Fireknife!

For centuries, Samoan warriors have spun and tossed their weapons in dazzling demonstrations of courage and skill. The traditional wooden war clubs were later replaced with hooked steel machetes. In 1946, a young knife dancer, “Freddie” Letuli, was performing in San Francisco at an event that also featured a Hindu fire eater and a girl who twirled a baton with light bulbs on the ends. Letuli wrapped some towels around the ends of his knife, dipped them in fuel, set them alight, and invented fireknife dancing.

The fireknife dance (siva afi) is now a major feature of Samoan culture and the pinnacle of any lu’au.

In the Fireknife! card game, players take on the role of fireknife dancers, trying to impress the audience with the best routines. The first player to earn enough points (acclaim from the audience) wins.

There are 100 cards in the deck. Most of these represent moves that a dancer might perform, but a few are mistakes to be played on other players. In addition to the cards, players will need pencil and paper to keep score.

Fireknife! is intended as a light or family game. Mechanically, it is related to Mille Bornes or Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper. There are also echoes of Ticket to Ride (“Should I take more stuff or use what I've accumulated?”) and Kill Dr. Lucky (“Should I stop the leader from scoring or hope someone else can do it?”).