I sometimes forget that Kickstarter isn’t a thing that’s as well known outside of the board game circles. Every now and again I mention that I saw a project on Kickstarter to a work colleague or a parent at the playground, and I often get a “what’s a Kickstarter?”. It’s a bit wild to me that a platform that has become synonymous with crowdfunding to the hobbyist board game community is anecdotally unknown outside of this circle. I say this because I spend a significant amount of time reading about the games that are coming to, or are currently on Kickstarter. The podcasts I listen to (The Secret Cabal and Blue Peg Pink Peg specifically) often talk about just how many games the hosts have pledged to. Something else that’s significant is, considering how much time I spend browsing Kickstarter projects, is how few I actually pledge for. Flamecraft designed by Manny Vega and published by Cardboard Alchemy, was one of those projects that very nearly had me pledging, but like most, I ended up passing on, then felt the cold sting of FOMO when my social media feeds were covered in a deluge of deliveries and gameplay photos.
I don’t know where I’m going with this intro, but here we are. 2 and a half years after Flamecraft’s crowdfunding campaign launched, and I’m only just getting the opportunity to play it. The first thing anyone says about the game is just to mention how amazing it looks. The art is cute and charming, the names for the dragons and the shops are whimsical and adorable, the components (at least the deluxe upgraded ones) are absolutely stunning. Every single person who talks about Flamecraft will start with just how utterly gorgeous the game is. And for Flamecraft, that’s a very important point. The gameplay is quite simple, lending itself to be the kind of game that you use to coerce your non-gaming family and friends to the table.
Don’t get me wrong, a great looking game is an excellent tool for getting people to sit in the seats at your table. I’ve used Sagrada to successfully convince several people that board games aren’t in the doldrums like they used to be. Flamecraft is the kind of game that gets those around you to sit up and take notice. It’s not flashy, it’s charming. It has a quiet allure with its cute and colourful aesthetic. There is great value in looking good, and Flamecraft looks amazing.
Getting into the gameplay, it’s as simple as can be. On your turn you have to move your dragon pawn to any shop around the town board, then you gather all the goods at that shop (shops have a base value of 1, then each dragon in the shop gives another good, and each enchantment nets yet another good), and then either play a dragon card into a slot that matches the dragon from your hand (and gain the rewards from the slot) and/or use the fire ability of any one dragon in the shop, and if the shop has an ability, you may use that as well. Or, instead of doing all that, you can choose to enchant a shop instead. To enchant a shop, just pick one of the face up enchantment cards that matches the shop you just landed on, pay the cost, and Slide the enchantment card on under the top of the shop, then, fire all the dragons in that shop. Only If you want to, it’s not required.
Most of the game centres around gaining and then spending various resources to earn more points or get more dragons. All the normal dragons have unique names and artwork, but their abilities are static. Which at first I was a bit disappointed in, but after a few plays I realize how difficult it can be to parse just 6 abilities and 6 available shops. Giving every dragon a unique ability would have slowed the game down to a crawl, so I’m glad they chose to keep them all the same.
At the beginning of the game, you’ll find yourself looking at the enchantment cards and thinking, “how am I ever going to earn 4 leaves and 4 diamonds to complete Imp’anadas?”. But by the end of the game you’ll go to a shop, pick up 5 tokens from the dragons and enchantments, and fire a diamond dragon to gain an additional 3 goods. Flamecraft gives players an incredibly feeling of progression. Things get better, and faster, and easier, players build their engines up to a crescendo. Where there used to be poverty, and you were wondering about the 7 item limit that felt impossible to reach, suddenly you’ll find yourself buried in bread and having to throw some back into the supply.
In addition to the normal dragons, players can also earn Fancy dragons. The fancy dragons are a special type of card, and they come in two suits. Suns and Moons. The suns can be played at any time their conditions are satisfied for a nice little boost, while the moon dragons are end game scoring conditions, such as “have the most meat tokens” or “earn points if you have an even number of goods”. These can vary wildly, and if you just so happen to pick up 3 or 4 that work well together, then you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. It’s not quite a criticism, but more of a comment that I didn’t feel like I was in control of my own destiny when playing Flamecraft.
Flamecraft features very little player interaction. Most of it comes from just getting in each other’s way. When you want to visit a shop, but someone else is already there, you simply need to pay them a single good. A few cards will also see you distributing goods around the table for a bigger benefit for yourself, but that’s the extent of the interaction. You aren’t able to stop anyone from doing anything, other than doing it yourself before they do (such as completing those enchantments). And that’s fine, for a game that I’d use to introduce people to the board game hobby, I don’t want it creating any bad feelings. But for me, it makes me feel like I have very little agency. If I win, it’s not because I did the best, but just because I got lucky.
At the end of the day, Cardboard Alchemy has crafted a beautiful and charming game, one that is sure to be a hit with those perhaps on the periphery of this board game hobby. I love seeing all the stories of people discovering how munch fun board games are via a play of Wingspan, and I feel like Flamecraft has a lot of the same qualities. I don’t know what secret sauce Wingspan has that made it such a seminal hit, but I would love to see Flamecraft held up alongside it as an excellent, charming, beautiful game for people of all walks of life.
