“The dimensional adventure game of pitfalls and perils!”
Released in 1986 by Milton Bradley, Fireball Island is a three-dimensional board game that challenges would-be fortune hunters to capture the Firestone jewel from the volatile island idol, Vul-Kar, before making a quick escape to the getaway boat.
GAMEPLAY
The roll-and-move game starts with players situated at the beginning of the board. Players roll the single die to move along the board, making their way up the mountain toward the Firestone gem guarded by Vul-Kar. Fireballs (red marbles) threaten to knock players into a smoldering pit. Caves offer shortcuts up the mountain but can also result in a temporary regression down the mountain. Bridges and magic charm tokens add additional elements of surprise along the way.
A deck of instruction cards includes opportunities and setbacks. Players earn extra rolls of the die, advance additional spaces, move backwards, cancel challenges attempted by opponents, and employ other fortune-hunter tricks.
Once the jewel is captured, players race down the mountain in hopes of being the first with the jewel to reach the getaway boat. Players can steal the jewel from each other — an extra element of suspense.
IN THE BOX
A complete Fireball Island game includes a molded plastic game board painted to resemble a tropical island, one idol Vul-Kar figure, one red Firestone jewel, four player pawns, five red “fireball” marbles, two bridges, four magic charm tokens, 48 cards, and 1 die. An instruction booklet was included in the box.
Fireball Island was republished as Fireball Island: The Curse of Vul-Kar in 2017 by Restoration Games. The game was crowdfunded through Kickstarter.
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