How to Play Forbidden Jungle: Setup, Actions and How to Escape

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Forbidden Jungle is the newest game in Matt Leacock's Forbidden series from Gamewright. Your team crash-lands in an abandoned spaceport overrun by spider-like aliens, and the only way out is to power up a portal with four crystals before the ground collapses beneath you. It plays two to five people, ages 10 and up. This guide walks through setup, the four actions, the threat cards and every way to win or lose, based on the official Gamewright rulebook.

What is in the Forbidden Jungle box

• 24 jungle tiles, including 6 crystal tiles, 4 portals and the Fools' Landing start tile
• 20 eggs, 15 hatchlings and 12 adult aliens, plus 24 web tokens
• 13 Equipment cards, 17 Threat cards, 6 Adventurer cards and 5 Reference cards
• 6 pawns, a threat meter with stand and clips, and 6 Spaceport layout cards

Setting up Forbidden Jungle

1. Set aside tile #1, Fools' Landing. Shuffle the other tiles unexplored side up. No peeking at the other side.
2. Lay them out in the shape shown in the rulebook, leaving a gap in the middle. Fools' Landing goes at the bottom, and the six crystal tiles go in their marked spots. Give every tile a random orientation.
3. Place 3 adults, 3 hatchlings and 3 eggs as shown, and keep the rest with the webs nearby.
4. Put the threat meter in its stand on the side for your player count (one side is for two players, the other for three to five) and clip it at a difficulty. Start on Novice for a first game.
5. Shuffle the Threat and Equipment decks separately and place them face down.
6. Deal each player a random Adventurer, a meter clip on the top health mark (the Chemist is the exception) and a Reference card. Everyone puts their pawn on Fools' Landing.

How a Forbidden Jungle turn works

The rules say the person who last touched a tree goes first, then play goes left. On your turn you take up to four actions, then draw Threat cards equal to the current threat rate. Your teammates can and should give advice.

Move

Move your pawn one tile up, down, left or right for one action. You cannot move diagonally, cannot cross a tile edge blocked by a web and cannot move through empty spaces. You can also jump from one tunnel tile to any other tunnel tile for one action.

Remove

Remove one adult, one hatchling, one egg or one web from your tile and return it to the supply.

Explore

If your tile is unexplored and has no aliens, eggs or webs on it, flip it to its explored side. If an Equipment symbol appears next to its name, draw an Equipment card. The Workshop shows two symbols, so you draw two.

Operate a machine

Explored tiles may hold machines. A Configurator slides any one tile, and everything on it, through empty spaces after tearing off its webs. A Compeller moves all adults and hatchlings from one tile to an adjacent tile. A Destruct Switch removes a whole tile and its contents, but never one with adventurers on it. A Portal is how you escape.

Players on the same tile can pass Equipment cards for free at any time. There is no hand limit.

Threat cards: how the jungle fights back

• Move, then sting: every hatchling and adult moves one tile in the color direction shown. Then every adult stings each adventurer on its tile, lowering that adventurer's health by one.
• Spin webs: each adult adds a web to the shown side of its tile.
• Spawn, Hatch and Grow: adults lay eggs, eggs become hatchlings and hatchlings become adults.
• Eggs Discovered, Hatchlings Emerge, Adults Emerge: new pieces appear at nests, tunnels and portals.
• Collapse: the lowest-numbered explored tile drops out of the game. Anyone on it must move to an adjacent tile or use a Jet Pack.
• Increase Threat: move the threat meter up one position. The Shuffle version also shuffles the Threat discards, plus any Threat cards drawn this turn, and puts them under the draw pile.

How to win Forbidden Jungle

Spend an action to operate a portal while all of these are true: an illuminated crystal sits next to the top, bottom, left and right of the portal tile, there are no adults, hatchlings or eggs on the portal, and every adventurer is standing on it. Then the whole team escapes.

Five ways to lose Forbidden Jungle

1. You need to add an egg, hatchling, adult or web and the supply is empty.
2. The threat meter reaches the burst symbol at the top.
3. Any adventurer runs out of health.
4. Your tile collapses with no adjacent tile to move to and no Jet Pack.
5. Any illuminated crystal tile, or all four portal tiles, leave the game.

Forbidden Jungle strategy tips

• Explore early, near portals. You need to know where the crystals and machines are.
• Find a Configurator fast. Sliding crystals next to a portal is the main path to victory.
• Thin the adults. Adults sting, web and lay eggs. The Biologist can clear a whole tile in one action.
• Watch the supply. Running out of pieces is an easy loss to miss.
• Never destroy what you need. A Destruct Switch on the wrong tile can end the game.

Already know Forbidden Desert? Our Forbidden Desert vs Forbidden Jungle guide compares the two, and how to play Forbidden Desert covers the earlier game, which costs about $27 on Amazon.

How to play Forbidden Jungle FAQ

How many players can play Forbidden Jungle?

Two to five players, ages 10 and up.

Can you move diagonally in Forbidden Jungle?

No. Moves are up, down, left or right, and webs block movement across a tile edge.

Do adults sting if they cannot move?

Yes. An adult that has no tile to move into still stings every adventurer on its tile.