How to Play Fire Tower: Rising Flames

Objective of the Game

In Fire Tower: Rising Flames, players act as fire tower lookouts attempting to defend their own Quadrant of the forest while using fire to burn their opponents' towers. The game is a battle of strategy where you must manage your resources and navigate environmental hazards. The game ends when a player's tower is burned, at which point they may continue playing as a Shadow, with the ultimate goal of burning all remaining active towers to secure victory.

Setup

To prepare the game, follow these steps:

1. Shuffle the Action cards from the base game and the expansion together.
2. Deal six Action cards to each player.
3. Place the firehawks in a shared pile next to the board.
4. Before rolling for the starting wind direction, each player must place one firehawk on an empty space within their Quadrant (excluding the Fire Tower Area or the Eternal Flame).
5. Set the Shadow die and Shadow Power card aside for later use if a tower is burned.
6. Ensure all other components like firebreaks, fire gems, and the Flame Centerpiece are ready for play.

Game Flow

The game proceeds in turns. On your turn, you generally perform the following:

• Placement: Place one fire gem in the direction of the current wind, orthogonally adjacent to a preexisting fire gem.
• Action: Play an Action card from your hand, discard and redraw, or use a Specialty card.
• Firehawks: If a fire gem is placed on a space occupied by a firehawk, that firehawk is activated. You may then move the gem to a new space orthogonally adjacent to a preexisting fire gem and remove the firehawk from the board.
• Shadows: If your tower is burned, you become a Shadow. On your turn, you roll the Shadow die and perform the action listed on the Shadow Power card instead of the standard turn sequence.

Actions and How to Play

Players use Action cards to manipulate the fire. Key actions include:

• Backburns: Replace a fire gem with a firebreak token. It cannot be placed orthogonally adjacent to existing firebreaks.
• Helitack: Extinguish a pattern of two orthogonally adjacent fire gems and one other fire gem.
• Rolling Firebrand: Move two orthogonally adjacent fire gems as a pair up to two spaces horizontally or vertically.
• Creeping Fires: Place three fire gems, each orthogonally adjacent to a preexisting fire gem, but not orthogonally adjacent to each other.
• Crown Fires: Place a pattern of up to two fire gems in a line. You may play two of these cards in one turn to place four gems, provided the patterns are orthogonally adjacent.
• Firehawks: These allow you to place two or three firehawks in your Quadrant. They do not block fire but can be used to move fire gems when activated.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when a player's tower is burned. If you are the only active tower remaining, you win immediately. If your tower is burned, you become a Shadow. Shadows win by burning all remaining active towers. In a three-player game, the Shadow must burn both remaining towers to win. In four or five-player games, Shadows work as a team to burn all active towers. If a player is the only active tower at the start of their turn, they claim victory.

Tips for Winning

• Use Firehawks Strategically: Since firehawks move fire gems when activated, you can use them to redirect fire toward your opponents or away from your own tower, even during an opponent's turn.
• Manage Your Hand: With a hand size of six, prioritize playing cards that create firebreaks or move fire effectively. If your tower is burned, remember that as a Shadow, you gain a bonus roll on the Shadow die if you successfully burn an active tower.