On this show, we have a special guest interviewer, our son Asher! We talk to Sam Bryant and Gwen Ruelle, also known as Runaway Parade Games, about their game Fire Tower, on Kickstarter now.

As we’ve mentioned, Asher played Fire Tower at Granite Game Summit. He loved it, and not only because he took out all his opponents.

Fire Tower is a 2-4 player competitive forest fire game. In most other fire-themed games,  players work together to beat back the blaze. But in Fire Tower, you try to defend your own tower and spread the fire towards your opponents.

Each turn, the fire spreads in the direction of the wind. Players have a hand of five action cards, which allows them to change the wind direction, spread fire in specific patterns, extinguish flames, or build fire breaks (defenses).

One of the cards is “Fire Storm”. Roll the die to determine wind direction, then every fire gem spreads in that direction. By the end of the game, the board is usually covered in fire gems (which are beautiful, by the way).

We were surprised that Fire Tower is actually a pretty quick game (15-30 minutes). It’s designed to move faster as players get eliminated so that no one has to wait long for the game to be over.

How did you come up with the idea for Fire Tower?

Gwen and Sam love cooperative games, where all the players are playing against the game, but also enjoy competitive games with lots of player interaction. They wanted to create a game that joined both aspects. Fire seemed like a perfect theme to tie both ideas together.

“Only YOU can re-direct forest fires!”

Is this your first game?

Yes. Gwen and Sam have been putting most of their effort into Fire Tower, but they do  have several other projects in development. Listen for a description of a future tile-laying game based on building the best (post-apocalyptic) survival bunker.

What age(s) is Fire Tower good for?

Because this is an independent release, it has to be marked 13+ to avoid regulatory impact in the USA. While there is still plenty of strategy for more experienced players, most 9-10 year-olds should be able to play.

More details:

Kickstarter runs through May 24

$39 including US shipping. It’s also “friendly” for shipping to EU, Australia, or Canadian customers. They are intending January 2019 fulfillment (just in time for Asher’s birthday…)

Play modes: 1v1, 2v2 teams, or free-for-all (3 or 4 players)

 

Find Runaway Parade online:

runawayparade.com

runawayparade @ gmail.com

Twitter: @RunawayParade

Facebook: @RunawayParade

Instagram: @runawayparadegames

 

As always, you can find The Family Gamers online:

Facebook: facebook.com/familygamersaa

Community: thefamilygamers.com/community

Twitter: @familygamersaa

Instagram: @familygamersaa

Get the podcast at Apple Podcasts or www.thefamilygamers.com/feed/podcast/ .

Sponsor:

The Family Gamers Podcast is sponsored by Wild East Games. Find Wild East Games online at WildEastGames.com,