From the Cold War to the depths of space (part 3 of 3)
ianoble 
My third segment on games from the past year will focus on a game that is in genre that has really become one of my favorites. Co-operative board games are a nice change of pace from the usual “single winner” games. I’ve noticed that we tend to have more fun playing co-ops because there is much more communication between the players and much less AP. Everyone is always engaged and trying to make the best moves for the team, not just screw another player out of VPs or position.
The latest co-op game is centered around the Firefighting theme. A theme that has been severely underutilized in the boardgaming industry. I’m happy to see that Indie Boards and Cards chose this theme in their latest game.
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
One of the strongest features of a game is it’s ability for many different types of people to play it. Flash Point does a wonderful job of being simple enough to teach to non-gamers, but offer a number of options to make the game more complex and challenging for more seasoned gamers. The Family Rules are simple enough to teach to an 8 year old, but fun enough to play with adults. The game is still challenging enough so you don’t feel like you’re playing a kids game that can be easily solved.
The “Advanced Rules” adds some time to the setup, but each player can help so it’s not terribly long. It also adds roles to the game so each player can have a specialty. This has helped fix the overbearing player issue that is common to co-operative games. Each player can focus on what they do best; be it fix damage to walls, run the fire hose, etc.
I’m more than happy to have this game in my collection next to the grand daddy of co-operative games: Pandemic. It certainly holds its own!
The End.
