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In The Isle of Penguins, I wanted to create a sequel for everyone.

The Isle of Penguins has 3 modes of play: family, advanced, and expert. All 3 modes can be played with 2-6 players when using the Late Arrivals expansion, and the advanced and expert modes can also be played solo.

Today I’d like to talk a little bit about why there are 3 modes, and the differences between them.

7 years ago

When I was designing The Isle of Cats, I wanted to create a cat-themed game for gamers. I remember taking an early copy into a board game store and the owner saying to me, “It looks great, I love it, and I think people will be interested. But what happens when a young child picks up the game and says to their parents, ‘I want to play this’?”

I decided there and then that I wanted to solve that problem, without taking away from what the game was originally intended to be.

That led to the family mode which became very popular, and to this day, many people choose the family mode over the advanced mode in The Isle of Cats, depending on who they are playing with and how much time they have.

The Isle of Cats family mode was the first board game I played with my mother, and her first in over 25 years. It holds a special place in my heart, and I hope The Isle of Penguins will provide similar moments for others in the future.

Family mode

When designing The Isle of Penguins, I knew I had to create a family mode again. Partly for the same reasons, but also because this is a sequel to The Isle of Cats and I wanted to make sure it was a sequel for everyone.

The two hard rules I gave myself were:

• It must require no more than 2 pages of rules.
• It needs to be different from The Isle of Cats family mode.

This was more challenging than you might expect. To reduce the rules you need to strip things out, and the more you strip out, the closer the game gets to The Isle of Cats family mode. I started looking at what made The Isle of Penguins different, and also some of the feedback I had seen over the years about the family mode in The Isle of Cats.

There were 3 main things that came to mind.

• Everax. In The Isle of Cats family mode you never got to use the cat figures. So I wanted to include the Everax in this new family mode, making sure everyone had a chance to play with the penguin figures.
• No negative points. Some young children found losing points harder than others, so I took them out.
• Score track bonuses. These are a core part of The Isle of Penguins, and I wanted them in the family mode. These bonuses give all players long-term goals to aim for as they improve at the game. They also allow experienced players to trigger bonuses for other players, which can create great moments.

Outside of this, the family mode of The Isle of Penguins is a simpler, cut-down, quick-to-learn, easy-to-play version of the full game. It features strategic turn order, eggs, and the simple penguin shapes on a complex raft board that make The Isle of Penguins the game it is.

It is great for families, younger players, lighter game nights, or for anyone who wants to learn the basics before moving into the longer advanced rules.

Advanced mode

I don’t want to talk too much about the advanced mode in this article because, in many ways, the advanced mode is the game.

A lot of the other design diaries are about the specifics of how that works, and you can read them here:

• Diary 1: From complex tiles to complex boards
• Diary 2: The game board
• Diary 3: Scoring without stopping

What I do want to point out is that the advanced mode of The Isle of Penguins is designed to hit the same kind of complexity level as the advanced mode of The Isle of Cats.

It is a different game with a familiar feel, offering that same kind of puzzle-based rescue experience.

Expert mode

We have family mode and advanced mode, just like The Isle of Cats. But while designing The Isle of Penguins, there was something that kept going round in the back of my head.

I have played The Isle of Cats over 1,000 times, my skill level with this type of game has improved a great deal, and I can’t be the only one.

The Isle of Cats has been played by countless people over the last 7 years. Some people who bought the game back in 2019 will now have played many more games, perhaps moved on to bigger, more complex games, or simply become very comfortable with the advanced mode.

Just like the family mode was designed to appeal to those looking for something lighter, the expert mode was designed to appeal to those looking for the next step up. Unlike the family mode, this isn’t a separate set of rules. Instead, it is a different deck of cards.

When playing the advanced mode, you use the A1 deck. When playing the expert mode, you use the A2 deck.

There are no changes in rules, and the game plays in the same way. However, the expert mode makes the game tougher, tighter, more challenging, and more punishing.

For example, in the expert mode there are no cards that generate fish or boots. You will need to be better at managing resources and using other, more complex ways to gain them.

The lesson cards are also more demanding. In a typical game of advanced mode, I may take 8-10 lesson cards. In the expert mode, I may only take 3-4. These cards are harder to achieve and often worth more points, meaning if you fail them it will be more impactful, but if you achieve them you will do very well.

You’ll need to be more selective.

For example, in the advanced mode, a lesson card says to have 20 penguins by the end of the game. In the expert mode, a similar card says to have 25 penguins. A tough challenge when by default you only get to select 24 things during the game…

The expert mode also strips away the “x points per” lesson cards, meaning everything is a hard objective you have to work towards, and generally won’t just be stumbled upon.

In the rulebook, the expert mode is recommended for those looking for a tougher, tighter challenge, who frequently score 130 points or more and are comfortable completing 8 lesson cards each time they play advanced mode.

I don’t expect many people to pick up the expert mode on day one. But once you have played the game many times, become more familiar with it, or perhaps moved on to slightly bigger and more challenging games, then the expert mode was designed for you.

But don’t worry, you can always stick with the advanced mode if you don’t want more challenge!

The goal

The goal of these 3 modes was simple, to create a sequel for everyone.

• A quick, easy, accessible game for families, younger children, newer gamers, or those wanting a lighter experience.
• A full 60-90 minute strategic experience, with enough depth and challenge to fill an evening.
• An expert mode to give people something to work towards.

I personally love all 3 modes and will happily play any of them with you if I ever get the chance.

Let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to sharing my next diary.

You can find The Isle of Penguins on Kickstarter here.

You can read the other diaries here:

• The Isle of Penguins design diary 1: From complex tiles to complex boards
• The Isle of Penguins design diary 2: The game board
• The Isle of Penguins design diary 3: Scoring without stopping