24.3.2013

Flash Point: Fire Rescue is a fascinating game on many levels. Aside from the ingenuity of the gameplay, the mechanisms and processes by which it has become available, and lauded, have been unconventional, modern, and forward-thinking. In 2010, Kevin Lanzing, a nascent game-designer, got noticed with his clever cooperative firefighting board-game, Flash Point. The game was available through the self-publishing website "Game Crafter". The buzz around the game was noted by the small publishing company, Indie Boards and Cards. A successful kickstarter campaign brought Flash Point to a much larger audience, and the popularity grew from there. Further kickstarter campaigns have brought us three new expansions (one is upcoming),and many extras. This review is going to look at the reasons for that popularity.I picked up the game almost a year ago, and have played it frequently. I was not drawn to cooperative games before picking up this title, and since playing it, I have picked up several other popular coops (D-Day Dice, Robinson Crusoe) only to sell or trade them later. Flash Point, on the other hand, I have kept, backed every expansion, and treasured. It's one of those annoying games that you take to a gaming meet-up and everyone wants to play... every time. As a result, I often leave it at home, because if I bring along the latest, most exciting, new Euro-game - and Flash Point is also in the bag - you can be sure I'll be talked into playing that instead. Fortunately, it's a great game, so I shouldn't really complain!Very Brief Summary of the RulesThe board shows a map of a house, marked with a grid and simple coordinates to locate an individual space on the board. Before the game begins, players roll dice to set off a series of "explosions" in the house, and place fire tokens on relevant spaces. Players then also roll to place "Points of Interest": tokens which may or may not be people trapped inside the building. A large part of the game, is maneuvring around the fire to reach these tokens, and revealing them to see if there is a victim in that space. If there is a victim, the firefighter will be able to carry them out of the building on subsequent turns. However, after each turn, players roll more dice to place more smoke or fire tokens, and potentially set off further explosions. Markers are placed to show damage to the building, and if enough damage is done, the building may even collapse. Hence, players must balance their time between rescuing victims and suppressing the fire to prevent catastrophic failure and loss of life. The game is won if the team save 7 out of 10 potential victims.The game works on an action-point allowance system. Players have a certain number of action-points to use per turn, and these can be used to extinguish smoke/fire, move, open doors, carry victims, chop through walls etc.The basic game comes with family-rules, and advanced rules. The advanced rules are still very simple. They build on the above mechanics by introducing specialists (with varying abilities) so that a player can choose a certain role, hazardous materials (which increase the possibility of explosions), hot-spots (which can cause multiple fire/smoke tokens to be placed in one turn), and a fire-engine and ambulance, to aid the firefighting team, working outside of the building.ComponentsThere is a notable difference between the first and second edition of Indie Games version of Flash Point. In the first edition, the firefighters were represented by generic skittle-shaped wooden pawns (unless you were lucky enough to pick up the limited edition wooden firemeeples - firefighter shaped tokens, which were available through some of the kickstarter campaigns). Second edition introduced plastic firefighter figures, which was a really nice addition. This enhanced the game a lot. It is worth noting that the latest expansion, Extreme Danger, brings new figures to represent the different specialists - each has their own unique mould - so long-term backers now have a choice between four different sets of tokens to represent their fire-fighters!Fire-fighters aside, the components are all of a high quality. The box is thick and glossy. It is of a similar height to the classic bookshelf games (Agricola, Thurn and Taxis, Castles of Burgundy etc.) but shallower. The box does not have room to fit all expansions in it, and the first two expansions are unboxed - fortunately, the newest expansion, Extreme Danger, is boxed and this means that finally we will be able to keep all the components, from all expansions, together, albeit in two boxes.There are a multitude of tokens, and a plano (plastic compartmentalised) box from a hobby store, is desirable to keep set-up and clear-up time manageable. The tokens are all thick with clear iconography, and a nice sheen. The artwork in the game is a sligthly odd mix of very simplistic icons (the victims are like faceless "South Park" characters), and 3D rendered computer graphics for the specialists (it has been noted that the female firefighters are beautifully made-up as if heading out to a night club). Personally, I like the faceless tokens. It allows me to imagine the personality, appearance, even age of the character, and I find it helps me to immerse myself into the world of the game. A nice touch, which provoked some mild controversy on release, it the inclusion of a dog and a cat amongst the victims. These tokens are valued as highly as a human life in the game. I have found that in every game I play, players are much happier to rescue an animal than they are a human, so it has added a really fun twist into the game for me, despite the slightly warped morality of this fire-fighting team!The board is thick, and nicely detailed, with two different houses depicted on the opposing sides, giving much needed variety to the gameplay. The different layouts demand a different approach to tackling the fire, and also affect the way the fire behaves and spreads. (All three expansions provide new boards creating even more variety).How well does the theme hold up?Really well. This is a deeply thematic game, and every action in the game has been well thought through, and makes a good deal of sense. Fire behaves unpredictably, but realistically. Realistic dilemnas are presented: Do I chop through this wall to save a victim, at the potential cost of bringing the building down? One of the victims is likely to perish; which one shall I save? The only glaringly unrealistic mechanic relates to when firefighters get hit by an explosion. When this happens in the game, the firefighter miniature is removed from the building and placed back on the ambulance space; they are then allowed to re-enter the building and carry on with their work. Many variants have been proposed to make this more realistic, including an official variant described in the "Urban Structures" expansion rule-book, but all add to the game's difficulty.ComplexityThe game, even on advanced mode, is not complex. The basic game will not keep anyone, aside from families with children, satisfied for long. Rules can be explained very quickly, and are easily picked up from the very clear rulebook. Each additional expansion ramps up the complexity to a degree, but they are still very streamlined in their rule-sets.Difficulty is a different issue. The difficulty level in the game is extremely variable. One game will be a breeze; the next game will be a huge challenge. It all relies on the roll of the dice. The rulebook provides three different difficulty levels, in advanced mode. These are determined by the number of explosions before the game starts, the number of hazardous materials placed, and the number of hot-spots placed on the board. However, the number of each of these is further manipulated according to number of players. It is quite a convoluted system, and you are essentially left to decide for yourself how many of each item you will include in the game. Once you are experienced with the game, you will be able to determine an appropriate number of tokens to use for a satisfying experience, but until that point the difficulty level will swing frustratingly from game to game. It is my feeling that a future expansion should include cards describing predetermined set-ups and scenarios, with set difficulty levels. This would reduce set-up time, and keep everything a little more balanced. Ultimately, the dice rolls will still dictate how challenging a game will become, but anything to keep this chance-factor in check a little bit can only help.The Luck factorLuck is a major player in Flash Point, but it is one game where it feels absolutely appropriate that it is so. Fire spreads unpredictably. Every dice roll is a tense moment. This is absolutely thematic. Frequently, games will be lost because of a series of bad dice results. This is not a problem with the game, provided players are willing to accept the reality that fire-fighting is a highly dangerous, unpredictable lifestyle. As discussed in the previous paragraph, I think the chosen difficulty level has some impact on how influential luck is in determining success of failure in the game; I think set-up could be streamlined and improved.Number of playersOne very clever thing with this game is the way it scales. Each additional fire-fighter increases the ease of suppressing the fire, and rescuing victims (there are more people to take on the varying roles) BUT each additional fire-fighter also means an additional fire/smoke token is placed each round, and this increases the chances of explosions happening, and an increased chance of total building-collapse. As a result, the game can be played enjoyably solitaire, controlling one or two fire-fighters; or with 2-6 players. Theoretically, there is no reason more players couldn't be involved, although down-time could become an issue.Will my non-gamer friends enjoy it?Yes, this is a very accessible game for non-gamers. The theme is exciting, appeals to all genders and ages, and the mechanics are intuitive and realistic. The team-work aspect encourages conversation, and it creates a positive atmosphere all round. There are valuable lessons to be learned by families playing this game, so it is an educational tool also. The duration is relatively short (under an hour), and so the game doesn't outstay its welcome. The only slight barrier to casual play is the prolonged set-up time.What other games is it like?Flash Point: Fire Rescue is most closely related to the classic cooperative game Pandemic. They share many similar mechanics, not least the action-point allowance. Flash Point is a little more focussed - we are dealing with saving individual lives, rather than whole populations, but they are very similar games.In comparison with other cooperative games, Flash Point has a far less epic feel than the sprawling, fantastical, Legends of Andor, or the resource-gathering, worker-placement, Euro mechanics of Robinson Crusoe. We are focussing, in detail, on a very local problem in Flash Point. This is a more streamlined puzzle, and more dependent on reacting to what's at hand, than strategising several turns in advance. In this sense it it reminiscent of Forbidden Island, although Flash Point is the deeper title of the two. In terms of immersion, complexity, and unpredictability, Flash Point has a similar feeling to cooperative WW2 game, D-Day Dice; but as with Pandemic, D-Day Dice lacks the personal elements of Flash Point. Here we are dealing with 10 individual lives (dog and cat included) plus the lives of a small team of fire-fighters. This is emotive stuff, and much easier to relate to than the horrific deaths of hundreds on the Normandy beaches, or millions in a global virus outbreak.I have frequently become fed up with board games offering campaign-style play. I don't play the same game with the same players over and over again, so it is frustrating that I only ever get to experience the first couple of scenarios repeatedly, because I don't want to overload new players with too much information. This is what killed D-Day Dice and Robinson Crusoe for me.One thing is does share with all cooperative games is what is known as the "alpha player syndrome". If one ungenerous, or overpowering player decides he/she knows what is best for the team, the game can become one of following orders, doing whatever that alpha player tells you too. Commonly, this player is the most experienced, and it doing it for postive reasons - he, we all want to win, right? - but fails to realise the impact this has on other players. The fact that you can't strategise very far ahead in Flash Point does make this less of a factor than in some other cooperative games, but the possibility is still present, and when it happens, it's enough to put a new player off the game for life.Action-point-allowance is a key mechanic in many games. My favourites are the so-called "mask trilogy" by Wolfgang Kramer (along with his abstract Torres). Java and Tikal are a world away from Flash Point: Fire Rescue, but they are the greatest examples of the use of this mechanic, and exemplary Euro-style boardgames. American thematic games frequently use this system too. The recent title, Clash of Cultures, is a good example of this.The expansionsThe first expansion, Urban Structures, provides us with two more maps, and a new specialist: the structural engineer. The maps represent a high-rise office building, with an elevator, and a ladder to access the highest level, and many internal walls. This is the hardest of the maps released so far. The structural engineer can re-inforce damaged walls preventing the building collapsing - useful in a building with so many partitions. The reverse of the board has a duplex apartment - nothing very new, but it does create quite a challenge accessing one apartment from the other, with no internal doorway.The second expansion, Second Story, is an essential and logical step forward. Now we have two smaller boards in place of our original maps. One board represents the ground floor, the other is upstairs. Ladders, or a stairwell, can be used to access the upper floor, and windows are incorporated as a new feature. The boards are again reversible, giving more variety.The latest expansions, two of which are currently on Kickstarter at the time of writing, are EXTREME DANGER and DANGEROUS WATERS. Extreme Danger promises to add an additional board to enhance existing set-ups (an attic or basement), as well as a laboratory, and garage, with the extremely hazardous materials you would expect to find there-in. It is a boxed expansion, with as many components are the base game, and has a unique figure for each of the specialists, with detachable coloured bases to relate to the player's chosen colour. The publisher is listening very closely to new ideas from fans and incorporating them as stretch-goals (rewards you receive when the project is funded to a certain level). Brilliant extras such as a Rescue Dog specialist, Veteran Firefighter specialist (with miniatures), new pets to save, exploding items, more diverse victims to save, and alternate artwork, are all featured. DANGEROUS WATERS features firefighting on a ship or a submarine.There is also a PDF scenario ruleset for Flash Point called Fire Academy Challenge. It was a Kickstarter exclusive some time ago, and people who received it felt it shouldn't be offered up to the public again, despite it being well-received. Hence, it has not been easy to find for some time. More recently, rightly or wrongly, individuals have been more willing to share the PDF online, and it has become more widely distributed. I have not played Fire Academy Challenge, but I gather that it describes a series of scenarios with a set sequence of events for the fire-fighters to battle against. Fire behaves more predictably in this version of the game, because it's spread is pre-determined. This presumably fixes the difficulty/balance issues with the game, but I can only imagine that it may reduce the sense of peril, in doing so.Positives:- Deeply thematic, but also realistic- Exciting theme, which is also emotive and personally affecting- Accessible rules and theme- Suitable for all ages- Short duration- Scales well for 1-6 players- Great components (and getting better with each expansion)- Encourages teamwork and constructive problem solving- Easy to follow rulebook- Continually supported by publisher, with more expansions on the wayNegatives:- Set-up is a pain with all the tokens- Difficulty level is unpredictable- Mixture of different art-styles can clash a bit- One or two of the specialists are less fun to play than the others (although one friend of mine INSISTS on playing the rather boring Deck-Gun Operator - I can't fathom why)Is it a keeper?Yes, it's an excellent game: highly thematic, accessible, endlessly expandible, and attractive. I am conflicted on the unpredictable difficulty levels, and have probably contradicted myself several times on this topic in the review: I love the peril of the random dice rolls, but I find the massive swings in difficulty between games frustrating. It's a minor criticism; this is a game for everyone - it encourages teamwork and responsibility; and it's downright fun.

2.4.2013

The second true expansion to Flash Point: Fire Rescue, 2nd Story built upon a couple of the key concepts first introduced in Urban Structures: most notably, how to access an upper level of a building.Flash Point: Fire Rescue is a fascinating game on many levels. Aside from the ingenuity of the gameplay, the mechanisms and processes by which it has become available, and lauded, have been unconventional, modern, and forward-thinking. In 2010, Kevin Lanzing, a nascent game-designer, got noticed with his clever cooperative firefighting board-game, Flash Point. The game was available through the self-publishing website "Game Crafter". The buzz around the game was noted by the small publishing company,Indie Boards and Cards. A successful kickstarter campaign brought Flash Point to a much larger audience, and the popularity grew from there. Further kickstarter campaigns have brought us four new expansions (two are upcoming), and many extras.I picked up the base game almost a year ago, and have played it frequently. I was not drawn to cooperative games before picking up this title, and since playing it, I have picked up several other popular coops (D-Day Dice, Robinson Crusoe) only to sell or trade them later. Flash Point, on the other hand, I have kept, backed every expansion, and treasured. It's one of those annoying games that you take to a gaming meet-up and everyone wants to play... every time. As a result, I often leave it at home, because if I bring along the latest, most exciting, new Euro-game - and Flash Point is also in the bag - you can be sure I'll be talked into playing that instead. Fortunately, it's a great game, so I shouldn't really complain!Flash Point is highly thematic, accessible, endlessly expandible, and attractive. I am conflicted on the unpredictable difficulty levels: I love the peril of the random dice rolls, but I find the massive swings in difficulty between games frustrating. It's a minor criticism; this is a game for everyone - it encourages teamwork and responsibility; and it's downright fun.So what does 2nd Story bring to the game?Two Stories: 2nd Story maps are made up of two boards placed side by side, one representing the ground floor, and the other representing the upper level.Light Walls: This expansion uses "Light Walls", which were first introduced in the Urban Structures expansion. These pale blue walls are completely destroyed after placing only one cube on them, and therefore can be moved through freely. They represent light internal walls, and are used on both sides of the 2nd Story map.Stairs: 2nd Story maps feature staircases. The staircase-space on the ground floor is considered adjacent to the staircase-space on the upper level, so firefighters (and fire) can move freely between the two levels utilising these spaces.Ladders: Simplifying the concept of ladders utlised in Urban Structures, 2nd Story introduced "portable ladders". These tokens can be collected from the engine and carried to wherever the firefighter wishes to place them. The lower section of the ladder is placed on the ground-floor board, and the upper section is placed on the corresponding space of the upper-level board. This is a neat and intuitive concept.Windows: In Urban Structures, firefighters using ladders would have to access upper levels through destroyed wall sections. This is still possible in 2nd Story, but access is made easier by the presence of windows to climb through. These can be opened (and destroyed) in a similar way to doors. The presence of these tokens is a nice inclusion, and a logical step forwards for the Flash Point ruleset.New boards: The 2nd Story boards represent two different house layouts, both split over two levels. They are placed side by side to make up a board of similar size to a standard map. They are not noticeably more challenging than the base game, and certainly easier than Urban Structures, but they do add variety.COMPONENTSThe 2nd Story expansion is not boxed (it is wrapped in cellophane). It will fit in the original box, if you remove the cardboard insert, but not if you intend to also keep Urban Structures expansion in there too. The new Extreme Danger expansion has a box the same size as the base game, so between the two, all expansions should fit.The boards are of exactly the same quality as the base game board. The graphics are identical in style. There is a window illustrated on one side of the board, but no space is illustrated to place a token - this has aggravated some BGG users but it has no impact on gameplay. Equally, one side of the board does not have spaces printed for hotspots, again no impact on gameplay, but some players have remarked on it.The game features a folded A3 rule-sheet, with clear simple additions to the base-game rules.One notable thing about this expansion is the addition of a number of new counters. The most useful of these are new action-point tracking counters. These each have a symbol to represent taking a certain action, and can be flipped over when that action is used, to keep track of how many actions are remaining. Even nicer, the publishers have produced specific trackers for each of the specialists' special actions. The green action tokens from the base game now act as reminders of action points saved from one turn to the next. It works very well as a system, and is a nice addition to the game.The ladder, window and additional door tokens are of similar quality to base game tokens. There is also an explosion marker. Some players have found this useless, and frankly, it isn't really necessary, but when there is a particularly big chain reaction going on, it is nice to have a marker to place on the central spot, so you don't lose track.COMPLEXITYThe added rules are not complex at all; the staircase, window, and ladder rules are intuitive and realistic. It seems that new "Loft" and "Basement" maps are in the works for future expansions, to build on the concepts introduced by 2nd Story.POSITIVES- Adds more variety to an excellent game- AP trackers work really well- Improves on concepts introduced in Urban Structures (accessing an upper-level).NEGATIVES- No box, so it can be hard to store if you also have 2nd Story.- A couple of minor missed icons on one side of the board could be annoying, although they don't affect gameplay.OVERALLLike Urban Structures, it's a great expansion for a great game. If you enjoy the base game, this will soon become an essential purchase.

8.3.2014

Flash Point takes simple ideas from other games and pulls them together into a successful, balanced, challenging game. There is some luck in the dice rolling, but the game has elements you can include to increase the challenge, or leave out to encourage novice or family-level play. That gives Flash Point a lot of re-play value, as you can play it with serious gamers, or with three generations at home, and it works either way.Flash Point is a co-op game, meaning you all play together against the game. Either you all win, or you all lose. Great if you have bad winners/losers or dislike competition between people. But some co-ops fail when you have a very dominant player giving the orders.Flash Point isn't immune from a dominator, but there's enough to occupy all players and the action moves around, so a dominator is limited. There are lots of good co-ops around today. Flash Point is lighter than Pandemic, heavier than Hanabi or Forbidden Island for example.Players use action points (APs) to move their fire-fighter around a building (the board is double-sided and you can buy expansion sets), and douse the fires, locate people and carry them to safety (including a dog and KITTAH!!). At family level, you just spend your APs and keep the fire under control and rescue 7 people. To make the game harder, you can give players specialist roles, which might give them extra APs or skills such as hazmat handling or locating people to rescue. To make the game even harder, you can add in hazmat and worse, hotspots. Hotspots drive a more intense fire which keeps returning.The fire matters. Each turn, you roll two dice to see where smoke appears. This is shown by placing tokens on the board, smoke on one side, flip to show flame. Smoke on smoke becomes flame, and flame ignites more smoke. So fires can break out and spread quickly. But if you roll so that smoke appears where there's already fire, there's an EXPLOSION! That spreads a lot more fire, but crucially does damage to the building. You add cubes to the doors and walls to show the damage, and if all the cubes are used THE BUILDING COLLAPSES EVERYONE INSIDE DIES AND YOU LOSE THE GAME! If you're carrying a person out and they get hit by fire, or they're hiding and fires catches them, they die! Three deaths and you also lose the game.So when you play with the extra elements, it really does become a serious game. We stopped joking around and started pushing players to stick to their specialist abilities. And we did lose as much as win. With hotspots in the game, the fire returns and spreads much faster. You can quickly become overwhelmed, explosions break out and the building falls. It does get hard to stay on top the fire and delaying actions saves APs but increases the odds of losing.The only down-side is that the dice do push the game to either be too easy or too hard sometimes. Lucky rolls give an easy ride. Bad rolls crush you very quickly. But it fits the theme and if you don't like dice, then don't play games with dice. In Flash Point, they're a necessary tool.One very nice element is the use of different races and genders on the specialist cards. It's good to see actual diversity in gaming at last. Using historic themes as a cover for hegemony is very common and old hat. Other than that, graphic design is more functional than stylish. The rule book is a bit over-complex and could do with re-working. They've condensed too much into too few pages and made it hard to settle queries.Flash Point will please experienced gamers and gives positive gameplay even in adversity. New players and non-gamers can stay at the basic level if they want and still enjoy the game. Once they've played a few times, they can add in one element at a time and see how the game changes.Flash Point is a good solid family game with lots of value and some depth for gamers. It is a great intro to co-op games and a positive experience for kids. The rules are easy but the rule book might confuse novice gamers, so you might want to play a practice session first before explaining it.

13.4.2014

I got Flashpoint not with the greatest of expectations. I had heard of the game before but never really looked into it. Then saw the game being reviewed on Youtube a few times and thought I would order it. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this game was and Flashpoint has since become my favourite cooperative game that I own (and I have Pandemic & both Forbidden games). None of them, for me, beat Flashpoint.So what makes Flashpoint great? Well, the theme is fantastic. One of my problems with Pandemic is the theme doesn't suck me in. Whereas in Flashpoint when my firefighter gets knocked down by an explosion or a door blows up in my face I feel completely immersed in the theme.The fightighting theme is one we are all aware of and it works really well. The design of the game helps with this. For example, the way the fire spreads each turn makes sense in terms of how you would expect a real fire to spread (I am not a firefighter so I wouldn't know). Smoke leads to fire, fire leads to explosions, explosions lead to dead victims and damaged walls. It all makes a lot of sense.Other pros:- works very well from 2-6 players (all my other coop games are 4 player, so to have a 6 player game is great for those larger gatherings)- special firefighter abilities means working together doing what you're best at doing (whether that be firefighting or rescuing, everybody has a job to do for the team)- Great family game and even has family game rules to make things simpler- variety of difficulty levels which can be customised completely to suit your own ability- quick games (30-45 min)- double sided board which gives you 2 buildings to fight fire in (one a little harder than the other)- randomness of how the fire spreads really makes for an unpredictable challenge (you may think you have things under control and two turns later half the house is on fire)Cons:- set up can take 5-10 minutes depending on what difficulty you are playing (you have to follow a step-by-step set up routine which becomes familiar but initially will take a few min to go through... not a big issue really)- board is busy (there are lots things on the board which can make it seem quite busy at times but again, not a big problem)- Sometimes dice rolling to spread the fire may result in an easy game, or the opposite can happen (but this is quite realistic of fires I would imagine and I've only had 1 easy game where the dice were very helpful)- the action points each firefighter has vary depending on their skills, and you can save action points for next turns (this takes a little bit of getting used to but again, is not too bad)This is a really great game. The fire theme presents a very realistic danger that needs to be put out and you genuinely feel like you are in a building doing your thing as a firefighter. Great family game, kids would likely love this game. There are already 3-4 expansions out there to get if you want more challenges too. I've just got a few of them. Each brings new boards (new buildings), some new equipment and things like second/third floors to buildings which makes fighting that fire even more challenging. Excellent game, if you're interested in it I would fully recommend making the purchase!

9.1.2013

Many people may not be familiar with the concept of a co-operative board game - usually board games are competitive with players aiming to win individually. Here the players act as a team with either the team winning, or the team losing. From personal experience co-operative games are challenges of logic and organisation, and in a family setting can prove more popular with children as there is no "One Winner" & "One Loser".The Concept: You play as a team of firefighters with the aim of rescuing seven people from a burning building. Losing more than 3 survivors to the flames or allowing the building to collapse ends the game in failure for the team.Gameplay Overview:Players each take the role of a firefighter.Each turn a player has a certain number of action points to use either moving or firefighting (or performing other actions; see advanced rules). Players must get to 'point of interest' tokens to revel if there is a survivor there or if it is a false alarm. Survivors must then be rescued from the building.Following the action phase, dice are rolled to determine how fire spreads through the building. This can result in smoke, fire or explosions which may cause structural damage or further block your path to survivors.Family (Basic)/Advanced Rules:The game has two sets of rules: The 'family' (basic) game introduces the core gameplay mechanics (eg. movement, firefighting, fire progression etc.) and is very enjoyable on it's own. I would advise all new players to have at least one game with these rules, regardless of your previous gaming experience as it sets the essential turn order and mechanics up without clouding the issue with overly complicated rules. The advanced rules add in different firefighter special abilities (eg. Fast movement, more effective firefighting etc.); the firetruck and ambulance vehicles (the former aiding your ability to fight the fire and the latter becomes the drop point for survivors); HASMAT markers which will explode on contact with fire and Hotspots which encourage the fire to flare up again. These advanced features add a level of game interest, however new players (or players unfamilar with common board game mechanics) may find them confusing at first.Other points to note:- The game board is two sided, each with a different building layout for variety.- The first time you play may take a little longer, but in general games will last about an hour (not including setup)- Game is for 2 - 6 players, I would advise for a 2 player game that each player controls two firefighters.- Turns are not intended to be made on individual judgement, instead discuss with your team mates before charging into the flamesFinal point:This is a fun co-operative game with nice pieces and board; ideal for a family setting. If you like this then maybe try the game 'Pandemic', or if you like the idea of co-operative board games, but this sounds too complicated then maybe look into 'Forbidden Island'

16.2.2020

Flash Point: Fire Rescue (FP) is a co-operative game where players are a team of fire fighters working together to stop a building from collapsing and rescuing enough people & pets to save the day.To win the game, players must rescue 7 victims caught inside the burning building. You lose if 4 people die or if the building takes so much damage that it collapses.The set-up depends on difficulty setting (this ranges from family friendly to very hard) and leaves the building in a state of chaos as you place fire and place damage to the structure. Each round players take a number of actions (usually 4) plus any specialised actions their character can do e.g.

15.1.2014

I have played other co op games previous to this including Pandemic + expansions and Forbidden Island.I would also recommend these games but for me Flashpoint offers something new. Pandemic is on a global scale and I think it is a great game, but the claustrophobia and tension of Flashpoint is what really makes this game a lot of fun to play.Co Op games are great to play as they encourage team work and problem solving. I suppose in the game mechanics Flashpoint is less predictable to Pandemic and in that it feels a bit more chaotic and random.This is good and bad. Firstly it does fit the theme very well of fire spreading through a building. However because of the dice roll,

20.1.2016

The game is a good family one and easy to pick up and teach. It is a co-op game but there is not as much interaction as you would find in Pandemic - there are no items to exchange with each other to aid the cause or anything. It feels more like everyone is playing an individual game for the greater cause, you don't work in teams and the specialists don't really interact with the other players either bar the odd extra move space here and there. It is very thermattic and there is a sense of relief when you chop down the walls and save the family pet with fire exploding all around the room - but it's still very 'I saved the cat' - it just doesn't feel like any team effort involved.

19.4.2018

A great co-op boardgame. Simple rules to learn the basics and once competent the advanced rules in combination with the increased difficulty setting make for an enjoyable challenge. We've only been playing as a two so far (wife and I) but looking forward to getting others involved as it won't take more than 5mins to teach and presents a nice change from competitive games.Playtime is about 60 - 90mins for us depending upon how tired we are and so works perfectly as a midweek after work game when we are looking to get away from a TV / laptop screen and spend some time talking to each other.There are numerous expansions available, we have the veteran and dog rescue pack and the extreme danger pack.

9.8.2015

Flash Point is an easy to play co-operative game. The premise of the game is you're a crew of firefighters dashing into a burning building to find survivors and pull them out of the building to safety before the building collapses or everyone prishes in fire and flames.We're played this game a lot, largely because its easy to play and pick up for more casual board gamers. Everyone is always happy to come back and play this game when I ask whay should we bring to a board game night. The rules are easy to follow and the game is simple to set up. It allows for a lot of social chat.If you're looking for a easy to play, not too indepth thrill then I highly recommend this game.We have all of the expansions to the game,

3.3.2013

I'm an avid collector of games of all types and no stranger to competitive games so after reading the reviews of FlashPoint it seemed a natural buy for me.The basic rules are very simple and we played them straight out of the box. Game play for the basic rules is fast and simple. Success relies not only in good team play but also in luck: sometimes, despite GREAT teamwork, the fire rages quickly out of control and the building comes down. This is offset a little in the advanced rules were the team have a set of specialists to choose from, each with their own special ability. This gives slightly more control over the fire and the rescue of victims.All in all it's easy to pick up,

30.8.2015

Only played one game with the family so far. We lost the battle with the fire, and after a lot of discussion we mutually agreed to flee the building before it collapsed. But my six-year old daughter on her turn ignored our agreement and stayed to rescue someone nearby. (I had just raced passed a person in need of rescue to get out.) We all got out just in time, except my daughter and her rescuee, who 'perished'. An intense and engaging game. Thank goodness I'm not a real fireman.UPDATE: The family game is suitable for my near seven year old, who likes the game, understands the family rules and participates in strategy,

1.8.2018

I have a ten year old and a 14 year old and we really enjoy family board game nights. Recently we have enjoyed playing Pandemic (which is a fabulous team game), so we bought this one as it also requires you to work as a team to win. With this game basically the house is on fire and the smoke and flames are spreading with each roll of the dice. Each of the players are fireman and you have to strategically move round the board and work together to save people from the house before it burns down. It is great! Everyone gets really involved and "into" the story, as if it is a real fire rescue. Highly recommend this game to any family - especially if like me you are sick of monopoly and game of

16.10.2015

If you're a fan of co-operative games then this is a must. A game with a rare theme that has some many levels of play. Production value is high, with tonnes of detail in the print of the board and card look great. The game operates with a 'Action Point' system and smoke/fire is determined by the roll of a D6 & D8 at the end of each players turn. Lots of fun to be had, especially when one family member in particular favoured saving a cats life, over a humans... With the addition of character cards, the fire engine and ambulance, and the addition of special flammable/fire tiles; the game has plenty of re-playability and depth beyond the base/family game.

31.3.2016

One: this is a cooperation game. The players need to plan, discuss, debate and possibly argue over the best plan of action to win the game. And they win as a team, or they lose as a team.Two: this game so totally *ROCKS*! Regardless of whether you play by the easier "Family Rules", suitable for younger players, or whether you play by hardcore rules for experienced fire-fighters: this game has left us breathless and keen, anxious and alarmed, exhilarated and ablaze with enthusiasm.Save People! Save your Team-mates! Get that fire out!

Flash Point: 2nd Story - Reviews

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