Hotshots Nominated for Origins Award!

Posted on Tuesday, May 15 2018 9:05AMFriday, Jun 08 2018 10:32AM by Justin De Witt — 1 Comment

The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design has just announced the nominees for the 2018 Origins Awards and we are incredibly excited to say that Hotshots has been nominated in the Family Games category!

It’s an honor to have our game recognized and we couldn’t be more proud of those brave, little, cardboard, firefighting heroes! They’re in some good company too. It turns out several of our games have also been nominated for the Origins Award including: Castle Panic, Bears!, The Wizard’s Tower, and The Dark Titan (which won the fan favorite award in 2016!)

We’ll see how it all works out at the Origins Game Fair coming up in June, and don’t forget, attendees to the show can vote for their Fan Favorite in each category!

Congratulations to all the nominees! You can see all of them in every category here.

Rhado Runs Through . . . A Burning Forest!

Posted on Thursday, Jan 25 2018 12:32PM by Justin De Witt — Leave a comment

If you’re not familiar with “Rhado Runs Through” it’s a video series created by Rhado that takes a look at a board game from the player’s point of view and tries to really capture the feel of what it’s like to play the game. He talks through what choices he’s making and why, so it goes a bit beyond just a rules overview.

Recently, he sat down and played a rousing game of Hotshots, and you can watch that playthrough right here:

He then made a second video where he gives his final thoughts, and not to spoil anything, but he starts his video by calling it a “fun, very solid, cooperative, push your luck game.”

We’re thrilled that Rhado enjoyed the game, and we hope this gives you a fun peek at what it’s like to try to fight the fire!

Hotshots FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

We have put together this FAQ page to answer the most frequently asked questions we receive, so you can get back to playing your game!

If you don’t find the answer to your question here, please contact us, so that we can help you get back on track.

Download a copy of the RULES.

Updated 1/8/18

Game Play

If you have a question about Game Play for a specific game, choose your game from the list below and follow the link to that game’s specific FAQ page.

Castle Panic

Castle Panic: The Wizard’s Tower

Castle Panic: The Dark Titan

Dead Panic

Munchkin Panic

The Village Crone

Page 4 and Page 8 list different numbers of dice that must be matched before getting a reward token, is it 4 or 5?

That’s a typo that will be fixed in the next printing. Page 4 (and your Character Card) are correct in that you gain a Reward token when you match 5 or 6 dice, not 4.

What happens if you run out of Flame tokens?

Continue placing flames by using face down Reward tokens as placeholders until Flame tokens become available. (Often when you run out of Flame tokens, you are about to Scorch a tile, which will return Flame tokens to the supply.)

What happens if you run out of Firebreak tokens?

Reuse any that are on Scorched tiles since they no longer have any effect in the game. When all are used, no more may be placed.

Does using a Vehicle count as succeeding at fighting a fire when it comes to using the Reward tokens with green checkmarks?

Yes.

Can I use an extra movement Reward token with the Crew Boss's extra movement?

No. The extra movement from tokens only works on a characters own movement, not the crew bosses 1 move bonus.

Can the Crew Boss use their special ability to move themselves 1 extra space?

No. The Crew Boss’s ability must be used to move another character.

What happens to unused Reward tokens after the Fire Cache tile is scorched?

Players can keep tokens that are in their possession, but they are removed from the game when they are played.

Remember the Brave

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 09 2017 12:41PMFriday, Nov 24 2017 5:49PM by Justin De Witt — Leave a comment

Hotshots is an exciting game that depicts real life danger and heroism. On September 6, the official release date, we’ll be taking a moment to honor the many firefighters who risk their lives to protect our families and communities. To express our gratitude, we invite you to join us in making a donation to one of the following charities.

Prescott Firefighter’s Charities

https://www.prescottffcharities.org/

This is the official charity for the Granite Mountain Hotshots, 19 of whom gave their lives to protect Yarnell, Arizona, on June 30, 2013. You can read more about their sacrifice on these websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarnell_Hill_Fire

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/us/beyond-the-call-of-duty-granite-mountain-hotshots-yarnell-hill-wildfire-arizona-anniversary/index.html

https://www.outsideonline.com/1926426/19-true-story-yarnell-hill-fire

Wildland Firefighter Foundation

https://wffoundation.org/

This organization supports wildland firefighters and their families across the United States, especially to provide financial support to families immediately after a tragedy and to provide long-term grief recovery.

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

https://www.firehero.org/donate/

This foundation works to assist survivors and to reduce firefighter deaths and injuries across the country.

When you have a moment, please hold our nation’s brave firefighters in your thoughts and hearts.

Gearing Up for Gen Con

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 01 2017 3:39PMFriday, Nov 24 2017 5:50PM by Justin De Witt — 2 Comments

Wow, it feels like we were just at Origins, and it’s time for Gen Con! Our plans are coming together smoothly, and we can’t wait to see you all there.

Drop by and hang out with us in booth 1349. We’ll have fun showing you our new games, giving out promos for those games, and offering you some special convention deals. We’ll even have limited quantities of both Hotshots and Kaiju Crush available for sale.

Demos: If you are looking to try out our new games, Hotshots and Kaiju Crush, we can set you up. We’ll also have demos of Here, Kitty, Kitty! and Dastardly Dirigibles, quick games that will keep you going.

Promos: With a demo or purchase of our new games, you can pick up the special River Tile promo for Hotshots and the Oblique-Checkerboard promo card for Kaiju Crush.

Deals: In addition to all of the games in our catalog, we will have bundles, jewelry for Here, Kitty, Kitty!, a special discount bin, and promo specials.

Bundles

Panic expansion bundle: $45 (includes The Wizard’s Tower, The Dark Titan, and Engines of War)
Small box bundle: $50 (Here, Kitty, Kitty!, Dastardly Dirigibles, and Bears!)

Here, Kitty, Kitty!

Earrings and Necklaces

1 for $15
2 for $25
3 for $30

Discount Bin

1 for $15
2+ for $10 each

Promos

1 for $5
2+ for $3 each

Events: And if that’s not enough, we’ll have ticketed events with all of the following games in Hall D through Double Exposure. (Thank you, guys!) Players will be given a coupon worth $5 on a purchase of $25 or more.

Castle Panic
Here, Kitty, Kitty!
Dastardly Dirigibles
Bears!
Dead Panic
Munchkin Panic
The Village Crone

We’re so excited to see you there! Safe travels!

Hotshots Available September 20!

Posted on Monday, Jun 05 2017 10:14AM by Justin De Witt — Leave a comment

Hotshots, our cooperative, press-your-luck, firefighting game is back on track! We took some time to revise some components, making them even better, and now we are super excited to announce that Hotshots will be available September 20!

The flame minis came out great, and they really need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Here’s a photo to tide you over for now.

Hotshot Flame Tokens

We’ll be running demos at Origins this year, so come check us out at booth #106 to try the game for yourself. In addition we’ll be posting a video close-up, and How-to-Play video soon.

If you can’t wait until then, you can download the rules here and start your firefighter training now!