Indie Boards and Cards IBCFPF2 Flash Point Fire Rescue Second Edition Board Game

Product Information

I would definitely recommend the Experienced version for older kids (13+), adults, or experienced gamers.

With all the game elements in place we will be shifting our focus to the online multiplayer functionality as we build toward release. Replenish POI Markers– There must be at least 3 POI markers on the board at the beginning of each player’s turn. So, as victims are rescued, identified as decoys, or (gulp) killed, new markers must take their place. Dice are rolled to select random placement spaces for new POI markers. This game excels at portraying the catastrophic nature of a fire: a primaeval monster out of human control, prone to outburst and unexpected behaviours. That’s why failure doesn’t really feel frustrating, even as everything crumbles around you. The battle was never supposed to be fair. Horrible accidents are expected, and always greeted with a shrug and disheartened laugh. It’s a nice change of pace to the endless RPGs where fire is at your complete disposal, a fireball to throw at your enemies with a snap of your fingertips.

System Requirements

After a player has taken all their actions they roll the dice, these give you a grid co-ordinate in the house. Should this co-ordinate be empty then you fill it with smoke, should it have smoke in it then the smoke turns to fire and should there be fire in it then there is an explosion, causing fire to spread in four directions. Success or failure rides on the shoulders of the firefighters and their ability to work as a team, and react to rapdily changing environments. Firefighters in Action! The game ends with the players winning when seven people have been rescued, or they lose when four are lost or the building collapses by taking to much damage. In keeping with the “family game” theme, Flash Point: Fire Rescue Basic game can be set up and ready to go within minutes. The map board shows a bird’s eye view of a house, as if you’re looking down from above with the roof removed. It is a two-sided map, with one side designed to be more challenging as it has fewer entrances to the house (only 2 external doors vs. 4 on the other map).

After each player’s turn, they will roll dice to show where smoke will pop up around the house. Sometimes there is already a fire in or around these locations, causing the fire to spread. In the advanced game, there can also be hazardous materials added to the board, which can make the fires much more difficult to contain.

We’ve been working with the Fig team to try narrow down the final release date and will announce the date as soon as we have confirmation on it. The Experienced Game takes just a bit longer to set up because there’s a lot more going on. It has three levels of play: Recruit, Veteran, and Heroic, with Recruit being similar in difficulty to the Family Game, and “Heroic” being (as you might imagine) very difficult. I played at the Veteran level just to get a good sense of how much more difficult the game becomes. Generally most logical moves are a good option. Like many co-operative games in this style, there is the opportunity for one player to try and take over and decide everyone’s move, but if everyone is conscious to avoid this ‘alpha-player’ scenario then all players should be able to make a big contribution, even in a first game. In addition, if playing with young experienced players, the base game even includes a family rule set with no special character abilities and few extra simplifications. For gamers this can be quite boring but it’s worth it to get everyone around the table familiar with the mechanics. Flash Point: Fire Rescue is a game you will just want to keep playing. It’s challenging but even when you lose you always want to try again and again. The two ways to play make it perfect for new players and experienced gamers alike. If you are looking for a fun, easy to learn, cooperative game for the whole family, you can’t go wrong with Flash Point: Fire Rescue. The one thing I struggle to explain thematically, is the fact that when you rescue a victim from a room another could possibly appear near the same spot you were just at. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me but I guess if all the points of interest were laid out at the beginning of the game it may make it too easy and reduce the tension.

Flash Point Fire Rescue, from Indie Boards and Cards, is a thrilling game of fighting fire, rescuing victims and team work from the game designer Kevin Lanzing. I also like that one person really can’t take over when playing this game. So much of the information on the board is hidden, so while you will want to talk to your teammates about what you want to do, it’s ultimately your decision where you go into the house. It encourages the right kind of cooperation. But, on the positive side, the firefighters have enhanced capabilities as well. There is a Fire Engine which is capable of putting out fires in multiple spaces simultaneously. And each firefighter is assigned a “specialty”, by choosing a Specialist Card. The following specialties are available: Fire tokens spread, turning all adjacent smoke tokens into fire tokens, combine this with hot spots, which make you roll additional times when you roll them, and the house fire can soon get out of hand. Ultimately if you manage to save enough people from the fire then you win the game, however the game is lost if the house falls down or if too many people die in the blaze. Amy’s Final ThoughtsAt the start of a game you roll the dice to generate a series of explosions that represent the state of the fire when you arrive. These explosions generate fire tokens, which hinder progress until extinguished, and structural damage cubes. Damage cubes create holes in walls making it easier for you, and the fire, to move about, but should you run out of the supply then the house falls down crushing everyone still inside. Highly replayable. The difficulty settings, expansions and different scenarios etc. means there's always something new to try. I particularly like playing with the scenario "Overtaking an Arsonist" - where you must drag at least three of the hazardous materials out of the building as evidence as well as rescuing seven victims. When I played Flash Point for the first time, I lost. I was setting out to rescue a damsel in distress but found that it was a false alarm; one that I wasted two turns on. I didn’t have plans to play it again, but it found its way into a game night. To get started, place door markers, threat markers, and people of interest according to the number of players and set positions shown in the rulebook.