Turn your brain inside out

Jake bought a copy of Fire and Ice. I had heard of it, and had seen it on display at The Old Game Store in Vermont a couple years ago. I knew it looked nifty, but had never played it. Jake bought it on a whim, and after just reading the directions, he knew it would be a hit.

And he was right.

On Monday, February 13, he and I both got to the game table early. After grabbing a bite to eat, Chris and Jake played a game of Fire and Ice. It's just a two-player game (well, there is a solitaire variant on the game, which is very clever). Here's what I wrote in my review of the game for funagain.com:

---

Fire and Ice is like Tic-Tac-Toe on crack. Instead of the traditional tic-tac-toe board, Fire and Ice is based on a Fano Plane. In tic-tac-toe, the middle square is more valuable than the rest, in a Fano Plane, no space is more valuable than any other. There are 7 ways to make 3 in-a-row, and no possible way to tie.

The entire board is a set of Fano Planes, each one of them being on a vertex of a larger Fano Plane.

(Does your brain hurt yet?)

In order to control one of the mini-boards, you simply need three-in-a-row (or 3-in-a-circle). In order to win the game, you need to control 3 of the mini-boards in a row (or in a circle). This all makes more sense when you have the board in front of you.

The BIG twist is that you never put your own pieces on the board. On your turn, you move one of your pieces (either to any place on the same island, or to a corresponding place on another island). The place that was vacated gets filled by one of your opponent's pieces.

We've been playing at a lot lately -- it has a great "OK, just one more game!" factor. The game plays fast, and it's tough to see who will win until close to the end.

This game has the simplest of rules, with the deepest of strategy. You'll find something strategically new every time you play.

The board is solid, with felt-lined bins which hold the elegant wooden playing pieces. It is a game that is suitable for display -- some people leave a chessboard out as decoration; Fire and Ice would make a gorgeous addition to any decor.

---

Did actually finish my game review with "...gorgeous addition to any decor."??!

Yipes.

Anyway, we got in a game before people started arriving. Jake was Fire, and Chris played as Ice.

Chris managed to eke out the win this time.

(We have played the game numerous times at random intervals since this time. We have both had intermittent success. It is NOT getting old by any stretch of the imagination. It is a WONDERFUL game.)