My favorite part of the game was this thematic element: in almost all the shops, if other players are there before you, you have to give them each a resource. Meaning that you stay away from the other people. However when someone goes into the tavern and takes the benefit, there is an incentive of other people getting an item in order to join them, which seems perfect that after you do all your work at the different merchant shops, you are now all incentivized to relax together with a drink in the pub.
I love Flamecraft! It could potentially be my game of the year. I'm glad backed the KS, because I almost didn't. I've played it at 5 a handful of times so far, and I don't think it's too bad. Our games lasted about an hour, even with a teach. Love the thumbnail, btw!
Great review. I appreciate the thoughtful, detailed criticism. All the other vids I've watched just talk about how pretty the game is, but I want to know if I'll get tired of it after a few plays! And I completely agree with you about the overpriced "upgrades", and especially that the wooden goods should've been included in the game to begin with!
Spot-on review. I backed the Kickstarter with my daughter in mind (15); my son (12) ended up enjoying it more. The upgraded components add much to the game and I think it was cheaper than buying them separately post-Kickstarter. One of my hobbies is painting minis so I loved getting the dragon minis. I only played solo once, I like playing this one with others more (3 to 4).
I played it with three friends who have joined me many times for euro games in the past. We all loved it. The rulebook is not laid out in the order that I would love, but we figured things out pretty quickly. The main thing is that the terminology is not intuitive. Call things blue cards, brown cards, yellow cards, not fancy dragons and other dragons I don’t even remember anymore. If the name of the dragon is not on the back of the card; just put the color of the dragon in the rulebook so that there’s not this constant cross referencing.Unboxing, learning, and first play through took about two hours and 15 minutes.
Thanks for the review. There's a deluxe verison of the game for $79 that had the metal coins, dragon meeples, wooden tokens and a deluxe plastic insert available in the Kickstarter as well as from Lucky Duck Games in limited supplies. The separate deluxe components (e.g. the wooden tokens) were for folks who only cared about the one upgrade and so could purchase the standard/retail version at $39 and add on the part they wanted. Also, I think you've drastically undervalued the bread and meat dragons. Good use of them (especially during enchant turns) make it much easier to get to the solo scores needed to claim achievements.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Bread to just replenish itself is not playing efficiently though. You don't always play a dragon, you sometimes fire up dragons that are already there, meaning you net gain. Having dragons on hand has value for a few reasons. Namely making use of certain shop powers and Meat dragons too. I noticed you caught on to the "most resources" strat (very legit), but you were downplaying things like gaining a coin from playing Meat dragons and at the same time saying that it was luck when enchantments got sniped. But that coin reward helps you be one to catch that enchantment first, or bounce faster between those turns, see? :) There's a few different ways to play and win.
Thanks for your show! Right, the artwork of Flamecraft is beautiful and your explanations are very clear. The animation inserted in the video is also very interesting! 🤣🤣
Good to know that the sweet spot is three players; very helpful. I have the retail version and have not yet played it. Those wooden goods look great, but I host and attend meetups where boxes stay home, inserts were already tossed, everything goes in plastic bags and into my backpack and goes on a half mile walk or a bus and a train ride, so light weight and consolidation are better. Like I can play Catan and ticket to ride Netherlands, and just bring the coins from Netherlands and use them for both. I will trick out a game with wooden boards etc. only if it is the kind of game where you cannot play anything else if you play that, like terraforming mars or Empire builder.
I didn't back this but picked up the deluxe version online for $79 with free shipping (less than £67).Yes it's still pricey but I chose to splurge. The art and components are really nice and I can also play it with family, which is great.
@The Broken Meeple I actually agree with you. After I purchasing I found it was possible to buy the retail edition cheaply at ($28) and just upgrade the tokens ($14), which are the important bits. But oh well!
Agree with the rating of the game itself, but, since i am a shallow gamer, good artwork makes up a bigger chunck of the final score so for me it settles at an 8 overall. Indeed i bought the resource Upgrade and skipped minis and coins. I totally get your point regarding the deluxe components which should fit together. I do not like much when games give you 3 acrylic standees, 6 minis, 20 cardboard tokens, 10 wooden meeples and 2 glass markers.
"I do not like much when games give you 3 acrylic standees, 6 minis, 20 cardboard tokens, 10 wooden meeples and 2 glass markers." Agreed, they should all be the same material!
Bought it for 34 euros at Essen, totally worth it (I believe 40 euros is the retail price for this and it's an awesome deal for what's inside). Deluxe was 89 euros there, and each upgrade separately was 20 euros. The Deluxe version is very nice, minis are cute, coins are nice and resource tokens are very good, but 60 euros for that? I rather buy a new game, and that's what I actually did. Overall really cute and great family+ game. Of course, there is a bit of luck, because it's a family game, they should have some luck factor in them. I totally agree that some locations are incredibly powerful and some dragons are better than others, but in my experience, you use all of them not only the ones that grant you resources. And for a solo mode, I tried it out and scored 100+ points with the first attempt, so I don't know about that being impossible :D I definitely recommend the game, and I strongly believe that it will be at least nominated for next year's Spiel des Jahres (or Kennerspiel).
Curious how you got 100 points without the stars aligning for locations/dragons. At 40 Euro's it's totally fine and worth the cash, but at the deluxe price, it's a ripoff.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I don't remember exactly, but I scored tons of fancy dragons, maybe I was lucky. I could try again and see how it goes, but I don't think it's a great solo game, I prefer to play something else.
I’m real glad I got the deluxe game at Kickstarter. I could manage without the plastic minis. The metal coins are very nice, but not essential. However, the wooden resources are really what makes it. Wooden toasts! For the standard version, if the resources had been shaped I feel they would have been good enough. The plain circles are not exciting. There are not many deluxe type games for the light-mid weight market with the type of themes that appeal to me, so when the odd one comes up, I don’t mind the indulgence in terms of cost. In terms of play, 3 to 4 is best in my opinion. I’ve not tried solo. My main criticism is that the end of the game feels a little bit flat. I feel this way with other games where running out of cards is the end game trigger, I just want to keep going until I cannot do any more 🙂
It's definitely not the best game ever but it's all about the coziness. There is a place in my collection for such experiences. Reminds me a bit of Harbour by Scott Almes. And yes, the town playmat is ridiculous but fun.
I really love your honest reviews, Luke! This game is a bit too light for my geeky friends, but I got it to play it with my nieces, they will surely love the cute dragon artwork. For 33 Euro, it's a great value. Won't get the component upgrades, I only do this for games I really love. I will try the solo mode soon, hopefully I can get 75+ VP ;-)
I 'd give it 7/10 as well. Managed to grab a deluxe copy from my flgs and I must say that the deluxe components do add to the experience. Especially the wooden resource tokens! I wouldn't want to have anything to do with those tiny, super cheap, fiddly little cardboard ones 😌 Also, I completely agree with you, the solo mode seems tough. In my 3 solo games so far, I haven't been able to reach the 75vp mark.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I got 98 VP once. In order to get much VP you should avoid drawing dragons at all cost to stall the game as much as possible. It's not a fun strategy but it works so... Yeah.
well I found the deluxe edition for 84 euro's (with free shipping) and considering the normal version was 44 I think I got a good deal. the wooden resources are worth it so if you would want them in your regular version its already at 64. means I payed 20 for some metal coins and the miniatures, which by itself I agree aren't really worth it. but the icing on the cake has got to be the GameTrayz insert.
I think the price is an important subject here, i bought my copie in a "not so cheap" shop for 32€, (i'm in France) not the deluxe edition ofc, for that price i think it's a pretty good deal, even with the not so nice cardboard pieces. I didn't play the game yet, i guess everybody found the game simple but kinda good and i don't know if that means it's like an "ok game" but it seems like a pleasant game for the family, and with some nice components, mainly the neoprene mat coupled with some cute and clean design. Of course bigger cards would have been nice, yeah sorry but i dont really like that format but for the price i understand that you have to make some compromise... Some games and some extensions nowadays can be very expensive, especially games under licences like Marvel or lotr. With the rise of the prices i'm not surprised to see a game like this in that range of price but maybe i'm wrong ? But in the past a game like Teraforming Mars ( yes it's an easy one...) Was like 50€, right? With some really shity components, we all agree to say bad arts on the cards and almost no insert, in comparison it's not that bad hum? And it's nice if you want to have the possibility to upgrade the game in the way you want.
Love this game & so glad I backed it. However I must disagree about your take in solo scoring. Getting over 75 points isn't hard but getting over 75 points & also satisfying an achievement is trickier. Personally my scores solo have been between 72 & 110. Maybe you're playing it wrong?
Nope checked all rules - I suspect what's happening is that people are drawing the locations which give 5+ points just for popping a dragon on a space and maxing those out. Enchantments alone won't rack up 100 points.
I had to laugh at the "My Little Pony fans" comment. Fantastic review. I realize it's the nature of KS but man, it would be great to get a review like this during the campaign.
I passed on backing this and haven't played it yet but those I know who have played it, gave it just a hoo-hum verdict on this game. It was okay but nothing that will see the table in the long run as much as others. I will play it if offered, but am not going to seek it out just because it is so cute... For cuteness I would play Dog Park.
ive played solo twice and got 75 and up twice hehe. don't underestimate bread and meat dragons. imagine having 2 dragons in handand and firing up 2 meat dragons when you enchant. place the 2 dragons in spots that give 3 vp each or even 4, how many points will you have then? 6 points plus the enchantment you did for 8.
That's the thing - people are getting lucky with drawing the buildings that give a bunch of VP's for placement and maxing those out. But if the game requires you to use those spaces to score high, that's a game design flaw.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I agree that luck is certainly a factor in this game. I would like to point out that most non- starter shops would have at least 1 3vp slot for dragons, and if people aren't utilizing bread dragons to draw, the slots would tend to be open as they are simply focused on just gathering resources and not placing them down. In comparison to single player mode, if you setup the shops all in a row at the top, the AI will fill up the barely useful starter shops, leaving the more powerful shops to you to be filled up. That said, Flamecraft is a very simple, adorable game and it's friendly to new gamers. It will not satisfy the more intense gaming need for most people.
@@TheBrokenMeeple the game definitely doesn't require any certain shop combos to come out to score well, either in multiplayer or solo. Admittedly, shop power strats don't score as high as enchant or fancy dragon strategies, but it's more fun to try for me.
Where do you get 100 Euros from? KS Deluxe version was US$80 and when this campaign happened that was like 70 Euros, and doing a quick google I found quite a few retailers selling it at those same US$80.
Out of 4 solo games I've got unlucky once and scored less than 75, the other 3 games have scored over the 75 mark but not the 90 mark Agree on minis and coins although they are nice to have they aren't needed, the resources are worth having upgraded
Flamecraft is one of the most mediocre games I remember playing in the last years. It's so boring, bland, uninspiring, unoriginal and inoffensive that it's almost offensive. Representes, (imo, of course) a lot of things that are wrong with the hobby: a lot of hype, a lot of production for a handful of nothing.
I've only just started seeing these types of hyped Instagram games. Its probably the effect of games going mainstream. Eternal Palace is like that for me. However I think there's a mainstream market for these cute, simple games that look like hobby strategy games.
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I love Flamecraft. I backed the Kickstarter and I am glad I did.
Straight to the point and realistic! You are my go to for reviews for without the hype. I really like your price for what you get review.
Thank you! All truth, no bias here!!
My favorite part of the game was this thematic element: in almost all the shops, if other players are there before you, you have to give them each a resource. Meaning that you stay away from the other people. However when someone goes into the tavern and takes the benefit, there is an incentive of other people getting an item in order to join them, which seems perfect that after you do all your work at the different merchant shops, you are now all incentivized to relax together with a drink in the pub.
This game has a charm factor of 10….it doesn’t need to be an ultra mega battle of strategy…it is fun, satisfying, quick, and beautiful
I got the deluxe from the KS for my daughter. It is her Christmas present. I am excited to play it.
I love Flamecraft! It could potentially be my game of the year. I'm glad backed the KS, because I almost didn't. I've played it at 5 a handful of times so far, and I don't think it's too bad. Our games lasted about an hour, even with a teach. Love the thumbnail, btw!
Ha ha, yeah I thought I can't pass up the opportunity. I need to do more facial photos though at some point.
@@TheBrokenMeeple selfie photoshoot!
Great review. I appreciate the thoughtful, detailed criticism. All the other vids I've watched just talk about how pretty the game is, but I want to know if I'll get tired of it after a few plays!
And I completely agree with you about the overpriced "upgrades", and especially that the wooden goods should've been included in the game to begin with!
Thank you!! Glad it was useful information and not just hype!
Spot-on review. I backed the Kickstarter with my daughter in mind (15); my son (12) ended up enjoying it more. The upgraded components add much to the game and I think it was cheaper than buying them separately post-Kickstarter. One of my hobbies is painting minis so I loved getting the dragon minis. I only played solo once, I like playing this one with others more (3 to 4).
I played it with three friends who have joined me many times for euro games in the past. We all loved it. The rulebook is not laid out in the order that I would love, but we figured things out pretty quickly. The main thing is that the terminology is not intuitive. Call things blue cards, brown cards, yellow cards, not fancy dragons and other dragons I don’t even remember anymore. If the name of the dragon is not on the back of the card; just put the color of the dragon in the rulebook so that there’s not this constant cross referencing.Unboxing, learning, and first play through took about two hours and 15 minutes.
Thanks for the review.
There's a deluxe verison of the game for $79 that had the metal coins, dragon meeples, wooden tokens and a deluxe plastic insert available in the Kickstarter as well as from Lucky Duck Games in limited supplies. The separate deluxe components (e.g. the wooden tokens) were for folks who only cared about the one upgrade and so could purchase the standard/retail version at $39 and add on the part they wanted.
Also, I think you've drastically undervalued the bread and meat dragons. Good use of them (especially during enchant turns) make it much easier to get to the solo scores needed to claim achievements.
Red dragons are bad unless you have a big hand of dragons and the yellow dragon only replenishes itself. It's not like you gain extra dragons.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Bread to just replenish itself is not playing efficiently though. You don't always play a dragon, you sometimes fire up dragons that are already there, meaning you net gain. Having dragons on hand has value for a few reasons. Namely making use of certain shop powers and Meat dragons too. I noticed you caught on to the "most resources" strat (very legit), but you were downplaying things like gaining a coin from playing Meat dragons and at the same time saying that it was luck when enchantments got sniped. But that coin reward helps you be one to catch that enchantment first, or bounce faster between those turns, see? :) There's a few different ways to play and win.
They are mini euro for the dragons and 8xl sleeves for the shops
Thanks for your show! Right, the artwork of Flamecraft is beautiful and your explanations are very clear. The animation inserted in the video is also very interesting! 🤣🤣
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the review, good points!
Good to know that the sweet spot is three players; very helpful. I have the retail version and have not yet played it. Those wooden goods look great, but I host and attend meetups where boxes stay home, inserts were already tossed, everything goes in plastic bags and into my backpack and goes on a half mile walk or a bus and a train ride, so light weight and consolidation are better. Like I can play Catan and ticket to ride Netherlands, and just bring the coins from Netherlands and use them for both. I will trick out a game with wooden boards etc. only if it is the kind of game where you cannot play anything else if you play that, like terraforming mars or Empire builder.
Retail version will do you fine.
I didn't back this but picked up the deluxe version online for $79 with free shipping (less than £67).Yes it's still pricey but I chose to splurge. The art and components are really nice and I can also play it with family, which is great.
If you will get the plays then go for it. As a casual purchase, retail is best.
@The Broken Meeple I actually agree with you. After I purchasing I found it was possible to buy the retail edition cheaply at ($28) and just upgrade the tokens ($14), which are the important bits. But oh well!
Agree with the rating of the game itself, but, since i am a shallow gamer, good artwork makes up a bigger chunck of the final score so for me it settles at an 8 overall. Indeed i bought the resource Upgrade and skipped minis and coins. I totally get your point regarding the deluxe components which should fit together. I do not like much when games give you 3 acrylic standees, 6 minis, 20 cardboard tokens, 10 wooden meeples and 2 glass markers.
"I do not like much when games give you 3 acrylic standees, 6 minis, 20 cardboard tokens, 10 wooden meeples and 2 glass markers."
Agreed, they should all be the same material!
Bought it for 34 euros at Essen, totally worth it (I believe 40 euros is the retail price for this and it's an awesome deal for what's inside). Deluxe was 89 euros there, and each upgrade separately was 20 euros. The Deluxe version is very nice, minis are cute, coins are nice and resource tokens are very good, but 60 euros for that? I rather buy a new game, and that's what I actually did. Overall really cute and great family+ game. Of course, there is a bit of luck, because it's a family game, they should have some luck factor in them.
I totally agree that some locations are incredibly powerful and some dragons are better than others, but in my experience, you use all of them not only the ones that grant you resources. And for a solo mode, I tried it out and scored 100+ points with the first attempt, so I don't know about that being impossible :D
I definitely recommend the game, and I strongly believe that it will be at least nominated for next year's Spiel des Jahres (or Kennerspiel).
Curious how you got 100 points without the stars aligning for locations/dragons. At 40 Euro's it's totally fine and worth the cash, but at the deluxe price, it's a ripoff.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I don't remember exactly, but I scored tons of fancy dragons, maybe I was lucky. I could try again and see how it goes, but I don't think it's a great solo game, I prefer to play something else.
I’m real glad I got the deluxe game at Kickstarter. I could manage without the plastic minis. The metal coins are very nice, but not essential. However, the wooden resources are really what makes it. Wooden toasts!
For the standard version, if the resources had been shaped I feel they would have been good enough. The plain circles are not exciting.
There are not many deluxe type games for the light-mid weight market with the type of themes that appeal to me, so when the odd one comes up, I don’t mind the indulgence in terms of cost.
In terms of play, 3 to 4 is best in my opinion. I’ve not tried solo. My main criticism is that the end of the game feels a little bit flat. I feel this way with other games where running out of cards is the end game trigger, I just want to keep going until I cannot do any more 🙂
Well by the time this game ends I'm kind of done as you're just rinse-repeating at that point.
Recommend playing solo first with younger children. We play a few games together discussing options to learn the game then move onto the proper game.
It's definitely not the best game ever but it's all about the coziness. There is a place in my collection for such experiences. Reminds me a bit of Harbour by Scott Almes. And yes, the town playmat is ridiculous but fun.
I really love your honest reviews, Luke! This game is a bit too light for my geeky friends, but I got it to play it with my nieces, they will surely love the cute dragon artwork. For 33 Euro, it's a great value. Won't get the component upgrades, I only do this for games I really love.
I will try the solo mode soon, hopefully I can get 75+ VP ;-)
It's got its market for sure, I don't think it should be forgotten, but one of the best of the year, no way.
I 'd give it 7/10 as well. Managed to grab a deluxe copy from my flgs and I must say that the deluxe components do add to the experience. Especially the wooden resource tokens! I wouldn't want to have anything to do with those tiny, super cheap, fiddly little cardboard ones 😌
Also, I completely agree with you, the solo mode seems tough. In my 3 solo games so far, I haven't been able to reach the 75vp mark.
Yeah I think some people have either got very lucky with point scoring locations or played some rules wrong.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I got 98 VP once. In order to get much VP you should avoid drawing dragons at all cost to stall the game as much as possible. It's not a fun strategy but it works so... Yeah.
well I found the deluxe edition for 84 euro's (with free shipping) and considering the normal version was 44 I think I got a good deal. the wooden resources are worth it so if you would want them in your regular version its already at 64. means I payed 20 for some metal coins and the miniatures, which by itself I agree aren't really worth it. but the icing on the cake has got to be the GameTrayz insert.
The game itself though isn't particularly worth a full 84 euros though.
I think the price is an important subject here, i bought my copie in a "not so cheap" shop for 32€, (i'm in France) not the deluxe edition ofc, for that price i think it's a pretty good deal, even with the not so nice cardboard pieces. I didn't play the game yet, i guess everybody found the game simple but kinda good and i don't know if that means it's like an "ok game" but it seems like a pleasant game for the family, and with some nice components, mainly the neoprene mat coupled with some cute and clean design. Of course bigger cards would have been nice, yeah sorry but i dont really like that format but for the price i understand that you have to make some compromise... Some games and some extensions nowadays can be very expensive, especially games under licences like Marvel or lotr. With the rise of the prices i'm not surprised to see a game like this in that range of price but maybe i'm wrong ? But in the past a game like Teraforming Mars ( yes it's an easy one...) Was like 50€, right? With some really shity components, we all agree to say bad arts on the cards and almost no insert, in comparison it's not that bad hum? And it's nice if you want to have the possibility to upgrade the game in the way you want.
Love this game & so glad I backed it. However I must disagree about your take in solo scoring. Getting over 75 points isn't hard but getting over 75 points & also satisfying an achievement is trickier. Personally my scores solo have been between 72 & 110. Maybe you're playing it wrong?
Nope checked all rules - I suspect what's happening is that people are drawing the locations which give 5+ points just for popping a dragon on a space and maxing those out. Enchantments alone won't rack up 100 points.
What was that coin box you referenced? Sinister something?
Sinister Fish Games - Coin Chest
I had to laugh at the "My Little Pony fans" comment. Fantastic review. I realize it's the nature of KS but man, it would be great to get a review like this during the campaign.
Sadly, I don't get (or want) many preview copies as I like to see a finished product. Plus publishers don't want criticism for their KS's :P
I passed on backing this and haven't played it yet but those I know who have played it, gave it just a hoo-hum verdict on this game. It was okay but nothing that will see the table in the long run as much as others. I will play it if offered, but am not going to seek it out just because it is so cute... For cuteness I would play Dog Park.
It's essentially that. Cuteness. But it won't stand the test of time.
ive played solo twice and got 75 and up twice hehe. don't underestimate bread and meat dragons. imagine having 2 dragons in handand and firing up 2 meat dragons when you enchant. place the 2 dragons in spots that give 3 vp each or even 4, how many points will you have then? 6 points plus the enchantment you did for 8.
That's the thing - people are getting lucky with drawing the buildings that give a bunch of VP's for placement and maxing those out. But if the game requires you to use those spaces to score high, that's a game design flaw.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I agree that luck is certainly a factor in this game. I would like to point out that most non- starter shops would have at least 1 3vp slot for dragons, and if people aren't utilizing bread dragons to draw, the slots would tend to be open as they are simply focused on just gathering resources and not placing them down. In comparison to single player mode, if you setup the shops all in a row at the top, the AI will fill up the barely useful starter shops, leaving the more powerful shops to you to be filled up. That said, Flamecraft is a very simple, adorable game and it's friendly to new gamers. It will not satisfy the more intense gaming need for most people.
@@TheBrokenMeeple the game definitely doesn't require any certain shop combos to come out to score well, either in multiplayer or solo. Admittedly, shop power strats don't score as high as enchant or fancy dragon strategies, but it's more fun to try for me.
It looks very attraktive
Where do you get 100 Euros from? KS Deluxe version was US$80 and when this campaign happened that was like 70 Euros, and doing a quick google I found quite a few retailers selling it at those same US$80.
21:18
Retail copy + the 3 deluxe upgrade packs for each of the following: coins, dragons and resources.
Yeah $100 is about right cause you gotta include shipping for kickstarter prices.
Also remember this was the price at Essen that they were selling it for also. Sadly, the US is the only place games are cheap any more.
Out of 4 solo games I've got unlucky once and scored less than 75, the other 3 games have scored over the 75 mark but not the 90 mark
Agree on minis and coins although they are nice to have they aren't needed, the resources are worth having upgraded
This game just never appealed to me. I'm glad I let it pass me by.
Cheers Scyld! There are definitely games for everyone, which is why this hobby is so great.
@@pvaughan007 Amen brother. Amen.
Flamecraft is one of the most mediocre games I remember playing in the last years. It's so boring, bland, uninspiring, unoriginal and inoffensive that it's almost offensive.
Representes, (imo, of course) a lot of things that are wrong with the hobby: a lot of hype, a lot of production for a handful of nothing.
It's good enough but yeah the hype it's gotten isn't justified.
I've only just started seeing these types of hyped Instagram games. Its probably the effect of games going mainstream. Eternal Palace is like that for me. However I think there's a mainstream market for these cute, simple games that look like hobby strategy games.