We are publishing this game under a license with our manufacturing partner, Longshore Ltd. Under the terms of that contract, we are only allowed to publish the game in English and sell it in the US, Canada, the EU, and Australia. These are contractual obligations that we cannot “fudge” or look the other way on. (To be clear, “EU” is specifically the European Union and not just shorthand for Europe, so unfortunately, countries like Norway and Switzerland are excluded.)

If you are in a country outside one of these regions and really want the game, you might look at having someone inside the regions serve as a freight forwarder for you. Otherwise, and for people looking for other languages, Longshore has the rights to do those alternate versions and to sell in those other regions. They are actively looking for other publishing partners to do so. They didn’t retain those rights just to sit on them. I would expect to see the game in popular regions and languages sooner rather than later. If you happen to work with a publisher interested in acquiring those rights, message me, and I will make an introduction.

With regard to Asia specifically, Longshore has a sister company that sells games, Broadway. I just got confirmation that they will be selling Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar in Asia through Broadway. For specific sales inquiries, for example, if you are an Asian retailer, you can contact them directly at [email protected].

Last updated: April 06, 2018 03:03

The game is scheduled to ship in November. In fact, we built a little buffer into that date. There is a chance it might be sooner. However, in manufacturing and shipping, there are always things that can happen that are outside our control, which will cause a delay. Assuming we don’t have an ill-timed typhoon or end up on a boat that’s raided by the DEA, we’re extremely confident we’ll hit our deadline.

Part of that confidence is that we have already come a long way with the design and production. Tooling has already begun. We are being careful to avoid project creep that introduces new elements to the game that might cause any such delays.

Last updated: April 04, 2018 10:49

For starters, you can download the rulebook on the main campaign page. We also posted lots of animated GIFs precisely you could see the components in action. That said, we know you want to see real people playing real games. There is no substitute for getting a good feel for what a game is like.

Which is why we scheduled JR on a 30-day road trip. He is taking the actual prototype around the eastern half of the United States and into Canada. At each stop, he’ll be playing the game with real fans in local game stores. We’ve kitted JR out with a fancy GoPro camera so we can film all action. We might stream some of it live if possible, but we also made arrangements for the Brothers Murph to collect the footage, edit it down, and turn it around so we can post it for you all to see. The action starts on Thursday, April 5th. So stay tuned. (And if you’re in the neighborhood, do stop by and check it out for yourself.)

Last updated: April 04, 2018 10:49

Each expansion adds content to the base game. None of them are standalone. Likewise, none of them require any of the other expansions to work. When you play a game, you can decide which of the expansions, if any, you want to use, and you just incorporate that content into the game.

Wreck of the Crimson Cutlass represents a separate location the players can discover. The pirate ship is not physically attached to the main board but sits to the side when you are using it. Players can get to the ship using the caves on the main island and can return the same way. The ship offers a new location to get one of the required snapshots and offers a new kind of treasure for players to collect.

The Last Adventurer gives you a 5th mini, which lets a 5th player play. The adventurer character works the same way as the other characters, so you can use him even if you are playing with less than 5 players. The expansion includes player powers. Each player gets a random power that gives them a special ability they can use throughout the game. The expansion includes snakes. These are small green marbles that are placed in designated spots on the main board at the beginning of the game. Certain cards let you knock a snake marble down, which usually causes most of them to come falling down as well. The snake marbles are a little smaller than the regular marbles so they might not players over. However, you get a poison token if a snake marble is touching you. On your turn, if you have a poison token, you discard it and, instead of playing one of your own cards, you play the top card off the deck. Finally, the expansion includes a boulder that can be used to knock down other players.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Bees! adds a tiger … and bees. Players can try to use the tiger to jump from next to the board onto a player on the board. The bees are small marbles that are poured through Vul-Kar. Like the snakes, they are smaller. You get a bee sting token if a bee marble is touching you. If you have a bee sting, your movement is halved for the turn.

The Treasure Trove expansion offers all kinds of new cards with wild new effects. From injuries that hamper you but let you keep a treasure to legendary artifacts, that can be used to lay the smackdown on the other players.

The three core expansions will be available in retail through regular distribution. The Treasure Trove will not be sold through distribution. It will be available for sale through limited channels, such as our webstore, conventions, etc.

Last updated: May 02, 2018 08:24

The base game island, when assembled, is 17” x 27” x 5” (plus another 5” for Vul-Kar when he’s sitting on top).

Base game box: 18” x 12” x 6.5” (about the size of Twilight Imperium 4) / 2.5 kg Crimson Cutlass box: 12” x 12” x 3” / 1.0 kg Last Adventurer: 7” x 7” x 2.5” / 0.4 kg Crouching Tiger: 7” x 7” x 1.5” / 0.4 kg

Last updated: April 22, 2018 10:42

The board comprises three separate plastic “trays”. The trays you see on the Kickstarter page and in the road trip videos is a hand-painted prototype. They are NOT the final trays or the final art. The actual trays are made out of a slightly different material and using a different process. It’s important to keep in mind that some “give” actually makes the trays more durable; a perfectly stiff tray would be much more likely to break. Of course, we don’t want the board to be to bouncy either.

We are working with the manufacturer to make sure the trays look great, are durable, and – most importantly – are fun to play on. They will be of at least as good quality as the original tray if not better, not to mention the additional stability created by using three smaller trays instead of one large one. We pride ourselves on using quality components as evidenced by our existing games. This will be no different.

Last updated: April 08, 2018 09:56

If you want to add just one expansion (or two, or an extra base game, or an optional buy, or …), you just manually add the amount to your pledge. You will designate what the money is for after the campaign is over in the pledge manager.

We are using BackerKit as our pledge manager. This is a third-party service that we activate some time after the Kickstarter campaign is over. Once we activate it, you will receive notification. Then, you go into the pledge manager, which is set up like a typical webstore, and essentially “spend” the money you pledged. You can add more items if you decide to get something extra. Any additional items you get will just be added to the amount owed, and you pay them when you “checkout” after deducting what you pledged. If you can still access the pledge manager even if you only pledge $1.

Last updated: April 10, 2018 14:13

If you want to add any optional buy to your pledge, you can just manually change your pledge to add the additional cost of what you want to get. We are making sure that nothing we offer will result in delayed shipping. (You will also be able to add optional buys after the campaign, they just don’t count toward the funding goal for stretch goal purposes.)

Last updated: April 07, 2018 13:36

We are considering and actively testing lots of alternate play modes. If we can develop good rules for them for the base game, they might well end up as a stretch goal. However, even if they do not end up as a stretch goal, we are likely to continue pursuing these options. We would release them as pdf supplements down the road, or in some instances, they might even show up in a more substantial version as future expansions.

Last updated: April 11, 2018 06:44

We have our own app and regularly update and add modules for our games. This lets us bring all sorts of new things to the game from purely aesthetic changes to player aids new play modes. For Fireball Island, we have several modules were will be adding (and more depending on what stretch goals we unlock).

If we get to $1 million, we’ll add a new play mode, the “Fun Run”. This is a real-time version of the game that will use randomized events to force players to play quickly and add variety. It’s an entirely different way to play that would not be possible without an app.

On the lighter side, we’ve already unlocked sound effect modules, token randomization, and more.

We know everyone doesn’t like to use an app with their tabletop games. No worries, these are entirely optional. If you don’t want to use them, don’t.

Last updated: April 11, 2018 06:44

All of the cards in the base game and all expansions are tentatively specced at standard poker-size cards, 88.9x63.5 mm.

The large marbles are 16mm. The small marbles (snakes and bees) are 11mm. (Note: we are still sourcing marbles, so this might change, but those sizes work if you’re thinking about sourcing your own to bling it out.)

The miniatures are 20mm, same scale as the original game.

Last updated: April 17, 2018 11:55

Please note that you will be charged a second shipping charge for splitting the shipment. ($15 US, $20 elsewhere) Please contact BackerKit support. They will need to take care of it manually.

Last updated: May 16, 2018 15:08

Yes! All in-game upgrades and stretch goals are included for BackerKit preorders with the exceptions of the Treasure Trove and Deluxe Marbles (which can be added to your order individually)

Last updated: July 19, 2018 14:55