Spirit Island Glossary Lexicon

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Hi there! Welcome to the Spirit Island Glossary Lexicon. Here, I’ll break down some key terms and concepts to help you navigate the fascinating world of Spirit Island.

Absolute Defiance

Absolute Defiance is a Power Card that allows you to push away Invaders and Dahan from a land. It’s like showing them who’s boss and giving them a taste of their own medicine. You can use this Power Card strategically to protect your precious land.

Dahan

Dahan are the native inhabitants of the island. They are kind of like the island’s defenders, protecting it against the invading Invaders. You can think of them as the spirit of the land itself, fighting back against the colonization.

Fear

Fear is a powerful force in Spirit Island. When you generate Fear, it weakens the Invaders and can even make them flee the island. It’s like the embodiment of the island’s defiance, striking fear into the hearts of those who threaten its serenity.

Invaders

The Invaders are the settlers who have come to claim the island as their own. They bring with them the destructive forces of industrialization and colonization. They build towns and explore the land, spreading their presence like a wildfire.

Power Cards

Power Cards are special abilities that you as a spirit can use to protect the island from the Invaders. Each spirit has its own unique set of Power Cards, allowing for different strategies and playstyles. Some Power Cards allow you to directly attack the Invaders, while others can help you manipulate the elements of the island.

Spirit

A Spirit is what you become when you take on the role of protecting the island. Each Spirit has its own unique abilities and strengths, giving you a variety of ways to defend against the Invaders.

Terror Level

The Terror Level represents how much fear the Invaders are feeling. As you generate Fear, the Terror Level increases, which can trigger certain events and make the Invaders more vulnerable. It’s like a way to gauge their fear and exploit it to your advantage.

Towns

Towns are one of the forms that the Invaders take on. They are larger settlements that provide a base for the Invaders to spread their influence. Each Town represents a concentrated presence of the Invaders and removing them can be a challenging task.

So there you have it! This glossary should give you a good understanding of some of the key terms used in Spirit Island. Now go forth, embrace your spirit, and defend the island against the Invaders!

+Any: Every turn, you get to choose one element. Remember, once you make your choice, you can’t change it until the next turn.

Blight (A): This symbol represents the damage to the environment or the spiritual harm happening on the Island.

Blight Card: This card holds the Blight pieces that are not on the Island. At the beginning of the game, it starts on the Healthy side, but it may flip to the Blighted side as the game progresses.

Blighted Island: The Island becomes Blighted when all the Blight pieces on the front of the Blight Card are placed on the Island. If all the Blight pieces on the Blighted side run out, we lose the game.

Board: This term refers to either the Island Board or the Invader Board.

Build: When you take the Build action as an Invader, you get to add either a Town or a City to the Island.

Card Plays: The number of Power Cards you can play each turn is determined by the highest number on your Spirit’s lower Presence Track.

Cascade: When you add Blight to a land that already has Blight, you need to add one Blight to a neighboring land as well.

City: This is a type of Invader piece. It deals 3 Damage and has 3 Health. If you destroy a City, you generate 2 Fear.

Coastal Land: This refers to land that is easily accessible by ships and is next to the Ocean area on the board.

Dahan: These are pieces that represent clans or villages of local islanders. They do 2 Damage and have 2 Health.

Damage: Damage refers to harm caused to the Invaders, the land, or the Dahan. When a card doesn’t specify, it always means damage to the Invaders. If the Damage equals the Health of an Invader or Dahan, it is destroyed. If you deal 2 or more Damage to a land, it will gain one Blight.

Destroy: When you destroy a piece, you remove it from the board and return it to the supply. If you destroy a Town, you generate 1 Fear. If you destroy a City, you generate 2 Fear.

Defend: When I defend, I protect a piece of land from the Invaders. This action reduces the amount of damage that the Invaders can do to the land and the Dahan by a specific amount.

Effect: An effect refers to the instructions provided by a card or another element in the game. It tells me what I can do when I use that card or element.

Element: An element is a connection or affinity with a specific aspect of nature, usually granted to me by a Power Card. This element allows me to use threshold effects, which can enhance my abilities.

Elemental Thresholds: Elemental thresholds are conditions or requirements that need to be met in order for certain effects to take place. These are usually connected to the elements I have affinity with.

Energy: Energy is a resource that I can use to pay for Power Cards. I can save energy from turn to turn, which means I can accumulate it and use it strategically.

Escalation Effect: An escalation effect is something that the Adversary does each time an Invader Card with an Adversary icon is revealed during the Explore action. This effect only occurs on Stage II cards.

Explore: The Explore action allows the Invaders to add more Explorers to accessible lands. This action represents their expansion and occupation of new territories.

Explorer: The Explorer is a type of Invader piece. It has a Damage value of 1 and a Health value of 1. When Explorers are placed on a land, they can cause damage to the land and the Dahan.

Fear: When I scare away intruders, I collect Fear Markers, which translate into Fear Cards.

Invaders: Please note that the Terror Level dividers are not considered Fear Cards.

Fear Effect: Anything I do using a Fear Card is considered a Fear Effect.

Forget a Power Card: If I need to permanently remove a Power Card from my hand, discard pile, or from play, I take it out of the game or place it in the discard pile of its respective deck. If the Power Card is unique to my Spirit, it goes out of the game.

Gain a Power Card: In a Teaching Game, I can take my next Power Card. In a normal game, I can draw four Minor Powers or four Major Powers and then choose one to keep. However, when I gain a Major Power, I must Forget (lose) another Power Card.

Gather: To Gather, I simply move my Presence from one land to another, as long as the lands are adjacent.

Growth: Growth is an important part of the Spirit Phase. It allows me to place Presence on the board, gain new Powers, and retrieve Power Cards that I have previously played.

Health: Health represents how much damage an Invader or Dahan can withstand before it is destroyed.

Healthy Island: At the beginning of the game, the Island is in a healthy state. It becomes Blighted when the first pool of Blight on the Blight Card is emptied and the card flips to the Blighted side.

Inland Land: An Inland Land is a land that is not next to the Ocean area. [p. 13] Innate Power: Innate Powers are special abilities that are printed on your Spirit Panel. [p. 14, 16]

Invader: An Invader refers to a City, Town, or Explorer.

Invader Action: During the Invader Phase, the Invaders perform one of three actions: Ravage, Build, or Explore.

Invader Board: The Invader Board is the board that controls the actions of the Invaders. It contains slots for the Invader Deck and each of their three Actions. Additionally, the Invader Board includes the Fear Pool, the Fear Deck, and the Blight Space where a Blight Card is placed during Setup.

Invader Card: These cards are part of the Invader Deck and show where the Invaders will attack. They are divided into three stages: Stage I, Stage II, and Stage III.

Island: The entire area where the game is played, made up of one or more island boards.

Island Board: These are individual pieces that make up the Island. They are punchboard pieces, and one side has a thematic map for more experienced players.

Land: A bordered area on the island map that is not the Ocean. When a land takes 2 Damage, a Blight is added to it.

Land Type: This is a description of the type of land that actions can be taken on. It could be a type of terrain, such as Coastal or Inland, or it could be a requirement for what is or isn’t in the land (for example, a land with Invaders).

Land with (Blight, Dahan, Invaders): This refers to a land that has at least one of the following: Blight, Dahan, or Invaders.

Move: When I need to get something from one place to another on the island, I can do that by pushing it or gathering it, which is called moving.

Ocean: The ocean is where the invaders come from. It’s a big stretch of water that surrounds the island. The parts of the land that are closer to the ocean are called coastal lands.

Outnumber: We say that one group outnumbers another when there are more of them. For example, if there are more Dahan than cities in a land, then the Dahan outnumber the cities. But if there are no cities at all, the Dahan will always outnumber them.

Permanent Element: A permanent element is something that’s always there and doesn’t go away. We can see it on the presence track. The element gives us the power of that type as long as it’s uncovered.

Power: A power is a special ability that helps us do things in the game. It can be a power card, which is a power on a card, or it can be an innate power, which is a power that we always have.

Power Card: A power card is a card that has a power on it. There are different kinds of power cards, like minor powers, major powers, and unique powers. Each one is special and does different things.

Power Progression: Instead of drawing four cards from a regular deck, I get a fixed sequence of Power Cards from a special deck in the beginning of the game. This is only used for introductory games.

Presence: This is a piece that shows where I, the Spirit, live on the land.

Push: I can move to an adjacent land or lands.

Range: This is the maximum number of lands away from my Presence that I can use a Power or effect. I can always act closer than that if I want! The measurement starts from my Presence, unless it’s specified otherwise.

Ravage: This is an action that the Invaders take. They cause damage to the land and increase the number of Dahan. The surviving Dahan then fight back.

Reclaim: I can take all the Power Cards that I’ve played and put them back into my hand of available Power Cards.

Reclaim One: When I play this card, I can take a Power Card that I previously discarded and add it back to my hand. I can do this once during each Spirit Phase, starting right away.

Remove: If I choose to remove a piece from the board, I simply take it off and put it back in the supply. This is different from destroying a piece because removing Invaders doesn’t cause Fear.

Repeat: When I use a Power that has the Repeat ability, I can use its text effects again. It doesn’t give me any additional Elements, though. It’s important to note that Repeats never chain, so I can’t keep repeating the same Power over and over.

Replace: When I choose to replace a piece, I remove one piece from the board and put another piece in its place. This allows me to change the game state and make strategic moves.

Sacred Site: A land becomes a Sacred Site when my Spirit has 2 or more Presence in that land. These Sacred Sites hold special significance and allow me to perform specific actions.

Scenario: A Scenario is a unique situation that provides alternate rules and victory conditions. It adds an extra layer of challenge and changes how the game is played. You can think of it as a special mission to complete!

Target: The Target of a Power is either a specific land or another Spirit. It’s important to choose the right Target to maximize the impact of my Powers.

Terrain: Terrain refers to the type of land a space represents, such as Jungle, Mountain, Sands, or Wetland. Each land can only have one type of Terrain, and it plays a crucial role in gameplay and strategy.

Terror Level: This is a number that tells us how scared the Invaders are. It can be between 1 and 3. It also determines the current Victory Condition.

Threshold Effects: These are special effects that a Power can have, but only if you have certain Elements that have turned.

Town: A Town is a type of Invader piece. It has 2 Health and can deal 2 Damage.

If you destroy a Town, you cause 1 Fear.

Up To: This means something can be zero, or any number up to a certain limit. For example, “Up to 3” could be 0, 1, 2, or 3.

Your Land: This is a piece of land where your Presence is felt.