Originally published at: http://statelyplay.com/2018/04/03/stranger-things-have-happened-fireball-island-comes-back-to-life-on-kickstarter/
Tabletop •
I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say 80’s nostalgia is a hot commodity right now. It can be done the right way (Stranger Things) or the wrong way (Ready Player One), but either way it seems to be a means to print money. Restoration Games is jumping on the bandwagon with their latest blast-from-the-past, Fireball Island. You might remember this one from your childhood or just been unable to avoid the hype on #boardgame Twitter. Either way, it’s gone live on Kickstarter today and it’s a doozy.
Fireball Island was a kids game released back in 1988 that featured roll-and-move mechanisms and the constant threat of pissing off your parents by having marbles go everywhere. You see, at the top of the island marbles begin to randomly traverse the board’s Plinko-like pathways, crushing player pawns along the way. Yes, it was rather silly.
Restoration Games’ version is more of a redesign than a reprint. It still has the marbles and 3D, curvy board, but gone is the roll-and-move method of travel as well as some other changes to bring Fireball Island into the current age of board gaming.
The Kickstarter for Fireball Island went live this morning and they’re already more than 50% toward their $250K goal. I expect them to fully fund before the sun goes down. Why? I’m not sure, but the hype is strong with this one. Who am I to judge after backing Restoration’s updated version of Stop Thief?
The base pledge is $60 and gets you all the stretch goals, but you’ll have to shell out more moolah if you want the full package which includes 2 new expansions including one with a 3D pirate ship and more marbles. You’ll also need to buy the expansions if you want to play with a 5th player, one of the tropes of current gaming that I loathe the most. Yes, my game group usually has 5 players, and I’m tired of having to buy expansions just so we can all play together. /end rant.
To be honest, when I look at the videos and gifs posted on the Kickstarter page, all I can think about are how many of those marbles will end up in the bag of my vacuum cleaner. Yep, I’m old and no fun.
I’ve enjoyed everything Restoration has resurrected, but I have to say Fireball Island is leaving me cold. It looks like a novelty that I’d bring out once or twice, but there’s no way my group would ever play it. Also, with my kids entering their mid-teens, I don’t see the marble-based gameplay tripping their triggers, either. In other words, I probably won’t be backing this one and I’m a little confused at the excitement I’m seeing from the gaming community about it. Now, if Restoration was bringing Dark Tower back to life, I’d understand the excitement, especially if they also brought inebriated Orson Welles back to life to star in their Kickstarter video.
https://youtu.be/ZpPtiBDGl4I
