Blaze Game Review

The Basics:

• For ages 10 and up
• For 3 to 5 players
• Approximately 45 minutes to complete

Geek Skills:

• Active Listening & Communication
• Counting & Math
• Logical & Critical Decision Making
• Strategy & Tactics
• Hand/Resource Management
• Bidding

Learning Curve:

• Child – Easy
• Adult – Easy

Theme & Narrative:

• Play your cards at the right time to ensure you control when you lose them

Endorsements:

• Child Geek approved!
• Parent Geek approved!
• Gamer Geek approved!

Overview

The firebird is a mythical creature that represents both hope and doom according to Slavic folklore. It is a creature of incredible beauty and highly coveted by the rich and powerful. They yearn for it and enlist the help of young adventurers to seek it out, capture it, and bring it home. This quest to capture a creature of untamable beauty is doomed, but still, there is always hope that the adventurer will outthink and outwit the challenges that lie before them. In this game, players will attempt to claim the firebird for themselves, but their opponents will not make that shared goal easy in the slightest.

Blaze, published by HeidelBÄR Games, is comprised of 83 cards. The cards are as thick and as durable as your standard playing card, but there is nothing “standard” about them. Each card is richly illustrated and printed with foil, showing off the talents of Nadezhda Mikryukova and the beauty of Russian folk art.

Preparing the Decks

To set up the game, follow these steps.

First, have each player take three Betting cards in one of the five different colors, placing them face down in front of themselves.

Second, prepare two face-down decks of Feather cards with decreasing values from bottom to top. The number of cards used is based on the number of players.

Third, shuffle the Player cards and deal five to each player, face down. This is the player’s starting hand. Once the cards are dealt, split the remaining cards into two face-down decks. Select one of the two decks to be the draw deck for the first round, placing it face down in the middle of the playing area. The other deck will be the draw deck for round two.

Fourth, flip the top-most card off the draw deck and place it face-up under the draw deck, rotating it so the card suit is visible. This value remains the trump suit for the duration of the first round.

This completes the game setup. Determine who will go first as the active player and begin.

Chasing Fire

Blaze is played for a total of two rounds. Each round has two phases. A single round of gameplay is summarized here.

Phase One: The Challenge

The active player “challenges” the opponent to their left by playing any card they have in their hand, placing it face-up in front of them.

The opponent, referred to as the “target,” must either reject each challenge card or pass.

To reject a card, the target player must play a card of the same suit with the same or higher value or play any card of the trump suit. Once the card or cards are rejected, the active player can add additional cards to the challenge with any card they might have that has the same values as cards already played (either as part of the challenge or the rejection).

But, wait! There’s more!

The player to the left of the target player is referred to as the “support player.” This individual supports the active player and may assist in extending the challenge!

The active player (even with the help of the support player) can only challenge five times. If the target player is able to reject every challenge, all the cards played are collected and placed in the discard pile.

To pass, the target player announces they are passing. The active and supporting players may continue to play cards if they like or stop. Once all card plays have stopped, the target player takes all the cards played into their hand.

Regardless of the outcome, all players draw back up to five cards. The target player becomes the next active player.

The first phase of the game ends when the draw deck is depleted.

Phase Two: Place Your Bets

All players keep the cards in their hands that they collected during phase one.

The first round Feather card draw deck (noted with an “A”) is placed in the middle of the playing area, and the top-most card is flipped over, revealing its value to the players.

All the players now bet which of them will be the last to have cards in their hand, losing the round. This is done by all players simultaneously placing one of their Betting cards face down in front of the player they have chosen. The only rule here is that players cannot bet on themselves.

Phase two is played out exactly like phase one; however, during phase two, players will no longer draw cards, but must still take cards played in the challenge, as they did during phase one.

After resolving a challenge, any player who does not have any cards left in their hand draws a Feather card and adds it to their scoring pile.

The round ends after the last Feather card has been taken. Any player who did not receive a Feather card automatically loses the round.

All players reveal their Betting cards now. If the player did not lose the round, they take all the Betting cards played in front of them and add them to their scoring pile. However, if a player did lose the round and has Betting cards in front of them, their owners take back those cards and add them to their own scoring pile. Any Betting cards with the value of zero are always returned to their owning player and never placed in the scoring piles.

This completes the first round. The second round plays the same.

Ending the Game and Scoring Victory

The game comes to an end when the second round of betting has been resolved. Players now add up the card values in their scoring pile. The player with the highest score wins the game.

To learn more about Blaze, visit the game’s publisher.

Final Word

The Child Geeks enjoyed the game, but felt it ran a bit long. That didn’t stop them from having a good time at the table. They talked back and forth, getting excited. According to one Child Geek, “I liked how the game was broken up into different parts, and you got to place bets. I thought the game would be difficult after you taught it, but it was easy to understand once we started playing.” Another Child Geek said, “I liked it, and I thought the cards were pretty. I like games where you play cards to get cards or lose cards. I think I would like to play this game again.” When the last card was collected, the Child Geeks took a vote and all decided that Blaze was a hot time.

The Parent Geeks also enjoyed the game, finding it to be casual and active at the same time. As one Parent Geek put it, “You have to pay attention even if you are not the challenger, target, or supporting player because you need to know who has what cards. You don’t need to memorize who has what, of course, but you obtain a big advantage if you keep engaged.” Another Parent Geek said, “I really liked it. A unique trick-tacking card game that I haven’t played or heard of before. I liked how each round had two phases that were similar in their resolution but played differently enough to make each feel distinct in its approach. The game kept me happy, and I would very much enjoy playing it again.” When the firebird sailed high above and burst into flame, the Parent Geeks took a vote and all decided that Blaze was a brilliant game.

The Gamer Geeks found that Blaze was a track-based card game with real charm and engaging gameplay that kept them interested and at each other’s throats. As one Gamer Geek put it, “A tight card game that has enough take-that and tactical game play to make me feel like I didn’t waste my time. In fact, if given enough people, I’d play this game as a filler or a starter for my game groups. It hits just the right notes.” Another Gamer Geek said, “For a trick-taking card game, it takes longer than I would like, but the game was still entertaining. A good mix of thinking ahead and taking advantage of opportunities to come out the victor. Good stuff.” When the final card was played and the scores were determined, the Gamer Geeks took a vote, and all agreed that Blaze was the winner.

Let me first address the game’s suggested play length. The box says twenty minutes. I think that’s impossible unless you’re playing with only three people and they do nothing more than quickly play cards. No talking. No laughing. No interaction whatsoever. Just flipping and flopping cards, which sounds really boring. But then, maybe, the game would take twenty minutes.

In reality, Blaze is a game that invites table talk, player interaction, tactical thinking, and not rushing choices. A three-player game with us took about 45 minutes, and a five-player game took about an hour and a half. Not a bad thing, but do be aware of how long the game will take to complete. Notably, the players only mentioned the game’s length after it was completed. They would put the game away, look at the time, give a universal surprised reaction, and comment that the game took longer than they expected. Not that they were visibly upset by that, mind you.

I really enjoyed the game, finding the different phases to mix well, with each using the same approach to resolve, but adding and removing different elements to keep each phase unique (as was also mentioned by another one of our reviewers). The end result was a game that kept me hooked, kept me laughing, and kept me playing without ever feeling left out or beaten up. Do try Blaze when your time allows to see if it’s a hot game at your table or leaves you cold.

This game was given to Father Geek as a review copy. Father Geek was not paid, bribed, wined, dined, or threatened in vain hopes of influencing this review. Such is the statuesque and legendary integrity of Father Geek.