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Spirit Island is a very popular game. Currently it is ranked 11th on BoardGameGeek and this expansion, Jagged Earth, has been given a 9.3 score also.
The best parts of this expansion are the extra boards and the extra spirits. However, there is more. Jagged Earth comes with scenarios, major/minor powers, events, adversaries, and new tokens; elements, isolation, and extra of the already established. Jagged Earth also works where the rules recognise you may not have the Branch and Claw expansion too. Nice!
I was surprised that this expansion cost almost as much as the core game itself. After unpacking it, playing it for weeks and still not having used all of the materials, or spirits, cards, and scenarios, it is clear why this is valued at what it is. Jagged Earth is a whole game by itself.
Six Players
I play games with several friends and it’s always a challenge trying to bring out the heavy games, which often limit at 4 players, because we always find that more than 4 people want to play. One of the biggest drawing points of this expansion is the increase of scale in the game. Now that I have it, it’s a completely viable choice for next week’s game.
When we did get to play, there were 5 of us, and the scale of the island felt massive. We had to divide up responsibilities and how the experienced players would assist the beginners to cover ground and aid in strategy. I ended up not having to be concerned about two islands the entire game until once or twice they requested a spirit targeting power for assistance.
Whilst playing with one or two islands feels like a skirmish, playing with five or six feels like a war.
Also, for the solo or duo players out there, the new lands add more variety and combinations. The rules also suggest adding an extra board and consider it a bump in difficulty, whilst also including how to use that board and set it up at the start. What a great idea!
10 New Spirits
I adore the artwork on the spirits from the core game and Branch and Claw expansion. I also think the artist’s names credited on each piece is a nice touch and should be a staple for all games. There are some incredibly unique concepts in the new spirits; an aspect of time, a fallen star, a volcano, a flock of birds. However, two are just rocks, and we already had a rock spirit, and now we have more rock spirits. The style of the spirits are unique, and how they are played are vastly different also.
All the new spirits are moderate complexity or higher. You won’t find any spirits in here for new players to embrace, but you will find some for players that want to take a step further into the complexity, or a lateral movement from the likes of Thunderspeaker.
New Rules
In Jagged Earth, we are introduced to Badlands and Isolation. The former increases damage the invaders and the dahan (natives) receive. The latter removes the land from effects of invader actions where a neighbouring land is affected.
Isolation is a nice addition, but it’s not integrated with the new spirits. There are new powers which cause this and can be what you need to halt exploration. It could be my strategies are rooted in the core game, but I’ve yet to use an isolation power where it made a significant difference in my play.
Badlands works well and strongly in favour of the spirits. This also allows Dahan to hit back harder. However, without smite or big defence, Badlands can be devastating to the Dahan where a single explorer will take out a single Dahan.
The additional new rules can be a bit tricky sometimes. Like many heavy board games, there are FAQs available, but with all the unique ideas the powers present, I wonder if the game would benefit from losing some to create a streamlined experience instead.
Here’s an example. If Badlands adds 1 damage to invaders against Dahan, when I defend, do I protect the base damage? Or modified damage? I’m sure this is documented in the rulebook somewhere nicely, because it does a very thorough job of explaining these little bits. In the core rulebook, there’s a tip to say if you make a mistake, don’t worry and just keep playing! I love that. But I also don’t love that mistakes are expected.
Don’t have Branch and Claw?
Jagged Earth makes it clear that you do not need Branch and Claw before purchasing this expansion. It goes to length to demonstrate which cards require the expansion and which don’t.
What you do miss out on if you don’t have Branch and Claw is the additional tracking board. This is a board that sits above the other from the core game. You can use it to place scenarios, adversaries, events and your new tokens. However, no space is available for Badlands, so have a convenient pot ready.
Is it worth it?
Spirit Island is one of my favourite games because of how modular it is. Every part of the game is customisable and allows you to play it the way you want to play. It’s not only about finding the winning combination of spirits to take on the high level adversaries, it’s also about learning how to play the spirits, adjusting strategies and working together to succeed.
Jagged Earth doubles all of this, quite literally too. If Jagged Earth was just the spirits, it would be worth buying. Fortunately, it is so much more.
You could spend your next two games trying to understand how the time spirit works, and then the next two after trying to win.
What I hoped to express from this review is that you will have a blast with all of this content. There is amazing stuff in here that will add loads of content to the core game and explain how it all fits together nicely. However, if you already struggle with the dozens of rules and things to remember, this won’t make life easier.
I have limited space available to store games, but I find myself purchasing the spirit island expansions one by one. This game has features that I think stand above other big games.
