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It is not unusual to hear, "I want to be a firefighter when I grow up!" as your kid chases the cat through the yard and up the tree while the towel cape flaps heroically behind.
There might not be any cats to rescue in Flash Point: Fire Rescue, the new game from Indie Boards and Cards, but there is definitely virtual firefighting. It is a cooperative strategy game offering two rule-sets - one for the family of gamers and one for the experienced board gamer.
Family Rules: The game is played on a fairly standard size board-game board. Setup of the family rules involves putting fire,victim, and door tokens in set positions on the board. The game is won by rescuing at least seven people from the burning building. If you run out of damage tokens for the building (meaning that the building collapses), or four people perish in the fire, you lose the game.
There are a set number of actions each player can take on their turn when following the family rules. If your child can count to 8 and follow a grid, they will probably be able to play the game (though they will probably need help with strategy). There is a degree of difficulty involved when at the end of each person's turn you add more fire to the building. Between creating explosions that take out walls and adding people in need of rescue, the end of some turns feel like defeat is inevitable. The game offers a balanced opportunity for victory. I played through four games and won two.
Advanced Rules: The board is set up much in the same way as the family rules with the addition of hot spots, hazardous materials, and individual firefighters with special skills.
Even though there was more fire, we found the game wasn't necessarily harder, it was just different and more interesting. My husband played as a paramedic who was able to carry out victims quickly, while I played a CAFS Firefighter who was able to extinguish fires before too many explosions occurred.
Each player can choose what type of fire fighter they want to be. Each position offers a unique combination of special abilities and available actions. Game play is much more challenging than the family rules but also offers different opportunities for combating the fire.
__Overall: __Both of the sets of rules have one very important thing in common: the game doesn't get easier or harder with the number of players. Since fire is added after each person's turn, the game stays at a comparative difficulty level whether you have two players or six. Different types of players liked the game. Inexperienced gamers liked being able to join in after a round of seeing how the game was played; experienced players commented that they liked the similarities to *Pandemic
I used the excuse of "knowing the game well enough to give an informed review" so I could play through the game multiple times. Indie Boards and Cards adds another winner to their already popular collection of games.
Flash Point: Fire Rescue can currently be ordered via a Kickstarter project. The Kickstarter site also has a video and discusses the game in depth. The project has about two weeks to go, so there is still time to donate. You can donate as little as a dollar, though the most popular amount has been $45 which gives you one copy of the game with a promo specialist card, the scenario book and an additional game board with a unique paper building. If you have dreamed since you were a child of being a firefighter, or just want to add a flavorful strategy game to your collection, *Flash Point: Fire Rescue *is a great choice.
**I received this game for review purposes**
