Designers: Samuel Bryant (Fire Tower), Gwen Ruelle (Fire Tower)

Artist: Kevin Ruelle (Fire Tower)

Publisher:  Runaway Parade Games (Fire Tower)

Genre/Mechanisms: abstract strategy, expansion, grid movement, hand management, pattern building, player elimination, square grid, take that

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Fire Tower: Rising Flames Expansion + Reprint is already fully-funded. In fact, pledges currently total more than 21x the initial funding goal with 5 days left to go on the campaign!

Player Count: 1-5 (5 player max after stretch goals)

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity: light

Risk: HIGH

What It’s About: “A competitive game where players must fight fire with fire, protecting their own tower while spreading the blaze towards their opponents. In the Rising Flames Expansion, rapid crown fires, heavy winds, and tumultuous weather threatens the forest. Defend your tower with a powerful new deck and a flock of legendary firehawks. Beware the growing influence of the Shadow of the Wood, as destroyed towers now have a host of new abilities with which to claim a surprise victory. The Rising Flames Expansion adds a solo mode along with new variants of play and a flock of custom meeples.”

How It Works:  “Fire Tower is a fast-paced, fiercely competitive game with hand management and tactical pattern laying. Prepare for a unique experience, a relentless battle for survival packed with shocking reversals and exhilarating victories.”

“Players take their turns in clockwise order. Each player’s turn consists of two steps that must be completed in order; spread the blaze in the direction of the wind and take action from your tower.”

“Step 1: The Wind Spreads The Blaze. Choose one empty space orthogonally adjacent to a fire gem or the eternal flame in the direction that the wind is blowing and place a fire gem on it. Spaces are orthogonally adjacent if they are touching along one of the four sides, never diagonally.”

“Step 2: Take Action From Your Tower (choose one of the following): Play one card from your hand and carry out its action. Once the action is finished, put the card in the discard pile and draw a new card from the deck. Or Discard as many cards as you choose from your hand and draw back up to your hand size. Buckets are not part of your hand.”

The 4 Cards a play may use in Step 2 are the Wind, Fire, FireBreak, and Water cards. “Wind Cards (gray) can be used in one of three ways: 1. Change the wind to the direction indicated on the card; 2. Roll the die for a new wind direction. The new direction must be different from the last wind direction, so continue to roll the die until you produce a new direction; And 3. Place a fire gem on one empty space orthogonally adjacent to a fire gem or the eternal flame in the wind direction indicated on the card.”

“Fire Cards (orange) are used to spread fire. Place fire gems on the board in the pattern indicated on the card (you can place a partial pattern if there isn’t appropriate space). At least one fire gem in the pattern must be orthogonally adjacent to a previously existing fire gem. Fire cards do not have to correlate with the wind direction.”

“Firebreak Cards (purple) allow you to create defensive firebreaks on any empty space on the board, except in your fire tower area or on the eternal flame. Place firebreak tokens on the board in the pattern indicated on the card, horizontally or vertically. You must place all firebreak tokens included in the pattern. Firebreaks cannot be placed orthogonally adjacent to other Firebreaks (they can touch diagonally). The only way to have two orthogonally adjacent firebreak tokens is using the Dozer Line or Explosion. Firebreaks prevent fire from passing through or jumping over the spaces they occupy. Exceptions include the Explosion and the Burning Snag. Firebreaks can only be removed using a De/ReForest.”

“Water Cards (blue) allow you to remove fire gems from the board in the pattern indicated on the card (the full pattern does not have to be removed). Water can pass over firebreaks. Water cards cannot remove fire gems from the fire tower area.”

“Your Bucket is the only card that allows you to remove fire gems from within your fire tower area. Each player has one Bucket that can be played once during the game (Buckets are not part of your hand of action cards). Flip over your Bucket once it is used. The Bucket must extinguish at least one fire gem in the fire tower area, but can extend beyond it. Play your Bucket in addition to the rest of your turn. When your bucket is empty and there is at least one fire gem in your fire tower area, you enter a mental state called Reckless Abandon. When you are in this state you have a new ability. You can discard a set of three water cards (blue) or three firebreak cards (purple) to place two fire gems on the board. You can place each gem in any vacant space orthogonally adjacent to another fire gem. The two gems do not have to be placed next to each other, but they can be built off each other. Once you discard the cards, draw back up to your hand size. Reckless Abandon may be used once per turn and counts as the action phase of your turn. You cannot play a card in addition to using Reckless Abandon.”

“The last tower standing wins the game! Burn each opponent’s fire tower by placing a fire gem on the back corner square (outlined in orange) on the roof of their tower. Each of your opponents’ towers must be burned to win the game. There’s also a Team Variant for 4 players.”

Comparisons: There is not a single game in BoardGameGeek’s Top 1000 games that pairs pattern building with player elimination. In that sense, Fire Tower is somewhat unique. However, the following games do feature both abstract strategy and pattern building: Azul, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, Azul: Summer Pavilion, Dragon Castle, GIPF, Ingenious, NMBR 9, Quarto, Qwirkle, Reef, Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends, Tiny Towns, and YINSH.

What Should I Pledge?:
$19 Rising Flames Expansion: STANDARD: includes the STANDARD version of the Rising Flames Expansion with all associated unlocked stretch goals, your name on the publisher’s website and a thank-you video, and a full color print-and-play.
$28 Rising Flames Expansion: DELUXE: includes the DELUXE version of the Rising Flames Expansion with all associated unlocked stretch goals, your name on the publisher’s website and a thank-you video, and a full color print-and-play. The Deluxe version of the expansion includes upgrades to the Hawk Meeples (screen-printing), the Lightning Tokens (lightning-shaped), and the Shadow Die (custom engraved), and adds a Printed Cloth Bag and an Eternal Flame Centerpiece.
$42 Fire Tower Base Game, 2nd Edition: includes the 2nd Edition of the Fire Tower Base Game with all stretch goals from the original Kickstarter, your name on the publisher’s website and a thank-you video, and a full color print-and-play.
$56 Standard Combo: includes the 2nd Edition of the Fire Tower Base Game with all stretch goals from the original Kickstarter, the STANDARD version of the Rising Flames Expansion with all associated unlocked stretch goals, your name on the publisher’s website and a thank-you video, and a full color print-and-play.
$65 Deluxe Combo: includes the 2nd Edition of the Fire Tower Base Game with all stretch goals from the original Kickstarter, the DELUXE version of the Rising Flames Expansion with all associated unlocked stretch goals, your name on the publisher’s website and a thank-you video, and a full color print-and-play.
$78 Deluxe Combo + Mini-Expansions: includes everything in the Deluxe Combo pledge, plus the Wooden Buckets Mini Expansion and Megahawk Mini Expansion.
$79 Wilderness Bundle (Fire Pit!): includes everything in the Rising Flames Expansion: DELUXE pledge, plus the Wooden Buckets Mini Expansion and Megahawk Mini Expansion, a handcrafted Fire Pit, a signed Fire Tower Poster, a signed Wall of Flame Inductee Card, and your name in the Expansion booklet. This pledge does NOT include a copy of the 2nd Edition of the Fire Tower Base Game.
$650 Firestorm Bundle: includes everything in the Wilderness Bundle, plus an ultra-deluxe Handcrafted Wooden Storage Box, Lights on the Handcrafted Fire Pit, and an Expansion Prototype.

Add-Ons:
$4 Megahawk Mini Expansion
$10 Wooden Bucket Mini Expansion
$18 Signed Fire Tower Poster
$19 Fire Tower Expansion, STANDARD (cost per additional copy)
$28 Fire Tower Expansion, DELUXE (cost per additional copy)
$39 Fire Tower, 2nd Edition (cost per additional copy, for pledge levels of Fire Tower Base Game, 2nd Edition or higher)

KS Exclusives
None.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S. (and assuming you’re not interested in the vanity reward and non-gameplay-related extras of the Wilderness and Firestorm Bundles), you’re looking at $78 for the Deluxe Combo + Mini Expansions plus $7 in shipping for a total of $85.

Fire Tower: Rising Flames Expansion + Reprint completes its Kickstarter on Thursday, July 9th and tentatively ships in June 2021.