Return to Fireball Island

While everyone was watching Wrestlemania last night, I took a quick vacation back to a place I used to go when I was younger. A place a haven't been to in at least 20 years.

A place called Fireball Island!

Only this wasn't the Fireball Island I remembered from my youth. Like any place you haven't seen in awhile, it's changed, but definitely for the better!

 Restoration Games is bringing back Fireball Island and is totally crushing their Kickstarter campaign which just shows the love that is out there for this classic Milton Bradley game.

Thanks to Flip Florey's Super Saturday Board Game Serial podcast I found out about the Kickstarter a few days before it launched. It had somehow flown under my radar prior to that and now that it's launched I've seen plenty of my fellow geeky bloggers talking about it.
And rightfully so!

The Kickstarter page has a list of tour dates where they will be demo'ing the game around North America. Since PAX East was this weekend, the first non-con stop on the tour was right in my backyard at The Castle, a boardgame cafe.

I got to meet JR Honeycutt, the Restoration Games member who has the job of driving around for the next few weeks bringing the only-one-in-existence prototype to the masses.

I wasn't able to get a good shot from the "front" of the game but you can get an idea of the size here. The original Fireball Island board is up at the top. The new version is much more dynamic, using three connecting trays to make up the board and give it more height. JR assured us that the finished product will have a matte finish and not be handpainted. I still think it looks pretty great!

The game has a lot more going on than the original version. There's trees that can be moved to block marbles, treasure to be collected, and scenic vista spots on each of the three island sections that you have to visit to snap a memorable photo for big points. And yes, the Heart of Vul-Kar is still there for anyone brave enough to grab it!

Because it just wouldn't be Fireball Island without Vul-Kar!

I had a ton of fun checking out the new Fireball Island. I really enjoyed all the new stuff that's been packed into it while keeping the basic play the same as the game I remember. If you're not familiar with the original game, you may be stuck experiencing it through YouTube videos as it's quite the pricey game to get your hands on now.

If you want to pick up the new version, along with any of the expansions (that's right, expansions!), head over the to the Kickstarter page. They're already five times over their goal!