About
Fireball Island - 80's Board Game, Reignited and Restored
$2,810,297
23,325
When we started Restoration Games, we asked you to tell us which games to bring back. The number one request, by far, was Fireball Island. After more than a year of hard work, we are thrilled to announce: Fireball Island is back!
If this is your first time checking out the campaign, good to see you! You'll be thrilled to know that our amazing backers have already unlocked tons of stretch goals (and more still to come). As you check out the page, keep in mind that your pledge will also include all of this amazing stuff.
On the other hand, if you know you want it all and you want it now, we've got you covered.
So what are you waiting for? Come on and join the fun!
Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar improves on the art, components, and game play of the original. If you loved the game as a child, you'll see we turned that "delightful chaos" up to the max. If you never played it before, you'll appreciate it as a fun, exciting game for kids, families, and gamers alike.
Tom Vasel and the Dice Tower crew sat down with Justin Jacobson, the president of Restoration Games for a full, live playthrough of the base game, which should give you a good idea of how the game plays.
While the fireballs are unpredictable, we made sure that players have more control over their actions and more meaningful choices.
In all, the game remains fast, fun, and light, but offers meaningful choices.
We've also made arrangements with Rodney Smith of Watch It Played! to do a rules video at the time of release.
NOTE: The board in the images above is a hand-painted prototype and does not reflect final art for the island. Here is the near-final art for the island and some renders showing off the detail that will show up on the finished board.
There are four expansions available in this campaign, and they are fully interchangeable with the base game and each other. We've also added some amazing new components, through hitting stretch goals, with no additional charge to backers.
If this is your first Kickstarter, welcome! It's easy to get involved, and being a part of the community can be a lot of fun. All you have to do is:
- Click on the pledge level you want to back.
- Enter your email address and “Continue as guest”.
- Enter your payment information.
- Click the big green “Pledge” button
To keep things simple, there are only two tiers for regular backers.
(You can order additional copies or optional buys by increasing your pledge amount. See Shipping and Fulfillment below for more details.)
For verified brick-and-mortar stores: We also have a special pledge level that is just for you. You pledge only $20 during the campaign. When we are ready to ship the games, after the campaign closes, you will use our pledge manager to finalize your order and pay the remaining balance due. If you have any question about your status, please message us, and we will confirm before pledging. All the terms and other information about this pledge level can be found in this special update.
We've blown through dozens of stretch goals, like a fireball through a rickety bridge, and unlocked tons of great additional content. Backers get the Treasure Trove expansion pack for free, and it's already full of new souvenirs, injury cards, and more.
Not much time left to hit those stretch goals!
Given the unique design of the game, we only have one prototype and couldn't send out review copies. We wanted a fun way to let a bunch of people play the game, so we took the show on the road! J.R. Honeycutt, our Tinker-in-Chief, set off on a 30-day, 13-state road trip, including a stop in Canada! We met up with some of the most amazing game stores, cafes, conventions, and content creators to bring you a chance to play the game in person. And, of course, we got to meet our amazing fans and backers. It was truly a special happening. Below are some videos from the trip. (Note: These videos are of the hand-painted prototype board; the final version of the board will have printed art and won't be as shiny.)
One of our backers, MAJBrown22 was able to make it to the Secret Cabal Meetup at Beermongers and wrote up his impressions in this Board Game Geek forum post.
Check out some epic skill shots in this supercut:
We are using key fulfillment partners within each shipping region. There are no additional customs fees, VAT, or similar charges.
There is only one shipping charge per region regardless of what reward you get -- we're subsidizing the rest.
For the US, Canada, and the EU, we are proud to partner with Quartermaster Logistics, the premier provider of Kickstarter fulfillment in the gaming industry. Your games will be safely packed by their professional team, and you’ll be emailed a tracking number when your package ships. For Australian backers, we'll be using Aetherworks, who we used on our Stop Thief! campaign and who did a great job.
If you would like to order a second copy, just increase your pledge amount by the cost of that pledge. You do not need to add anything for additional shipping. If you want more than two copies, add the shipping charge for each additional set of one or two. For example, if you wanted to get three copies of the base game sent to Canada, you would pledge a total of $220.
We are using BackerKit, a third-party service that lets us manage ordering and shipping. This service starts after the Kickstarter campaign is over. You'll have the chance add items to your pledge at that time. Importantly, though, there will be no additional fees due after the campaign. When you pledge, it will automatically calculate and add all shipping charges. The only additional charge is if you decide to get more stuff. Both pledge levels will be available in BackerKit. You can back the campaign now at any amount and choose your pledge later, or you can back at the Feel the Burn level and upgrade to the Full Vul-Kar.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to the limitations of our license, we are only able to offer the game in English and in the US, Canada, EU, and Australia. Please see the FAQ for more information.
As we head into the final hours of this campaign, every point of contact and bit of buzz can help. Send the message out far and wide on social media. Use these social media avatars to show your love for the game. And, remember, sometimes the best way is a direct, personal email to that one person you just know will get a kick out of it. Every little bit helps.
Restoration Games was founded by Justin D. Jacobson and Rob Daviau on a shared love of all those great board games they played when they were kids. We knew there were a lot of great treasures hidden beneath the sands of time. When we announced our plans, the response was overwhelming. We are dedicated to restoring these games to their rightful glory, bringing the fun to those with fond memories, and publishing great games for demanding gamers.
We must acknowledge the rest of the team who put in an unblelievable effort to make this a reality. Jason Taylor is our Visual Restoration Wizard, who is the reason everything we do looks so good. Lindsay Daviau is our Production Superhero, who ensures the finished products look amazing. JR Honeycutt is our Tinker-in-Chief; he helps get a game from the idea to a finished design. Suzanne Sheldon, our Master-of-Fireworks, makes sure everyone knows what we're up to.
We had lots of talented help with the art and design of the game. George Doutsiopoulos did the fantastic cover illustrations for the base game and the three main expansions. Card art is by Victor Perez Corbella. David Kegg did the retro art that appears in various places in the game, branding, and this campaign. Jean-Louis Sirois helped with some extra foliage illustration you see on this page and on the gameboard. Additional thanks to Matijos Gebreselassie and Bill Tiller for early concept illustrations. 3D sculpting for the miniatures and island features is by Chad Hoverter. Noah Adelman of Game Trayz, LLC did the initial design work on the island trays. Design Innovation, Inc. finalized the island trays. The video work was done by Josh McDowell, and the voiceover was performed by Graham Rowat. Rulebook editing was done by the Meeple Lady. Our thanks to all of them for their unbelievable effort in bringing this project to fruition.
And, of course, we would be remiss not to mention the original masterminds behind the game, Bruce Lund and Chuck Kennedy.
Risks and challenges
This is our second Kickstarter and fourth game overall. Our first Kickstarter, for Stop Thief! was, by all accounts, a huge success. We received many compliments on how we handled everything, making sure everyone got their games in a timely manner. We pride ourselves on our customer service. If something happens, we'll work hard to make it right.
That said, Fireball Island is a design project unlike any other, involving three-dimensional, mechanical, plastics. Rob, Jason, and Lindsay have decades of experience working at Hasbro on such products.
This is also a licensed product. However, Justin negotiated complete creative control in the licensing agreement. Therefore, no final approval is needed to move to production.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterQuestions about this project? Check out the FAQ
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Funding period
- (30 days)