In terms of highly-regarded team board games, Spirit Island takes the cake. Its usual price might also take your breath away, but not this week. It's currently enjoying a deity-sized discount to tie in with this week's Prime Day sale. (Or the painfully clunky "Prime Big Deal Days," I should say.)
Indeed, you can get Spirit Island at half price right now if you act fast - it's $44.99 at Amazon instead of $90, all in honor of Prime Day. Seeing as the god game (where you're trying to boot colonizers off your island) is so well-rated on community forums such as BoardGameGeek, that's an offer I think should be on your radar. Especially because it's one of those board games that rarely sees a reduction.
Should you buy Spirit Island?
Much like Pandemic Legacy and Brass: Birmingham, Spirit Island is the sort of game with a (*Taylor Swift voice*) big reputation. It's often considered to be amongst the best board games, actually. That's probably why it so stubbornly holds its price.
This is all due to clever mechanics that are straightforward but versatile. For starters, it flips the script on a common trope; rather than colonizing the board, you take control of spirits trying to get rid of settlers. Secondly, its gameplay is easy to get your head around but remarkably versatile. That's partially thanks to each spirit playing differently, but also due to the myriad ways you can go about winning.
Still outside of your budget? Don't worry. While this discounted price is a lot better than the usual MSRP that's closer to $100 / £100, Horizons of Spirit Island - a smaller, more bitesize version that doesn't lose what makes the original great - is also on offer for Prime Day. It's currently $15.99 at Amazon instead of $29.99, which is aggressively reasonable. Actually, that's also a single dollar away from its lowest price.
For more savings, don't miss these Prime Day gaming deals. As for recommendations like this, be sure to check out the best cooperative board games.
