Forbidden Island

The island is sinking. You are all on it together.

Matt Leacock's co-operative classic. Grab four treasures and get everybody off the island before it disappears beneath you — and it is disappearing, one tile at a time, faster than you'd like.

It's the game that taught a generation how co-op works: everyone plans out loud, everyone loses together, and the tension ratchets up beautifully in the last three turns. Thirty minutes, two to four players.

Perfect for: families, co-op newcomers, classrooms, and finding out who in your household is a backseat driver.