The anniversary release also swaps out the original board game’s standard pieces for some deluxe components, most notably 15 hand-painted resin ship miniatures to represent the vessels flying around the system. One small disappointment does stem from the fact that while the game’s designers were able to secure the license for the Firefly TV show, they were unable to procure the rights to the follow-up film Serenity, which is owned by Universal.

Discard the losing character and the losing player gets an extra Gun Hand or maybe one of the Prostitutes (Emma, Lucy, Helen, Chari) if they're not in play. Should you manage to work your way through the number of Misbehave cards shown on the job then all is well, but fail even one and you’ll botch the attempt and be unable to try again until the next turn, or worse you might end up with a warrant or dead crew member on your hands. That brings me to my biggest point of contention about Firefly: The Board Game; strip away that lovely, beautiful license and what you’re left with is an enjoyable game, certainly, but not a great one.

Back in the closing months of 2013 I promised a review of Gale Force Nine’s attempt at turning Firefly into a board game. If you become an Outlaw ship while in the same sector as the Cruiser or Corvette, resolve contact immediately. A sniper rifle, for example, gives some extra firepower to whomever wields it and can provide a get-out-of-jail free card should you find yourself facing an ambush situation when resolving a Misbehave card, while Fancy Duds and Fake ID can give you a big advantage when trying to talk your way out of a situation and may even let you waltz straight through.

On top of the building of crew and completing contracts, there is a Story Card used for each game that dictates the overall objectives that each player is racing to complete.There’s already been a substantial FAQ of 7-pages released, and I highly recommend that upon picking up the game you print out a copy of it. Another potential flaw worth mentioning is that Firefly: The board game takes up a considerable amount of space, so much, in fact, that it doesn’t even fit on the table in my dining room. Although smuggling is well paid, you’ll lose favour with Harken and the Alliance who rigorously enforce the law.