FIREBALL ISLAND RETURNS

I'm hoping at least one of the expansions does something to increase inter-player fuckery. That's my main concern of the redesign: that they've turned it into a somehwat sanitized scavenger hunt (although it still sounds awesome). Maybe the base game is more family-friendly and the expansions add more treachery. I'm also pretty anxious to see what the graphic design and finalized color 3D board look like, because I think Restoration's releases so far have been totally serviceable in the graphics dept. but also kind of sterile and overly clean.

I'm pretty skeptical. For a seasoned designer, tweaking the base game so that it is still Fireball Island , and not just in name, really shouldn't be too difficult.

I've seen a lot of house rules that make it a great game by schlubs who've enjoyed the game for years.

Sooooo... The possibility of expansions to make it more treacherous from a family friendly game raises red flags and klaxxons blare.

But I guess the only game of fireball island we are playing now is "wait and see".

Yeah our houseruled version involved guns, grenades and permadeath and I'm definitely not expecting anything remotely in the vicinity of that. Still, though, treachery should be a part of the new version; any redesign that doesn't center around stealing the jewel back and forth and fireballing the hell out of each other kind of misses the point. I think the O.G. version even depicted a guy pointing a revolver at another player on one of the cards. Really hoping they don't sanitize this thing too much but if Restoration's output thus far is any indication, they probably will. Still excited as hell anyway.

I got an offer to play the only existing production prototype next month. Naturally, because I’m such a big shot in the gaming world. I don’t know what I’ll be able to tell you, but I’ll share what I can.

I'm as recalcitrant as ever to do any Kickstartering, but I will say that Restoration has so far done some outstanding work- their definitive edition of Top Race/DCGP/Daytona 500 included. I trust that they will turn out a great product.

I am leery about newly developed add-ons in the same way I was about them in Survive. I'd be inclined to just skip them I think.

Motorik wrote: Still, though, treachery should be a part of the new version; any redesign that doesn't center around stealing the jewel back and forth and fireballing the hell out of each other kind of misses the point.

Which is my point. It better be part of the game without relying on an expansion for that quality. A design that doesn't incorporate that as a fundamental part of the design can be, and definitely should be, dismissed out of hand as a fail.

This is where my skepticism lies.

I have a lot of confidence that this will be awesometacular, but if potential expansion shenanigans occurs, I will act as if this game doesn't exist.

Rob Daviau carries a lot of weight with me; I trust he will do a good job.

Apparently it leaked out of GAMA that one of the three (3) day-one expansions is a WHOLE SEPARATE ISLAND with a fucking PIRATE SHIP

Fireball Island Product Line >>>>> Monolith Batman Product Line

Is this up on KS yet? My Bro-in-law actually has a copy of FI so my son and I are in that select small group of current players. I'm absolutely in on this so long as some of the charm is still there. Of course my 5 year old is completely in love with the new Jumanji so if they can tie that in somehow.....my wallet will be dead.

Alright so, in lieu of going over to TOS and drudging through a bunch of chaff, can someone give me the TL:DR on how this game actually plays? I've kind of conceptualized it as a lighter Talisman with a dexterity element, almost more of a toy than a board game, but I've never played and I have no idea.

Is this something with legs for the non-nostolgia crowd?

Stonecutter wrote: Alright so, in lieu of going over to TOS and drudging through a bunch of chaff, can someone give me the TL:DR on how this game actually plays? I've kind of conceptualized it as a lighter Talisman with a dexterity element, almost more of a toy than a board game, but I've never played and I have no idea.

It's a roll-and-move with some card play that provides a little bit of take-that. I think it's more fun to play with than to play.

Is this something with legs for the non-nostolgia crowd?

I doubt it, but this is where the "improvements" will come into play.

I'm excited about it because I've wanted a copy for a long time. But now that it's nearing availability, I'm much more hesitant and skeptical.

Gregarius wrote:

Stonecutter wrote: Alright so, in lieu of going over to TOS and drudging through a bunch of chaff, can someone give me the TL:DR on how this game actually plays? I've kind of conceptualized it as a lighter Talisman with a dexterity element, almost more of a toy than a board game, but I've never played and I have no idea.

It's a roll-and-move with some card play that provides a little bit of take-that. I think it's more fun to play with than to play.

Is this something with legs for the non-nostolgia crowd?

I doubt it, but this is where the "improvements" will come into play.

I'm excited about it because I've wanted a copy for a long time. But now that it's nearing availability, I'm much more hesitant and skeptical.

Same here. At BGG, I have had Fireball Island listed as "Like to have" for nearly a decade. But now I have the gut feeling that this will take up a lot of shelf space but not see much play time. The cumbersome size and likely fragility means that it would rarely ever leave my home.

I don't think size will be as much of an issue as you are thinking; the island is in pieces that nest now, due to giant boxes being a thing of the past.

Shellhead wrote:

Gregarius wrote:

Stonecutter wrote: Alright so, in lieu of going over to TOS and drudging through a bunch of chaff, can someone give me the TL:DR on how this game actually plays? I've kind of conceptualized it as a lighter Talisman with a dexterity element, almost more of a toy than a board game, but I've never played and I have no idea.

It's a roll-and-move with some card play that provides a little bit of take-that. I think it's more fun to play with than to play.

Is this something with legs for the non-nostolgia crowd?

I doubt it, but this is where the "improvements" will come into play.

I'm excited about it because I've wanted a copy for a long time. But now that it's nearing availability, I'm much more hesitant and skeptical.

Same here. At BGG, I have had Fireball Island listed as "Like to have" for nearly a decade. But now I have the gut feeling that this will take up a lot of shelf space but not see much play time. The cumbersome size and likely fragility means that it would rarely ever leave my home.

This is pretty much what I suspected. I'm thinking I'm going to pass.

I went to TOS and amongst the chaff found a comment from the new designer along the lines of 'correcting the design errors of the original'. That attitude makes it a definite pass for me.