Tutorial & Solo Playthrough of Spirit Island - Solo Board Game

Thank you for watching Tabletop For One!
In this video, I playthrough Spirit Island with solo rules and using River as though it was the first time playing. Spirit Island is designed by R. Eric Reuss and published by Greater Than Games. In Spirit Island, you, as a spirit, try to protect the land and the native Dahan tribe from the oncoming invaders. This game features hand management, area control, engine building, and more. I hope that through this video you will understand the basic flow of the game, how your spirit progresses, and how to win using the beginner-player rules.
00:00 Introduction
00:19 Setup
05:12 Playthrough
41:00 Outro
Let me know in the comments below what your favorite spirit is, and also ask any questions about the game. Please like this video and subscribe to this channel. Thank you again for watching!
#boardgames #solo #letsplay #sologameplay #tabletopgaming #boardgaming #playingsolo #sologaming

[@ismount]

The zoom in on the card text is very much appreciated

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you. That's good to know. I'm trying to figure out an efficient and affordable way to do that in my future playthroughs.

[@brownjenkin3966]

I really love watching your video. Satisfying. Just one thing i want to mention, serial killers are afraid of people who put the blights upside down

[@mich_mash]

Super organized walkthrough- thanks for posting!

[@tabletopforone]

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching 🙂

[@user-ku1sm1uy2m]

Everything about this video was fantastic, thank you! Also, the way you enlarged the cards for us to read them, really helped!

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you so much! I'm planning on doing the enlarged card things again soon. I don't have good tech for it, and my hands shake when I take pictures. But I will get a scanner to scan components. Anyway, I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@jelleh7379]

This was a really nice video, thanks so much!

[@pascalcharland1403]

Awesome playthrough! Great editing also! Really cool to see the cards and powers up close! Already owns and love this solo game but seeing you play it and crush it was time well spent! Great explanations as well!

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you so much! I'm a novice to editing, so I appreciate your feedback. Spirit Island is such a great game. I'm glad you enjoy it.

[@markdandridge4433]

I have watched your videos on Spirit Island a few times. Thank you for posting. I needed a refresher on the playthrough. I will continue with the same spirit for awhile. I should work up to adding the adversary.

[@tabletopforone]

Adversaries will come in time 🙂. I play 50% of the time with them, and the rest without them. I hope you continue to enjoy the game!

[@zkvonjava]

that was great! and educational :) thanks for posting

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@afjb1234]

Just starting to learn this game and your playthrough was excellent! It really helped me get the basis down. Thanks very much - you have a new subscriber!

[@tabletopforone]

You're welcome! I'm so glad I could help you enjoy this game. Glad you're here, and thanks for watching!

[@kyuuseishu1969]

Nice, since there is local reprint and expansions in my country right now i was looking for good example of gameplay, to help me decide if buy it and if so, then i know what to expect. Your video was so much needed help for me. Nice pace, explaining everithing, reading, showing it and going throught your thoughts. Thank you very much. Good job.

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement! I'm so glad you found the video helpful.

[@williammitchell116]

Just took advantage of the Amazon deal occurring now for this game! Had to watch as im newer to board games, and I'm subscribed to your channel so ill watch your content before others. Also, I enjoy your content! Keep up the good work. Hope all is well

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you so much! Message me anytime with any questions, and I'll help you as I can. I hope you enjoy it!

[@markdandridge4433]

I just watched again. Everything makes so much more since now. I started with Lightning then moved to Shadows and now Rivers. I lost yesterday using Rivers. I need to work on my strategies. 🌊

[@tabletopforone]

I'm glad it's all coming together. Just so you know, playing one spirit can be very swingy, ending in quick wins or defeats. If you play two spirits, things can be much more balanced and quite satisfying with synergies.

[@markdandridge4433]

@@tabletopforone I can feel the benefits. As I was using Water I was missing the fear I was creating with Shadows. I also wanted to make Water go faster with Lightning. I want to play and win with all the easy level complexity and get a strong base of knowledge. Then tackel the 2 handed or 3 handed games. I haven't even looked at blighted islands , Adversaries, Scenarios or Events. Hahaha. My wife purchased branch and claw too. I just opened it and glanced through quickly.

[@tabletopforone]

Oh, Branch and Claw is an amazing addition. I just love how much you can customize this game. Let me know how your next game goes (or post in BG41) 🙂

[@Geeks-n-Games]

Great video, buddy. Just played my first game of solo using rivers and lost. I think your advice about staying on top of cancelling their building options is going to really help in my future play throughs. Love the card close ups, super helpful. Love the setup being more about the game you are playing and not about what you look like. Love the lack of additional music in the background, just adding noise to something i want to concentrate on. Have subscribed and looking forward to more content

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you found the video helpful. The card close-ups is something I don't do normally, but I'm going to reimplement soon. I hope you enjoy the rest of the channel

[@mike9139]

YOU ARE AWESOME! ❤❤❤

[@JFitzsimmons]

Great video! I really appreciate how you explain what you are doing AND why you are doing it. Thank you!

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you found the video useful. I plan on doing more Spirit Island videos for the other basic spirits in the future.

[@JFitzsimmons]

That would be great. I’d love to see your favorite spirits for single-handed solo play. I like that you play that way. I’ve seen some videos recommending playing two spirits but I like this much better.

[@tabletopforone]

@@JFitzsimmons I play both ways, actually, but I think it's easier to teach single-handed and show a specific spirit's abilities. It will be interesting when I do the Nightmare one single-handed....tough, but fun!

[@Angeljux]

Amazing playthrough (and tutorial for us)! I'm just starting to understand how to play. I've lost 4 times already with the intro spirits on solo, but this game is so much fun that I'll keep on trying. What would be your best tip for this game?

[@tabletopforone]

Glad you found the video helpful. Best two tips I have are: Treat Blight as a limited resource. Sometimes it's better to "spend" it to let you ramp up for a bigger next turn. Preventing builds/explores is almost always better than stopping ravages. So, pushing enemies around can be an easy way to prevent them from doing those things. Also, play to your spirit's strengths. Using their innate powers well can often be the difference between a win and a loss.

[@tesciu00]

Great vid! Question. You were attacked on multiple ocasions on the land where you did have presence. From what i understand from the rules, damage to the land removes 1 presence token from that land and defence does not affect that. So when you are attacked, you lose your presence. Second thing. You had situation at the beggining where you were attacked with power of 6. You had 6 defence but from what i understand, defence does not cancel attack to the land. So you should add blight there as well as losing your presence. Or i don't get the rules of this yet?

[@lukekennedy1001]

The upside down blights ... was this for any particular reason? Thanks for the vid !

[@play-it-or-not]

Sacred site is where you have at least 2 presence, right? Were you allowed to use the powers referring to the sacred sites? I don’t think you had presence tokens stacked up, but it is difficult to see from this angle.

[@tabletopforone]

It's possible I made a mistake. If it's Wetlands, though, then one presence there counts as a sacred site for River.

[@johnreynolds1076]

Great video! Do you have plans to cover the other base game spirits?

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you so much! Yes, I do have plans for that. I just don't know when exactly. But I might be able to squeeze one in this month. Do you have a preference on which spirit?

[@johnreynolds1076]

@@tabletopforone yeah, I'm really struggling with shadows flicker like flame. I'd love to see your take on that. Got a few more plays in, but keep getting my behind handed to me by the invaders :-)

[@tabletopforone]

Great idea. I'll plan on that spirit next 🙂. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the game.

[@johnreynolds1076]

@@tabletopforone thanks, looking forward to it! In the meantime I'll be trying this spirit as I like the way it seems to play.

[@tabletopforone]

Oh yeah, Shadows is a fun one for sure

[@Randi-Rabbit]

Great Video, instant Like, Comment and Subscribe from me, I'm just starting out my board/card game collection, I have Arkham Horror which is AMAZING as I love the setting and this game was my 2nd purchase, I got the base game, the Branch & Claw and the Jagged Earth expansions. I noticed there are campaign/scenario cards that you didn't touch on, what or when do they come into play? Is it a different mode or something? Also, I understand the errata told you to place one more blight in the blight area but weren't you supposed to place the first blight in the setup from the blight area and not your excess? Because then you had potentially 7 in play and not 6.

[@tabletopforone]

Thank you, I'm glad you are here! As for the blight, are you referring to the initial blight placed on the island? If so, the rules state specifically that the blight placed on the island at setup come from the box, not the blight card/space. As for scenarios, adversaries, and the like, you can incorporate them as you choose, making for a varied and challenging experience. I do not recommend using them until you are comfortable with the gameplay and several spirits. Thanks for watching!

[@Randi-Rabbit]

@@tabletopforone Ahh ok, I've not read through the rules thoroughly yet, I came to find and watch a set-up and a playthrough (That's where you come in) as I learn better by visually seeing it in action rather than trying to digest a whole set of rules at once. I'm extremely new to board gaming, I never knew you could get solo+ games so I never got into them when I was younger, I've already been sucked in now though that I found out I can play a good amount of them solo.

[@tabletopforone]

@Randi-Rabbit no problem at all! It was a good question to ask. I do hope my video is helpful to you. I'm glad you found and enjoy the solo side of board gaming. It can be such a rich and rewarding experience. If you haven't seen it yet, I have a video on games to start your solo collection here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHaYlWSMZt2fl7ssi=4g1DEI4unPwL16Jq I hope you enjoy the rest of the channel 🙂

[@Randi-Rabbit]

@@tabletopforone Watching right now :)

[@markdandridge4433]

I was watching again for the second time. I am feeling better about what to do. I am still a little confused about the innate special abilities. If I am correct they only work with the cards you have payed for? Or once you have them you always have them? I saw a video that a player kept Tokens for the elementals. That really confused me.

[@tabletopforone]

The innate abilities can be triggered whenever you have the elements for them. Those elements you get from the cards that you paid/played. Elements can be used for any abilities and are present until the end of the round (when you discard them). So, if one innate ability requires one fire and one water, and another innate ability requires one fire and one air, you only need to play cards that give a total of one fire, one air, and one water to activate both innate abilities. Then at the end of the round, you discard the cards and no longer have the elements. The next turn's cards will determine which elements you have access to that turn. There are some spirits that let you gain element tokens to use later, but don't worry about that until you actually play one of those spirits (which are not in the core game). I hope that helps 🙂

[@markdandridge4433]

@@tabletopforone That does, the person I was watching may have been playing something different. I think I am really going to enjoy this once everything becomes second nature. I am not seeing things now like I can with Dwellings or Everdell.

[@tabletopforone]

I really hope you do enjoy it

[@nagredmoonstriker252]

39:10 Did you get to reclaim a card as well?

[@tabletopforone]

Haha, yes, I could/should have reclaimed a card. I probably was so wrapped up in doing a big turn that I missed that bonus. 😆 Nice catch!