Forbidden Desert FAQ
85 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Set Up
- How many Sand markers come with Forbidden Desert?
- Do players choose their Adventurer, or is it dealt at random?
- Is the Crash Site tile placed where the setup picture shows?
- Which way does the solar crystal point when it is attached to the flying machine?
- Can you flip the Crash Site tile as an action right at the start of the game?
Order of Play
Take Up to 4 Actions
- Must you use all four actions before Storm cards are drawn?
- Can you repeat the same action several times in one turn?
- Can you excavate a tile next to yours?
- What do you need to pick up a flying machine part?
- Can you pick up a part from a tile you excavated in the same turn?
- If your pawn is buried, what can it do before digging out?
- Can a buried Navigator move another player?
- Can a buried player still share water or pass equipment?
- Can you play an Equipment card in the middle of an action, such as during a Navigator's multi-space move?
- Does sharing water or passing equipment cost an action?
- Can you share water or pass equipment in the middle of a Navigator's move?
Special Tiles and Symbols
- Can you move between two tunnels when one of them has two or more Sand markers?
- Can you use a tunnel that has one Sand marker on it?
- Can you remove Sand from a tunnel you are not standing on, or pass water between two tunnels?
- Does a tunnel still protect you from Sun Beats Down when it is blocked or buried?
- Does standing on a well or on the Launch Pad protect you from Sun Beats Down?
- When someone else excavates a Gear tile, do the other players on that tile get an item?
- Do you get water from a well only once, when it is excavated?
- Where is a flying machine part placed once both of its clues are revealed?
- Where does a part go when both of its clues point along the same row or column?
- Does a placed part move when its clue tiles are shifted by the Storm?
- What happens when both clues of a part point at the Storm's empty space?
- Does a clue that is covered by Sand still count toward placing a part?
- Can you place a flying machine part after a Terrascope or Goggles peek reveals a clue?
Draw Sand Storm Cards
- What happens when the Storm draw pile runs out partway through a draw?
- Can you reorder the Storm cards you drew this turn?
- How many Storm cards do you draw, and when does a Storm Picks Up card take effect?
- Which way do the tiles move when a Wind card is drawn?
- Does a tile moved more than once in one Storm get Sand each time?
- When a tile already has a Sand marker, do you flip it or add a second one?
- Is a pawn buried when the Storm shifts a tile under it?
- Can you share water or pass equipment between Storm cards, or after Sun Beats Down is revealed?
- Can a Solar Shield or other Equipment undo a Storm card that has already been drawn?
- Can the Meteorologist's look-ahead reduce the Storm cards drawn?
Game End
- Can the team win from the Launch Pad with two or more Sand markers on it?
- Is the ship built piece by piece, or only once everyone reaches the Launch Pad?
- Does the game end at once when the last player reaches the Launch Pad with all four parts?
- What happens when the Sand marker supply runs out?
- Can players move Sand markers between tiles outside the Remove Sand action?
Meet the Adventurers
- Can the Climber move between tunnels when one or both of them have two or more Sand markers?
- Can another player move onto a blocked tile that holds the Climber?
- Can the Climber use a Jet Pack to land on a blocked tile?
- Can the Climber's companion ability and a Jet Pack carry two other players in one move?
- Can the Climber take a player who is standing on a different tile?
- Can the Climber take another player along on any move he makes?
- Can the Navigator move the Climber through blocked tiles, and can the Climber then take another player, including the Navigator?
- Can the Navigator's one move drop a passenger partway along the route, or pick one up on the way?
- Does moving another player with the Navigator cost an action, and how far can she move them?
- Can the Navigator use her ability to move herself?
- Can the Navigator use a player she moves to take other actions, such as removing Sand or excavating?
- Can the Explorer move diagonally, and can the Navigator move the Explorer diagonally?
- Can pawns on the Climber's blocked tile leave, move, act or pick up a part?
- Does the Climber stop pawns on his tile from being buried?
- Does Sand still get placed on the Climber's tile?
- Can the Climber reach a blocked tile several spaces away in one move?
- Does the Water Carrier's gift of water to an adjacent player cost an action, and can she give on another player's turn?
- Can the Water Carrier give water to a player diagonal from her?
- Can the Water Carrier take water from a player on an adjacent tile?
- Can the Water Carrier keep drawing water from an excavated well?
- Must the Water Carrier stand on the well to draw water from it?
- Can the Water Carrier draw from an excavated well that has one Sand marker on it?
- Can the Water Carrier draw from a well with two or more Sand markers if the Climber is on that tile?
- Can the Water Carrier take water from a Mirage tile?
- Can the Archaeologist remove one Sand marker from each of two tiles with one action?
- How much water does the Archaeologist start with?
- Can the Meteorologist look at more Storm cards than are left in the draw pile?
- How does the Meteorologist's power to draw fewer Storm cards work?
- How does the Meteorologist's look-ahead work, and can she use it more than once?
- Can the Meteorologist use her Storm-card power while on a blocked tile?
Equipment and General Rules
- Who can use an Equipment card, and when?
- Does a Solar Shield move with its owner, or stay on the tile where it was played?
- How long does a Solar Shield last?
- Does the flying machine model have any gameplay effect?
- Can players talk freely about what they know, even when someone is buried or far away?
- How far does the Terrascope reach, and does it excavate the tile it peeks at?
- Does using a Jet Pack cost an action, and can a buried player fly off?
- Can you use several Equipment cards in one turn without losing actions?