Wil Wheaton Plays Flash Point: Fire Rescue

We have played over 60 games on tabletop and I will often talk about the story or the narrative of the game, but I cannot recall a time when I felt as genuinely excited to pretend I was someone I’m not as I am today now. Don’T get me wrong, I thought it was great to pretend that I was craz the blood. Oh man, sir last season, and this season, pretending to be Dracula, is pretty great, but today today I get to pretend that I’m someone, I would never be in real life and it’s not because that person isn’t real. It’S because I don’t have it in me to even attempt what these people do every day, so I’ve invited some of my friends to come over and help me. Imagine that were firefighters and I’m so freaking excited.

I could be a little yes, it is just a game. No, it isn’t real, but I have played this game a lot and when I’m in a room in a burning house trying to rescue someone and fire explodes through a wall near my character, I am glad that it’s just a game because even in my imagination, I Could never do what these men and women do in real life today on tabletop Clare, grant, Kelly, whoo and Seth Green are here, and we are going to be the very best firefighters we can be. We will all work together to extinguish the flames and rescue trapped civilians in flashpoint fire rescue, [, Music, ], [, Music, ] flashpoint Fire Rescue is a heavily themed cooperative game designed by Kevin Lansing. We are all firefighters, we’re working together to save people who are trapped in this burning building to win flashpoint. We have to save seven people who will spawn randomly on the board before we begin and then throughout the game, like all great co-op games.

There are many different ways to lose if we run out of damage cubes the house collapses and we lose if we lose four people to the fire, we lose we’re also using an optional rule. If we run out of fire tokens, the house is engulfed in flames and we lose so you know no pressure at the beginning of the game. We will choose a difficulty level and set the game up accordingly, we’re going to play on veteran level, which means three explosions will be on the board before we start, then, we’ll roll positions for hazardous materials which are super neat because they like to explode people. I cannot stress this enough: don’t keep your paint soaked rags and your open cans of gasoline together under the sink? The people we need to rescue are spawned next, but instead of knowing exactly where we are we’re going to use these points of interest markers which could be people or pets that we can rescue or they will be false alarms that turn out to actually be hazardous Materials, what is with you, people and your hazardous materials?

We won’t know what a point of interest actually is until we use an action in the game to investigate it. Finally, we’ll place some of these hotspot markers. These will be explained in more detail later, but all you need to know right now is that they are a giant pain in the ass once the board is set, we’ll all choose roles and form our fire response team. Each role has its own abilities and a number of different actions that it can take. There’S also two vehicles on the board, our fire truck, which has a super useful water cannon on it, and this ambulance, which is extremely important, because the ambulance is where we have to take our rescued survivors once we get them out of the bill.

Every turn the active player will take a number of different actions to help save the hazardous materials enthusiasts who live in this house. [ Music ] most players get four actions, but some roles can grant additional actions. If a player doesn’t use all of her actions, she can save them up for later turns after a player is done using or saving actions. She rolls these dice to place new points of interest and find out where the fire is advancing throughout the house. Flashpoint is an amazing and unique game.

It is as intense and challenging as any cooperative game I have ever played and with tons of expansion, maps and lots of optional rules. It has tremendous replay value because it turns out that fire is really unpredictable. The call just came in and we have seconds to gear up roll out and get to work, it’s time to play flashpoint fire rescue, [, Music, ], hey, I’m Claire grant and on the internet. You probably know me from Team Unicorn and I just finished a movie called holidays that was an official selection at Tribeca. Hey.

What’S up, I’m Seth Green, you may know me from graciously losing tabletop seasons, one through three. I am Kelly, who I’m an actress. I am known for Scorpion King and x2 x-men United hello. We are playing flashpoint. We have chosen our fire fighting squad.

We set up the the board. What I will tell you – and I what I think we will all agree on – is that this is a Cho. I think, and and by house I think you mean meth lab because there’s meth lab, I think you mean frat house, yes, materials in this place. Have you seen their sports equipment? Obviously they’ve got money.

You know they’re earning some somehow somehow, like they’ve got a whole movie theater in the basement. That’S on fire – and this is the worst pledge drive. I kind of have mixed feelings about saving this meth frat house, I’m just more interested in saving the people and the animals, mostly the animals. So I’m I’m I’m starting. I am the driver of the fire truck and I’m gon na try to fire the deck gun, and I mean I’m hoping that I land here, because this room is bad wills instinct to become the deck gunner.

I think it’s gon na be really valuable. He has the opportunity to spray water at large quadrants, looking at how fast this fire spreading and all the different places it’s it’s covering, I think that’s gon na be a useful role. Here’S where I think I may have made a massive strategic blunder. The deck gun is fired by rolling dice, [, Music ], so hey. This is interesting.

8/3 is completely out of range right. Here’S a fun thing that this game does I get to flip over the die. That’S completely out of range, so more is in range. 4/3. Is in range not the greatest thing in the world, but it does get rid of this fire in addition to that fire, but it keeps it keeps never not a bad shot.

It’S great to get a couple of fires off the board. It would have been a lot better to get four fires off the board, but I mean two is more than zero. That is mathematically sound. You can check it at home. If you don’t believe me, the important thing is I’m helping.

I have not dust yet now. I have two additional action points left to me, but I think that probably I’m just gon na reserve those action points. I think that probably makes sense and now we’ll roll to spread the fire. Here we go: no explosions, no and stop at six and three. I just does here is its: what has appearances?

Here’S what happens? Oh you guys see so kids. This is bad news. So here’s what happens. [, Music, ], I’m not gon na lie.

You guys Superbad me got ta get in there. Okay, I thought at the beginning of the game. We were already set up in a pretty bad place, and then we had this big explosion which just made everything worse. So that way, it’s the most important place for me, gon na, be like right here right. I should probably not even worry about that stuff, I’m just straight into here yeah, so I’m just gon na give you these horrible dice that do bad things.

Yes, I am playing the character that is Asian and that’s the only reason why I chose it all right. So so I got three and three and I get to have three extra moves just to extinguish fires, so I’m really good at putting out fires which is kind of what this game is about, isn’t it? I think this is our priority at the moment, because of all these black things. Am I correct, don’t know yes, the thing is you don’t want to have to spend to move through this fire? So maybe you want to spend one a what one AP right.

I mean I can just move through it and then and then you’ve got that’s one and then one two that’s moving on that’s two three and then I opened the doors at another man’s war right. I just flip it over enough yeah yeah. So you have two extinguished: thingies left so cuz. I just extinguished completely extinguish this yeah and then you could turn that into smoke. Let’S do that, since I can’t move anymore, yeah, perfect, okay, so we’ve at least used it.

Yes, okay. I am able to pop into a room and put out two fires right away, which makes me feel pretty powerful. I kind of like that. I just imagined Kelley in that room, just like rolled like a 1 1 or a 1 6. No now do what what role of 1 6 yeah role of 1 6 old ruins wait, but it’s the back, that’s okay!

That is not nearly as bad as it for my starting character. I chose the imaging guy and I thought that if I have the imaging guy, then we’ll be able to flip over all of the points of interests. And then we can decide our route into the house to see. If we need to save somebody or from we need to take out those chemicals, so should I just knock out these three POS and Bank a clean you? Can you can imaging technician, those things right?

You spend one a peeper, looki thing right, uh-huh, alright, so yeah. I mean I just go yeah, so that’s one! That’S a person, that’s a person, those people that is better have a fourth move. Yes, and I might as well just use it since I’m about to switches character out right. I don’t know what you could do.

That would be useful. I would just go ahead and grab that and Bank it in case situations change. That’S that’s what that’s what I would think. Okay also, I just realized something guys when this hazmat exploded we’re supposed to put a hot spot there. So you know just another hot spot, no big deal, everything’s, dude, everything’s, fine, we’re firefighters!

We got this. Oh seven, six, that’s not too bad. Okay right that could have been. That could have been worse. That room is not happy.

We have a lot to work against at this moment, but the game has just started so there’s some time. If we work together as a group, I think we can battle this. This is an excellent team. Will is a great game or Claire is formidable at every turn and Kelly is like learning fast we’re. We, we feel really good about our chances of beating this fire.

Oh yeah and this smoke turns into fire because it’s it’s adjacent to fire, oh, so that was just a wasted role. No no! No! It was okay. If a fire and landed there, an explosion, Lana there’s something like that everything bad to talk strategy for a second, because I’ve got four moves here.

I could clean up that hazardous materials. When we got acquainted with the game, the hazmat guy seemed very useful because he could dispose of hazardous materials quickly and for less points than anybody else. That net seemed like it would be valuable, even if it was only for a certain amount of turns to clear all the hazardous materials or be able to attend them quickly. I think you should just that what it says in your on your credit card: yeah, yeah and okay: perfect, okay, yeah all right! So, let’s, let’s do some stuff here number one!

This door blows off because the fire went there. Okay, the fire spreads this way. The fire spreads through this open door to here on a flashover. The fire comes here and explodes this hazmat. I know you thought that I was being a little preachy when I was talking about you know properly, storing your hazardous materials when I was explaining the rules of this game.

Well, who’s, preachy! Now it’s still me. It’S still me, I’m still preachy, but I’m preachy and self-righteous their killer people. No! No!

No! Won’T that thing! Thankfully it won’t it won’t. It gets better because that’s an explosion that happens so this guy goes I’m nervous about the way the structural integrity of the building is being compromised so quickly and seeing as how that’s a way for us to lose the game amassing more and more of these, like Structural damage points, I’m I’m a little concerned about the way the explosions are happening. That’S one person that we’ve lost seriously yeah they’re dead, they’re dead, yeah an hour old, Seth roll two placing new P.

Oh, I because there’s three on the border that my next move will then try to be saving that person or I guess I put fires out. Let’S find out, there might be another person here for an eighth for all right. So pick a pickup ey, you better great, and that goes. They don’t know what it is in case. We need to I’m over it so guys.

So I made a big mistake guys it was a really really big mistake. I chose the image in tech in the beginning and I thought that that would help us come up with a plan, but I should have thought about the fact that the fire was insane and instead of worrying about the the points of interest right away. I should have just been focused on putting out the fires right away, all right, so uh, I’m gon na fire, the deck gun. Again you guys. Oh, can I just duck.

I can drive the fire truck. What about a person in there to appiy oii? Okay, get wet, we don’t care about. Okay, we only care about firefighters, okay, but I can drive the truck. I can drive the fire truck to here.

Do you want to be on the fire truck and drive? Okay, ready, terrific, I’m gon na fire the deck gun and hope that it lands in this quadrant here for three. So that’s not in this quadrant, which means that I turn over this, which makes seven three so I’m gon na re-roll. This die cuz, I’m kind of hoping to get something in this three row cuz. That would be actually yes, okay, seven hold on.

No, no, it’s, okay, it’s okay! No! It’S not! Okay! You didn’t actually roll it.

Five out of your hand, that would have been a reroll in Vegas like if you just drop the dice from your hand. I don’t think they count that if the dice move from your hand to the table and stay in the exact same position, I don’t know guys have never been to Vegas. Okay, so here’s the thing I really rolled, I mean it fell out of my hand, but I really roll, but I’m going to go ahead and reroll it because, honestly, we need a generous interpretation of the rules right now and what do we learn? Kids? What do we learn?

Cheaters, never win! That goes away. I appreciate your help yeah. So I’m out of action points, and now I’m gon na spread the fire. Oh now I can roll really well super great explodes out of control.

We we have to get a handle on it. It’S like the first explosion, the first round and we haven’t put anything out – we’re just exploding things and tearing down walls. It doesn’t look good for us explosion, explosion, flashover explosion, it just blows the door, Oh guys. This is, I think, it’s time that I saw you, I’m the traitor in this game. We have this joke in my game group at home, where even in a cooperative game, even in a game without a defector, someone is the traitor and we’ll just call out whoever the traitor is and usually it’s someone who just rolls badly or draws badly or does Something that kind of hurts everybody else in the game.

Okay, all right Kelly! I have six moves here do should I is there a direction that you would prefer me to extinguish in. We do have to start doing things in an effort to in the game yeah. So to that end, I think you should prioritize rescuing. This.

Is your boast about formulas right closest to that person and the ambulance got three APs and three extinguishing? Yes fire, so you could spend two to completely get rid of this fire. I agree right. Okay, you could spend one to turn that into smoke, which you can, which is exactly so I’ll. Do that so now, you’ve spent your I’ve got three moves.

You got your three movie moves right, so you would go one two and pick up: okay with the person. So I have to just warp it. Can I Bank that yeah you can okay, I’m gon na bank that one move? Okay, okay for fire! Do I have to do yeah you do you can do it?

Listen! The fight fire doesn’t take a day off for that’s right. There we place it as smoke, but it’s adjacent to fire, so it turns into fire alright. So for me, once I switch my character out, is that it for me? It costs you two action points to switch your character of three raining you could, if you wanted to, you could be the generalist who gets five huh right.

So five five points every turn: okay, yeah, so you don’t have special abilities except you have that X. That’S fine, we need we need to give you oh and also the journalist, has his cool axe. Okay, Claire didn’t really want to be the imaging guy at the beginning of the game, and she took that role to kind of help. The team I’m really happy for her that she gets to really get in there and just be bold and daring and like a firefighter who was in the thick of it rescuing people, two three. So it’s two to switch one to move three: four: five: five: okay, cool she’s, Cricut cellular Boost Mobile yeah; that’s not too bad alright, so this would come down as smoke, but it doesn’t fire because of that and then guess what the smoke turns into fire.

Okay. Okay, everyone I saved this person yeah get you out of there for two and then call the ambulance, so I’ve spent all of my moves, but but we saved a person guys. We only have to do that six more times. Ultimately, I know that we’re gon na have to save seven people to win the game, regardless of what those POS are if they explode into something or, if they’re a person. So one down six To Go.

That’S that’s how I’m thinking we got it. We got it. We only had one person die, all right, roll em rolling for the fire. Seven four! That’S not good!

That’S here! So let’s have some super happy explosion, fun times, okay, explosion! I am one good thing you put that out thick of it here: okay, so this fire is, is very considerate and it’s gon na stay inside okay, since we don’t have any people over. Yes, the fire’s, like I think I’ve made my point. [ Laughter ], all right, I think I’m gon na shoot the deck gun.

You guys. Thank you sure. All right here we go. John powers activate all right. Okay, this is one six one.

That’S no good! So I it’s okay, it’s all right! So if you get this over to a six yeah, damn all right, I’m helping and I’m gon na shoot the deck gun. Again. That’S why I’m not allowed to be a fireman.

This to be comes up. Fire goes out. Yes, that’s great and unfortunately it can’t go through there to that because, there’s that’s, I guess not water does water will only water is really temperamental. It will only go through like that crack in the wall. That is actually not how water works.

Well, the spreads are stupid, fire five, six, five, six still just smoke. Okay, so now I am still carrying that person. He so I have been sitting on this victim. It seems like forever and I cannot get them out of the building. It is taking such a long time.

Kelly is really built to put out fires, but now she has the survivor. So what I imagine is happening in the story of the game is the survivors. Like I’m scared, I’m a survivor. It’S just like hang on put it out, put it out, I’m scared all right. Fine, let’s take a step closer to the door, the doors right there can.

I get. I don’t know you’re gon na stay right here in wait. I’M gon na put out some more fire, but it’s hot and I want to get out of the building. That’S that fire, no you’re gon na stay here and you’re gon na wait. While I put these fires out, which one of us is the firefighter so our three and three so I’m gon na put out that fire with two right yeah, I’m gon na move with that person.

That’S another two! Oh you just know everything. Okay and then she came and then wait since I have still one more extinguished thing and one more physical. I take that out exactly good thinking, Claire yeah, I like having her on my team. So Claire is a great player and somebody you definitely want to have on your team, because she’s really good at strategizing that the what is generally the just fish murderuss gaming focus of Claire is actually on helping all of us instead of destroying the rest of us.

It is nice for a change. I do really like that we’re playing together, because in previous seasons, I’m out to play it against Claire or against, will and that’s less fun than all of us, strategizing to beat the fire fireman. There’S a comma there. It’S not fireman fire and it’s wonderful to have her on your side right. I’M writing one story which one do you want it to be.

1/4 goes here, that’s all right: [, Music, ], I’m gon na go ahead and 1/2 that extinguish that 1. 2. 3. Uh-Huh. 4, 5.

Okay and then it doesn’t cost anything to turn this over to. I do have two in the same spot, but you do have one thing, so you could move, you can move one and I’m sorry, but the thing is is standing right here. I I am NOT gon na be standing next to fire for three more rounds, which is what would happen if I were to move right here. Are you a fireman who suddenly afraid of standing next to fire in the strategy of the game, Claire’s, making a really good choice to keep herself alive and not risk anything in the narrative of the game? She has run into the room put out the fire put out the fire.

Looked at a guy in gone I’ll, be right to her, I’m a fireman who was thinking about my life and not the life. What would it do for me to stand here for three rounds? Well, you would prevent that a person from catching on fire and dying, but do I catch her in firing guy if there’s an explosion? If there’s an explosion, you’d get knocked over know, losing a person is bad. I think that she’s thinking about her own value to the to the rest of the game and what she can continue to do since she can’t save a person in this turn.

She doesn’t want to put herself in harm’s way for the next three turns, but I should probably she probably should probably take that guy right. So as like a defense strategy yeah, I should stay right where I am Bank a point and then when I, when I start the next one I immediately west rescue that person and get the rock out. I have seven moves right. Now. That’S a lot of moves.

I have seven opportunities to take out fires and save people, and I’m right positioned in that middle room where all of the worst fire is and all of the horrible structural damage is done to the walls. So I’m thinking that, if I can just clear everybody out in one fatal swoop in that one little area, then we’ll be good and we don’t have to worry about the walls coming down. So so I would go one. Should I get rid of this hazmat? No, let Seth get one too yep: aha, three yep four, five yep six good job and now roll for a bad stuff, one more before we lose.

It came up so quickly like I didn’t see it coming at all because it seemed like we were doing so. Well, we were putting out fires and we were saving people. I thought we were really on the right track. I mean in a game like pandemic. At least you can get those cubes back off the board and back into the draw pile, but in flashpoint, when the building is just gon na collapse, the building is just gon na collapse and, like this building is gon na collapse.

It’S looking rough guys. Okay, all right Seth, let’s talk about it here, cuz! Yes, obviously I want to get the hazmat out of there button saving people was such a priority. Mm-Hmm I’ve only got four here. If that hazmat blows up, we lose the game.

Okay. So so I should come. Get that you’ll get that hazmat yeah, that’s a long! So so one two three four, that’s room! That’S a I mean.

I just think: that’s that no no you’re right, yeah, I’m just thinking about these people, potentially these cats, war, dogs or potentially hazardous materials. By the way, there’s nothing worse in the entire world, then turning over a marker discovering that it is in fact a cat and then and then the cat dies. It’S always more important to save animals, because when you save people you could theoretically save in a toll and when you save an animal you’ve just saved an animal and animals are great, should always save animals over people. So that would be smoke, but it turns into fire because of that which is okay, it’s nice. We don’t also now now role to play sinew.

Oh yeah exact same smile. Oh, this goes here, okay, why not be able to get you out of here, but I can find out all right. I’Ve got my to command AP to move people around. I could go one two three and then just move in and that’s four and then I could use my two to either move you here, Claire or you could move Seth one to that to that guy and I’ll move Kelly right here, so that she’s right next To a fire and she doesn’t change a fire, I do do you feel? Okay, okay, all right, so you’re gon na check on that.

What this is? It’S a dude? Okay, that’s cool! All right! If it was everybody, we just got a hope that there’s no explosion.

We just got to hope that there’s no explosion, if there’s no explosion. I didn’t use the game. Okay, this isn’t over. We can do this if we just continue to put out fires in the best places and then move the people out as fast as we can. It’S entirely possible that we can win this game.

I don’t know. I think this is all gon na end in some touching ceremony, where our captain commemorates our names and when cries, what okay ready everybody ready all right guys. I just want to say it’s been an honor and a privilege serving with him. It’S already gone, it’s done! No!

No, there already exploded, you can’t. I don’t want it but kaboom. Well, the bad news is everybody died. The good news is, I think, we’ve probably brought the property values in this neighborhood up in the long term, so we lost, but maybe thanks will, but maybe we didn’t what a fun day we get. Maybe, okay, that’s a person, not pets.

Okay, okay, guys. No pets died perfect. I am right on board with will as long as we didn’t kill any cats or dogs, we didn’t then we’ll be good, really hard game yeah, so we’re all gon na go sit on the losers couch together. I don’t like this. It’S alright.

It’S okay, it’s alright! We did our best really wanted to save the house and all the people, but I’m also you know another way to look at it is. There is one less meth lab frat house in the world today that it’s so fair, yeah yeah. So, in a way, future yeah, first of all, welcome Kelly’s dog. Bushu, really appreciate your being here.

This is uh, it’s a sad day, mostly for the people who died in that burning house right. The victims, yeah yeah yeah, but III – want to tell you I. I talked about this in my opening, for the show I love games that, let me imagine, I’m something I’m not and like. I could never be a firefighter right away. No wait!

You need to jump in on that so fast and say yeah just enough to know that yeah there’s no way. I could be a firefighter they’re making a movie about firemen, you and I so I guess I guess what I’m gon na do. Is I’m gon na go give fire a trophy yeah? It seems weird to me: I’m gon na follow you with a bucket of water yeah, all right, I’m on board with that. Like I said on the losers couch, it feels really weird to give a trophy to fire, but I guess we’re giving the trophy actually to flashpoint and Kevin Lansing, because, although the game won, we had a really good time losing this game so to flashpoint and fire And to Kevin, I am thrilled to present the tabletop trophy of Awesome.

Now I know this looks like it’s some kind of a wan na excellence award, but that is not what it is at all. This is actually a very expensively made lovingly handcrafted fire trophy. It even has the fire right on it and – and I guess flashpoint wins it. So here you go flashpoint. This is for you, I’d encourage you to make a speech, but I quite honestly am NOT a big fan of fire and brimstone dad.

I know right, hey until next time be nice to each other and play more