Fire Tower Review

Fire Tower is a game for 2-4 players ages 10 and up, and lasts for 15-30 minutes. The object of the game is to avoid having your tower burn down, and be the last one standing. This is one of those games with a lot of specific rules, (and occasionally exceptions to the rules) so we’re just going to cover the basics. But first, check out the very bright watercolor board and colorful game pieces!

Every player starts with 5 action cards which they keep secret, and the wind direction is determined by a die roll. Each turn has 2 parts. First, a player must place a fire gem on the board in the direction of the wind, handily shown by the wooden fire piece and weathervane. Then, you can play an action card, or discard from your hand and redraw up to your max hand of 5. The 4 action cards are Wind, Fire, Firebreak and Water. Wind allows you to change the wind direction, which is good if the current direction is disadvantageous for you. Fire allows you to play a formation of fire on the board which does not need to follow the wind direction. Firebreaks block spreading fire gems, and can be played via their respective cards. Play them defensively to thwart a potential attack. Lastly, Water cards can remove fire gems from the field. Event Cards must be played out immediately upon being drawn. The Firestorm card is a real monkey wrench, dramatically increasing the fire gems in play in a randomly determined direction, but also allowing all players to swap cards if they wish. Mutual Aid allows the player who drew the card to determine everyone’s next turn. If your tower catches fire, you can use your Bucket card once per game, after which you gain Reckless Abandon actions, which allow you to sacrifice your normal turn and 3 cards to play 2 fire gems. If fire reaches the very back corner, it’s game over for you…or is it? Elect to play as the Shadow of the Wood in a game of 3 or more players to try and earn a pyrrhic victory by burning down the remaining players on your turn. If one tower manages to survive to their turn, they win!

Fire Tower appears to have a lot of rules, based on the very detailed instructions. Trust us, it does…but once you get a grasp on the basics, you’ll realize how simple it actually is. Simple in a good way! There’s still plenty of room for strategy and clever plays to circumvent the scorch! The trickiest rules to remember are the ones for cards that confer benefits not allowed in standard play, like explosions and burning snags. Even so, you’ll get used to it with time, so just jump into it!