When a board game claims you can learn and be playing it in just a few minutes, I get skeptical. Few can pull off that trick unless they're lighthearted party fare (which isn't a derogatory put-down, by the way), and even the best board games can take a trial-run to fully get your head around. That's why I raised an eyebrow at Fire Tower's claim you can be up and at 'em in a mere five minutes. A glance at its array of components and grid-based system also had me hitting the 'doubt' button.
But you know what? I was dead wrong. Despite looking complicated, Fire Tower is incredibly easy to understand and you can be lost in the thick of it surprisingly fast. It's not a novelty, either; there's a surprising amount of strategy powering this deceptively simple board game, and I was soon kicking myself that I hadn't tried it sooner.
In this wicked little game, you play as a lookout trying to control a forest fire. Your aim is to have the last tower standing, and you do this by redirecting the blaze toward your rivals… or stoking the flames. While there's a co-op mode with two vs. two, Fire Tower is arguably at its best as a free for all. You can get an expansion called 'Rising Flames' to spice things up too.
UK: £29.99 £23 at Amazon
This is the kind of game where shit hits the fan fast. Basically, you spend each turn placing a fire token wherever the wind is blowing – north, south, east, or west. You then play one of the many cards in your hand. While some of these simply change the wind's direction or let you put out fires, quite a few are more vindictive. You can skip fire tokens across the map, add extra tokens at once, or 'explode' the blaze so that it engulfs multiple squares on the board at once. Because you're all trying to set each others' towers alight, keeping these in reserve to use at the last second is a deeply satisfying 'gotcha' moment (especially if you're worked hard to set up their downfall).
While this could be dicey if you play at a table that struggles to lose (and there's always a risk everyone gangs up on one unfortunate rival), you have plenty of tools in your arsenal to help turn the tide even if you become the victim of a pile-on. There are abilities which let you put out swathes of fire at once, for instance, or you can deploy a Hail Mary bucket of water when the blaze reaches your tower. Firebreaks also help redirect approaching flames. In much the same way, it's possible to remove firebreaks with well-timed cards or sneak around them thanks to wind changes so that anyone who feels too far ahead won't stay that way. As an example, I managed to steer clear of most fire tokens for the majority of the game – but with some clever choices from my last remaining rival, they were able to outmaneuver me and deliver a coup de grace.
Yes, its theme does sail close to the wind after the horrific forest fires so many suffered through this summer – and it could be seen as insensitive because of that, which is entirely fair. I'd add that it's totally valid if the idea turns you off. However, for what it's worth, I think the game is tastefully done and abstract enough on the whole not to make Fire Tower feel in bad taste.
Honestly, it really got its claws into me and I wish I'd tried it long before now. Fire Tower fits into a compelling niche of easy-going strategy games that can be wrapped up in under half an hour. Plus, it's straightforward yet engaging enough that I'd have no hesitance in suggesting it to family who aren't particularly into board games. It may go in my bag when we visit loved ones for Christmas, knocking some of the best family board games out of rotation…
Speaking of cool tabletop discoveries, this fan spent 40 hours turning the Catan board game into an incredible Halloween costume.
- See the latest offers on Fire Tower and its expansion at Amazon
