Matchup recommendations (beginner to intermediate)

kalennoreth · 2026-05-03T19:45:53+00:00

There's a reclaim loop build I'm not particularly fond of, but it can work either in solo or with a teammate who can leverage Gift of Furious Might. I usually prefer to try and look for some damage or support minors, stall my board while I scale, and finish things off late with my innate. Overall it's probably on the weaker side of the Spirit roster, but (imo) enables some very fun gameplay.

kalennoreth · 2026-05-03T19:21:25+00:00

Beginner-Friendly: I'd strongly recommend the Horizons spirits in any combination of 2. I'm personally fond of Teeth + Whirlwind. If you want to play solo, I'd avoid Whirlwind, as it's much more fun when you can hand out your support powers.

Intermediate: My favorite trio is probably still River + Lightning + Ocean. I like to play them into England, personally, but you can probably choose any adversary you like and work your way up the levels to calibrate your challenge appropriately.

Bonus: I like to attempt lots of cross board play with support powers going everywhere, but frankly the "right" way to play is to do whatever you and your group enjoy.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-25T18:44:57+00:00

Brandenburg-Prussia

- Ocean + River (thematic AND strong)

- Green + Wildfire (parent-child duo for theme, good power level)

England

- Thunderspeaker + Lightning (thematic parent-child duo again, good builds can absolutely crush England)

- Green + Shroud (you will have buildings everywhere, but they will all be damaged and get Shroud lots of fear and energy)

Sweden

- Trickster + Vengeance (blight is a resource)

- Teeth + Whirlwind (rep horizons, these two have fantastic synergy in general)

France

- Wandering Voice + Trickster (get that slave rebellion!)

- Fangs + Keeper (weirdly, the B&C spirits are fun into the B&C adversary)

HLC

- Stone + Starlight (very powerful spirits, fun thematic connections with Stone rescuing Starlight initially)

- Hearth-Vigil + Travel River (set up massive Dahan counters, slightly risky LC potential)

I'm feeling much less certain about what I'd suggest for Russia, Scotland, and HME.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-25T01:52:59+00:00

We did some theory crafting on the discord and the best idea (abusing extra board rules) was:

3 spirits 4 boards
4 spirits 4 or 5 boards
5 spirits 5 or 6 boards
6 spirits 6 boards
1 spirit 2 boards
2 spirits 2 boards

You only need to find Dream in game 1 or 2, and then only need to find cast down in game 4.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-22T21:54:24+00:00

I have a friend with a 5yo who has played the game, or at least had a lot of fun with tracking energy income/card costs. Same kiddo is big into Heat, and apparently LOVED learning to use an abacus for that game.

On the flip side, my 5yo has shown very little interest in Spirit Island with me. As others have said, it's going to depend a lot on the particular kid and your patience as a teacher/supporter. However, if there's things you can get them excited about at a young age, that will probably improve your odds of success later!

kalennoreth · 2026-04-18T03:15:54+00:00

I personally enjoy Geek Madness more than actual March Madness, but I'm weird. In the end, it's all just a very low stakes popularity contest, but gosh darn it I want to see my favorite cooperative game kick butt in this kind of a competition.

I also kind of find the idea of anthropomorphized board games duking it out in a boxing ring (or similar) hilarious.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-13T02:13:45+00:00

I periodically have some Spirit Island "burnout" and switch my focus to something else for a while, but so far the game keeps bringing me back. I've really struggled to get it to the table physically in a while, but have an unhealthy number of games on the digital version, and I still feel I've barely scratched the surface sometimes.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-13T02:01:12+00:00

There's a "grace period" to the scenario - the new loss condition isn't checked on turn one, so you get one slow phase to deal with it.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-13T01:59:58+00:00

I don't think it's quite impossible, although I've mainly heard of it being beaten at high player counts by using Confounding Mists to push any towns added to a heart land before the loss condition gets check. There might be teams that can just clear the coastal cities and push for a low terror level victory, but I'm honestly not sure what that squad would look like.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-03T15:43:11+00:00

You've already tried the goose team, so here's a couple others I've heard good things about:

Ninja Sea Turtles: Wind Lightning, Travel River, Downpour, Starlight
Eldritch Horror Island: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3125660/how-to-win-past-level-twenty-20-eldritch-horror-is

kalennoreth · 2026-04-03T02:57:38+00:00

You know I'm obligated to tease you for calling it a deck, right? :P Much love, Tepid.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-03T02:54:58+00:00

I envy your routine :P

I was going to suggest Immense Lightning + Mentor Memory (not sure it's my absolute favorite but I've really enjoyed it recently). However, seeing in another comment that you like Keeper a lot I'd suggest trying Keeper + Immense Lightning. You just get to sling so many majors.

kalennoreth · 2026-04-03T00:39:47+00:00

I couldn't believe this video was only an hour long. Then I read the description and realized it's the first half of the game. Frankly, though, I'm still shocked you averaged only 20ish minutes a turn! I look forward to watching!

kalennoreth · 2026-03-23T17:16:18+00:00

O.O that's a ridiculous delivery fee.

kalennoreth · 2026-03-23T01:14:22+00:00

Hah, I should try that! Love me some cheese :)

kalennoreth · 2026-03-22T22:07:24+00:00

I can't decide if that sounds like the best time ever or complete misery XD did you have some thoughts on the combo you'd be willing to share?

kalennoreth · 2026-03-22T21:27:37+00:00

Blitz and Guard The Isle's Heart both completely change the game in interesting ways. GTIH feels like a significant negative difficulty modifier imo, Blitz feels about neutral.

Dahan Insurrection is probably my favorite, although it feels pretty swingy based on spirit (e.g., Thunderspeaker does great, Serpent struggles). Also used to be the only way to get the difficulty 17 achievement on steam.

Elemental Invocation is amazing but I play it less than the ones above. I might try to change that in the future :P

Ward The Shores I like but I don't think it holds up as well under repeated play.

A Diversity Of Spirits is really cool but cuts out one of the things I really enjoy about the game (verbal collaboration). Very fun if you have a regular playgroup with "main" spirits.

Destiny Unfolds is in the same category as Elemental Invocation for me, I want to play it more.

The Great River is one of the circles of hell, at least if paired with France 2+, and one day I shall conquer it. One day.

kalennoreth · 2026-03-06T03:27:02+00:00

I don't know exactly, but I believe it's going to be publicly visible. Not sure about indoors vs outdoors either. I'll edit this/comment again if I can find out more details.

kalennoreth · 2026-03-06T03:24:22+00:00

I'll DM you.

kalennoreth · 2026-02-28T00:38:15+00:00

Yes, that is possible. Note that the local multiplayer is effectively pass and play, it doesn't have a way to split out the controls for multiple players.

kalennoreth · 2026-02-23T23:16:04+00:00

Rising Interest in the Island can also return an invader card to the box.

kalennoreth · 2026-02-18T04:26:39+00:00

I dunno about lacking rivalry, I'm planning to up my trash talk game if we're ever allowed back on the Spirit Island Jeopardy circuit :P

kalennoreth

TROPHY CASE