Stats:
No. of players: 1-4
Amount of time to play: 120-150 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5-10 min

Firefly is a pick-up and deliver board game set in the same universe as the popular TV show. Many fans want to know if this is a good game or just another great license gone bad.

Firefly Board Game Description:

You start Firefly with a leader, some fuel, a couple spare parts and $3,000. You win the game by completing all the goals on the story card.

After you choose the story card you want to use and choose your leader, you get some starting jobs. You can only keep three of these but they will help you determine where to start the game.

On your turn, you can do two of four available actions, but may not take the same action twice on the same turn. The four actions are fly, deal, buy or work a job. Flying costs fuel and makes you draw cards to see if the Alliance or Reavers bother you or if your ship breaks down. If you are at a planet with a contact, you can take the deal action. This lets you get new jobs to earn money. Some planets have supplies you can buy. These include crew, gear and ship upgrades. Working a job is how you complete them. Some jobs require you to go and pick up cargo and deliver it while others are illegal and involve misbehavin’. Illegal jobs require you to draw misbehavin’ cards to complete but pay better.

After completing a job your crew will want a cut. You must pay them their recruit cost or they’ll become disgruntled. If they ever become disgruntled a second time they leave the ship. Also if you ever have disgruntled crew and are in the same space as another player, they can steal your disgruntled crew members by paying the bank their recruit cost. You can remove disgruntled tokens from crew members by giving them shore leave when you are at a planet that allows you to buy. It costs $100 per crew member.

Many of the obstacles you face in Firefly involve skill tests. Different crew and equipment grant you skill points for talkin’, shootin’ or fixin’ things. To complete skill tests, you roll a six-sided die and add your total skill points. If you roll a six, you get to roll the die again. Each card or goal will have target numbers you need to pass the test.

The first player to complete all the goals on the chosen story card wins the game.

Quick Review of Firefly:

Firefly is a pick-up and deliver game that feels like a race. You know how far along other players are and must finish the goals before them.

The components for this game are excellent. The quality of the art work and the chits is very high. The rule book has lots of examples but could be better organized. The best way to learn to play and teach this game is to try the solo story card. There is an introduction story card not included in the game here on the game’s website. We found this a bit too light, but if you have a group that has not played many board games, this is a good story card to try first.

I really like the Firefly series and I liked playing this game, quoting the show and remembering many great moments from the show. The tagline for the board game is, “Find a crew. Find a job. Keep flying.” And that is what this game is about. If you like Firefly, you should enjoy how the theme as been integrated into the game.

It is interesting how the buy and deal actions work. When taking either of these actions you may look through the discard pile first. Then you choose up to three cards you’d like to consider buying or taking. For each card less than three you can draw a card from the face-down stack. Then you can buy two of the three cards. The cards you don’t take go to the discard pile.

This game is not perfect, though. It can feel a bit repetitive after you get your crew and start doing jobs. Player interaction is also pretty low. The Reaver and Alliance ships don’t come into play too often and neither does stealing your opponent’s disgruntled crew members.

Going in, you should know there is a good bit of luck in this game. You can roll poorly even when having a well-balanced crew and sometimes the setback for rolling bad is harsh. Another thing to keep in mind is the length of the game. It can easily take a couple hours but expect your first game to be longer.

This game is primed for expansions. There is already one that is set to come out next year. The possibilities for the ways this game can grow seem cool and could fix some of my squabbles with the game as it is now.

Firefly the game is fun for fans of the series. Like I said you’ll enjoy reminiscing about the show as you play, but be aware the game is not perfect and can be swingy. I still think if you enjoy the series you should try this game out or just pick it up. If you enjoy pick-up-and-deliver games, you should look into this one.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6