I thought I'd take a few minutes to describe Flashpoint: Fire Rescue in the hope of winning it some more votes.
First of all, this game has nothing to do with Operation Flashpoint - the Military Simulator created by Bohemia Interactive Studio in the early 00's, which later became the ARMA series. As far as I'm aware, it's the only game where it's possible to shoot yourself in the foot.
Flashpoint: Fire Rescue on the other other hand is a cooperative board game where fire-fighters tackle a burning building in the hope of finding survivors before they are engulfed in flames, or the building collapses on them!
The rules are simple, each player is given control of a firefighter and on each turn 3-things happen. First, The player takes action spending Action Points to move, battle fires, open doors, drag bodies. Second the fire advances, which is done by rolling 2-dice and seeing where smoke appears. If a square already has smoke it bursts into flames, which can spread rapidly; if the square is already on fire there is an explosion, which makes a lot of fire and damages the structure. Thirdly, Points of Interest are replenished.
Image Courtesy of BGGThe Points of Interest are essentially the objectives of the game. They are hidden tokens, which are only revealed once a player's character reaches them. Some of them contain nothing, while others are the people you are trying to rescue. The aim is to rescue a number of people before the building takes too much damage and collapses.
Image Courtesy of BGGTurns are spent planning the best course of action; which can dramatically change after each player's turn. There is a certain amount of balancing that takes place too because the fire changes after each of the players' turns; so it scales the number of players reasonably well.
What I really like about Flashpoint is the layering the rules provide. It offers a simple core, which advanced rule set and many expansions build upon. The advanced rules provide different rolls to the players. One player is able to repair the building, but as a result cannot put of fires. Another is able to knock down walls faster than other players. This means not every player is equal:
Image Courtesy of BGGThe expansions offer a vast array of maps, which add additional rules. The Urban Structures expansion includes a High-Rise building which limits the type of access you can get to the building. The Extreme Danger expansion offers tokens for explosive materials and fire-proof doors.
The flexibility of the rules also allow players to make it easier or harder, picking and choosing what elements are used. The game ends when 7 victims are rescued; but we always find it very hard to not try and save the remaining people in-side!
Thematically, this is an odd one for me. Fire is devastating. Though the game is about performing heroic deeds, it doesn't dwell on the effects. The reason for this is clear - it's a family-friendly game. I sometimes feel the light-hearted nature of the game is incorrect; but I have to tell myself it's about the adventure rather than the story.
Talking about adventures, I'm going to conclude with one from one of the first games I played. A group of 6 of us had only a few turns left to work together before the building collapsed. The fire was rampant and we'd determined we had one last opportunity to save the last POI which was the the far corner of the map.
1) The round started with our Captain, who used their special ability to move another player. They moved our 'Rescue Specialist' onto the Firetruck just outside the the building.
2) Next up was the Driver, who rallies the firetruck right the way around the building leave the Specialist only a few squares away from our last POI.
3) On my turn, I reinforce two walls as the Structural Engineer, ensuring the building won't collapse until after or plan is executed.
4) Our fighterfighter, puts out some key blazes preventing any large explosions wiping out the POI before we get there.
5) The Rescue Specialist can chop down walls at reduced AP. Having jumped off the truck, smashed through a wall, they are able to move on top of the last POI. In the hurry, they continue to chop down an adjacent wall making room for a spectacular pass.
6)The Generalist runs onto the POI, grabs the victim and dives for the hole just created by the Specialist.
We cheer for our planning was executed perfectly!
Image Courtesy of BGGIn the excitement the Specialist not performed a very important action. We flip the POI....it was blank...the game had ended a few turns previously. We roll for smoke.... an explosion occurs... the building takes more structural damage.... it collapses....with the remaining fire-crew left in-side!
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