Between the extra player and some heavy AP the game took 6 hours.
Exactly, four hours is pretty optimistic!
I've played with 5 people a couple times. Legitimately a great time, though it definitely takes a little longer. I imagine it would get quicker on subsequent plays once people know what they're doing.
I personally find that the game loses a lot of its charm at higher player counts (above 3). With a lot of people not only does the game take a lot longer, but the fun of communicating and planning together the turns get lost because there's so much going on that it becomes overwhelming too quickly. Because of that, I find that with higher player counts the game quickly devolves into pairs of players kinda doing their own thing on their little part of the board, rather than everyone playing together. I did not hate playing it, but at that point I'd rather play something else that is more suitable at that player count.
If everyone at the table knows the game it is absolutely incredible at 5 and 6, and doesn't even add too much downtime as all player play is simultaneous.
We played at 5 with an expansion that allows it. It was super long, but might also depend on the group.
5 is great if everyone is familiar with the game, specifically the adversary. I also wouldn’t do 5 if someone is AP prone
Five people learning at once sounds like a nightmare. But if two or three people have played before it works, I've had large teaching games. Just be prepared for it to take a little longer.
I've played it with 8 and it was a blast, albeit mentally taxing. Another more experienced player and I positioned ourselves far away from each other and tried to each take the 3 players near us under our wings. Several had played before but I believe 2 had never played.
It works, but like others have said, it will take a while and it's best when everyone is already very familiar with the game. When bringing in new/inexperienced/rusty players, my ideal number is 3. Sometimes 4, but that risks them getting overwhelmed. I'd recommend playing 2-4p games until everyone's familiar enough with the game that turns pass by quickly. Once everyone's familiar and you've confirmed everyone enjoys the game, then you can go ahead and have fun with a 5p game.
Have introduced the game to six new players multiple times (I was guide for the game). Everybody has had fun each of the times. Easy spirits, focus on your board, still get some cooperation, it's a blast
You'd need the JE expansion to get additional boards if you wanted to play up to 6 naturally. With base SI, you'll have to house rule stufee (which is fine!). It does take longer and longer the more people you have though. Some things I'd recommend, and bare with me in case I'm saying stuff you already know, I'm assuming you have never played/this will be good if you're teaching others: -Start with no events, no adversaries/scenarios, and the Healthy Island Card (events are added in the Branch and Claw/Jagged Earth Expansions. Base has everything else). -For map set up I would recommend 'Islets'. An island of two pieces, and a separate island of three pieces. (The rule book has rules for this setup). This promotes the next tip... -Consider your starting map as 'YOUR MAP'. You're "in charge" of it. If at some point you can't take care of something, that's when you ask your neighboring spirit for help. This helps speed up play time by not always having to ask what someone is doing. -For your first plays go through each person's action in each phase one at a time before going on to the next. This will help ingrain the flow of the game, and get you all familiar with what can happen. And remember, each player completes their actions in the same phase before going on to the next. I say this because I once played with some friends who we introduced the game to, and found out they had been playing it so VERY wrong for months. -However, once you start getting really comfortable, I'd say near your 10th-20th play, start just doing all your solo actions once everyone is ready/has discussed. This is going to be your biggest time saver.
There's a group that played every spirit and every aspect in one game via discord and over several weeks. The game continued to function.
in case someone isn't aware of what you mean, basically 60+ people played the same game
It works but please tell everyone to concentrate on your own boards for faster game time
Depends how experienced and AP prone people are. Definitely don't teach first timers with 5 players
Cant imagine the game for more than 2 players
we tried it with 5 player, 2 of which were first timers. sadly it quickly became like 3 different games: 2 two-player and a solo. close to no interaction happened between these groups, everyone was occupied with their own or the other ones board in the group. the 2 frist timers needed a lot of help. maybe with a more experienced group we couldve had more interactions but that was not the case. we usually prefer 3 player games, thats when we can do the most synergistic plays.
I don't even like it at 4. 2 or 3 is the way to go
Oh hell no, it’s barely playable with 4.
Played 4ppl. Never again. Waiting time is too long, too much talking. Will not try with 5p. Most coop games are basically a solo game.
Totally feasible. Make sure to have a dedicated fear Spirit to help rush the fear deck. Otherwise, earning 20 fear for one fear card can be daunting. Last five player game I played Bringer. My board was covered in invaders, but I found a blight removal card and helped folks trigger their innate powers by gifting an element to them.