Return to Fireball Island
Fireball Island is the greatest board game ever made. You can disagree, but you’d be wrong.
Throwing a GOAT statement around like that may seem pretty bold for a game that a lot of people have never even heard of, but this commercial makes the case clear:
Well, this is awkward. It appears I was mistaken. Fireball Island is NOT the greatest board game ever made. It’s the greatest three-dimensional adventure ever made. Either way, I’m dog meat! (Seriously, watch the video)
The three-dimensional board wasn’t the only thing Fireball Island had going for it. Fireball Island also offered a killer backstory (the previously unexplored island is home to an idol named Vul-Kar that possesses a jewel of immense worth, and you are in a race to recover it or perish!), delightfully chaotic gameplay, and a mid-game mechanism that changes the game objective from a straightforward race to then playing a modified version of “kill the carrier.”
If you remember this game, you might want to check and see if you or your parents still have it somewhere because you’ve got a treasure – complete editions of the game sell for upwards of $300 on eBay. That’s a lot to pay for some nostalgia or to be introduced to the greatest three-dimensional adventure ever made.
Which brings us to the cool folks at Restoration Games. Restoration Games takes great games that time has forgotten and breathes new life into them by restoring the things that made the game great, and enhancing the game with a modernized playing experience. Restoration Games conducted a survey to find out which game people most wanted to see restored, and the response for Fireball Island was overwhelming. After securing the rights to Fireball Island they announced that the restoration project was underway and that a Kickstarter for the game is forthcoming. Check out the nifty trailer:
While the go-live date for the Kickstarter campaign is yet to be announced, there are reasons to believe that it’s coming soon. Restoration Games has been running a contest with a chance for people to win a free copy of their edition of Fireball Island with an end date of December 31, 2017. Could the contest end date mean that the Kickstarter will launch early in 2018? Stay tuned.
