Forbidden Bridge

"Forbidden Bridge" is a board game which simulates being a treasure hunter. Players play as explorers who are after ancient jewels, which are guarded by an angry spirit. Occasionally, the bridge guard will awaken and (via a motorized mechanism powered by the player pushing his head down) shake the bridge, which can cause players' pieces to fall off. Players also can get the chance to "steal" another player's jewel. The first player to retrieve three jewels and return them all in their boat wins.

Contents

*Bridge¹
**2 spans (connect the idol and the cliff)
**13 planks (spaces players can land on)
**7 railings (can save a piece when the bridge is shaking)
*Idol cliff¹
**2 hands
**Platform
*2-piece climbing cliff¹
*Gameboard
**8 plastic rock pieces (hold scenery in place)
**4 cardboard slides (contain jungle scenery; not essential to gameplay)
*4 explorer pawns
*4 boats
*15 jewels with storage bag
*2 dice
*Label sheet¹ Single piece once assembled

Gameplay

Each player begins their turn by rolling the included six-sided dice: one numbered die (with 2, 3 and 5 repeated twice) and one "special" die with three possibilities (each of which appears on two of its sides):
*Idol icon: The idol has become angry! Press down on his head and he will shake the bridge; any players whose pieces fall are considered to be on the closest land space to where their piece landed (i.e. pieces cannot be in the water).
*Explorer icon: You may switch places with another player's piece on the same bridge space as your own. This can be important, as the pegs and rails on the bridge spaces become crucial when the idol shakes the bridge.
*Jewel icon: You may steal another player's jewel if you are on, or land on, the same space as that player.The possibilities on the six-sided die are thus important to gameplay in that five is the sum of two plus three. Thus, there is a greater possibility of landing on the same space as another player, which is when the options (other than the idol) on the "special" die become important. Example: Both players are on the starting space. Player 1 rolls the following: 5, 2, 3; player 2 rolls 2, 3, 5 (each number has an equal probability). At the end of player 2's third turn, the two players are now on the same space; although this would not be particularly important at the start of the game, later on it can become vitally important. The odds of such a sequence occurring are increased as the number of players increases.

Interesting Features

*Although the box art for the game portrays the Idol as merely being a head with hands (its mouth being at ground level), the Idol in the actual game has a space below its head that contains five glyphs. The glyphs are: A stick figure, a jewel, a stick figure with the jewel as its body, lightning, and a skull. The glyphs are supposed to be a warning to those wishing to take jewels; the stick figure is the explorer, the figure with the jewel as its body is the explorer having taken a jewel, the lightning represents the Idol's anger, and the skull represents the resulting death or injury.

External links

*bgg|3945|"Forbidden Bridge"