Have my copy. Played the first scenario with my two daughters. We all loved it. Easy to set up and learn. Gameplay is engaging even when it’s not your turn. Can’t wait to play more!
I think the action-boost decision space makes it great for co-op. You are incentivized to use up all your boosts to help your allies instead of holding off using those cards for personal use like in Arkham LCG which I also love
Fully agree with that! But the part that makes me hate coop at times (at least when we played 3-4 players) was the dang initiative bag sometimes skipping one player for 30+ minutes of game time.
The components looks to be high quality but the Initiative system seems like a janky mess. I know that Boost cards can let you help other players when it's not your turn, but imagine a 3-player game and only getting to go TWICE. There seem to be a number of cards and mechanics that interact with the initiative chits in Kinfire Chronicles like Naz' lantern ability so it's not like you can homebrew it away. Adventure Tactics has a much better system with 1 chit per player character and 3 chits for the enemies and you draw ALL of them every round, so everybody gets an equal number of turns. The only way I could see myself playing Kinfire is by either (a) homebrewing the player chit system so that everybody gets a roughly equal number of turns or (b) playing the game solo.
We were discussing this a bunch at GenCon. Almost the whole OSCS team had played the game, and all agreed initiative was... not good. Colin and Bairnt and Steve are all going to try to homebrew some system to make it more like what you said. Not sure exactly how it will work yet. And it wasn't just us having trouble with the initiative system. Another person from our Discord said they played with their brother, 2 encounters/battles, and their brother never got to go once in either fight... yeesh :) -Mike
@@OneStopCoopShop Here's a quick homebrew I would do: 1) Place chits in the bag like normal. 2) When you draw a player's chit they take their turn, then place a token in front of their character board to show they .3) When you draw a player's chit, but they already , instead go clockwise around the table. The first player in that direction who is not activated takes their turn. 4) When all players have activated, or when the bag is re-shuffled, remove all activated tokens in front of all players. 5) When you draw a Heart/Wild token, any character who is not activated may take their turn. Example of Play: Four players are sitting clockwise, Asha -> Naz -> Roland -> Feyn. You draw Naz's chip and she takes her turn, then places an activation token in front of her. The monsters go, then you another Naz chip, so Roland takes his turn as he's clockwise to Naz, then places a token in front of himself. After some more monsters you draw a Heart token, so either Asha or Feyn can activate and the players choose Feyn, who then places an activation token in front of himself. Finally, you draw a Roland token, and since the only person who hasn't gone is Asha, she takes her turn. Since all four characters have acted, you remove all activation tokens from them.
I had this initially late-pledged but then cancelled it. Don't think I will regret the decision anytime soon. Especially considering the price and now seeing the final product. Thanks for the video and playthrough.
Roland's Test of Mettle card isn't an attack - it doesn't have the iconography and it says enemies "suffer" that damage - so I'm pretty sure the wyvern's damage reduction would not reduce the damage from it.
Looks like a well designed game, aside from those awful lines on the maps. Why on earth would they do that and not make the decisions more natural? I also struggled a bit with the writing. I still don't understand why these narrative heavy games don't hire better editors or writers. Still, the organization looks incredible.
My 2c With all the elements you are showing that $300 (game + upgrade kit + monster acrylics) is way too much Lots of “fancy” pieces - counter tiles, monster hp trackers - better just served with d10s Some of the systems - initiative already highlighted - very strange. Some of the movement janky, hand playing seems very disjointed for a game that is essentially on a turn do an action, pile on, do an effect. Monster AI seems completely devoid of any tension as well
Hm, interesting mix of choices. Distant Skies is the most different of the three. While it has combat, it is HEAVILY focused on exploring and reading narrative passages. It has some serious end game power creep issues, but is a lot of fun otherwise. I'm reviewing Kinfire Chronicles soonish. Have to get further in the campaign. It's mostly a boss battler, but with a straightforward story and campaign mode and leveling up. The initiative bag system is my biggest complaint (mainly if you are playing with 3+ players). If you are playing with 1-2 I don't think it'll bother you much. Deliverance I haven't played, but Jason just did a review. It sounds like it's a crunchier boss battler than Kinfire, but with less of a focus on narrative. So you could think of it this way, if it helps: Most story, least combat - Distant Skies Some story, straightforward combat - Kinfire Not much story, more tactical combat - Deliverance
Quite enjoyable to watch. Hopefully there will be some more of it. P.S. your playthrough is as closest I''ll ever get to this overpriced exaggerated tag price game.
Have my copy. Played the first scenario with my two daughters. We all loved it. Easy to set up and learn. Gameplay is engaging even when it’s not your turn. Can’t wait to play more!
100% agree!!! This game is super good for families and it’s fun for your game group as well. It’s solid!!!!!
I think the action-boost decision space makes it great for co-op. You are incentivized to use up all your boosts to help your allies instead of holding off using those cards for personal use like in Arkham LCG which I also love
Fully agree with that! But the part that makes me hate coop at times (at least when we played 3-4 players) was the dang initiative bag sometimes skipping one player for 30+ minutes of game time.
Thanks so much for the playthrough! It's so exciting to see our game in action!
Thanks for watching, and great job by your team!
@@OneStopCoopShop a great looking game i unfortunately missed. will there be more kinfire games coming after nightfall?
The components looks to be high quality but the Initiative system seems like a janky mess. I know that Boost cards can let you help other players when it's not your turn, but imagine a 3-player game and only getting to go TWICE. There seem to be a number of cards and mechanics that interact with the initiative chits in Kinfire Chronicles like Naz' lantern ability so it's not like you can homebrew it away. Adventure Tactics has a much better system with 1 chit per player character and 3 chits for the enemies and you draw ALL of them every round, so everybody gets an equal number of turns. The only way I could see myself playing Kinfire is by either (a) homebrewing the player chit system so that everybody gets a roughly equal number of turns or (b) playing the game solo.
We were discussing this a bunch at GenCon. Almost the whole OSCS team had played the game, and all agreed initiative was... not good.
Colin and Bairnt and Steve are all going to try to homebrew some system to make it more like what you said. Not sure exactly how it will work yet.
And it wasn't just us having trouble with the initiative system. Another person from our Discord said they played with their brother, 2 encounters/battles, and their brother never got to go once in either fight... yeesh :)
-Mike
@@OneStopCoopShop Here's a quick homebrew I would do:
1) Place chits in the bag like normal.
2) When you draw a player's chit they take their turn, then place a token in front of their character board to show they .3) When you draw a player's chit, but they already , instead go clockwise around the table. The first player in that direction who is not activated takes their turn.
4) When all players have activated, or when the bag is re-shuffled, remove all activated tokens in front of all players.
5) When you draw a Heart/Wild token, any character who is not activated may take their turn.
Example of Play: Four players are sitting clockwise, Asha -> Naz -> Roland -> Feyn. You draw Naz's chip and she takes her turn, then places an activation token in front of her. The monsters go, then you another Naz chip, so Roland takes his turn as he's clockwise to Naz, then places a token in front of himself. After some more monsters you draw a Heart token, so either Asha or Feyn can activate and the players choose Feyn, who then places an activation token in front of himself. Finally, you draw a Roland token, and since the only person who hasn't gone is Asha, she takes her turn. Since all four characters have acted, you remove all activation tokens from them.
@@ObsidianKnight90That sounds good. 👍
@OneStopCoopShop so for 2 fights neither picked a heart and let that player take a turn?
I guess so. Wasn’t my game
I had this initially late-pledged but then cancelled it. Don't think I will regret the decision anytime soon. Especially considering the price and now seeing the final product.
Thanks for the video and playthrough.
Your so welcome hope you get a chance to try it some time!! 😃😃👍
Roland's Test of Mettle card isn't an attack - it doesn't have the iconography and it says enemies "suffer" that damage - so I'm pretty sure the wyvern's damage reduction would not reduce the damage from it.
I believe you forgot to resolve Asha's opportunist ability boosting another characters attack by one when enemy was in her space
Waiting my copy… was a difficult back, a bit expensive for my point of view but seems a good game
It is a solid game I have enjoyed it quite a bit. Hope you get yours soon!! 😃😃👍
Looks like a well designed game, aside from those awful lines on the maps. Why on earth would they do that and not make the decisions more natural? I also struggled a bit with the writing. I still don't understand why these narrative heavy games don't hire better editors or writers. Still, the organization looks incredible.
My 2c
With all the elements you are showing that $300 (game + upgrade kit + monster acrylics) is way too much
Lots of “fancy” pieces - counter tiles, monster hp trackers - better just served with d10s
Some of the systems - initiative already highlighted - very strange. Some of the movement janky, hand playing seems very disjointed for a game that is essentially on a turn do an action, pile on, do an effect.
Monster AI seems completely devoid of any tension as well
Totally get it everyone is entitled to their own opinion! 😁
Where do you get the $300 price tag from? The game with the deluxe components was $175.
intersting, in the prototype- the black ink around the damage number stood for splash damage/AOE
Torn between this, Distant Skies, and Deliverance for my first co-op campaign!
Hm, interesting mix of choices.
Distant Skies is the most different of the three. While it has combat, it is HEAVILY focused on exploring and reading narrative passages. It has some serious end game power creep issues, but is a lot of fun otherwise.
I'm reviewing Kinfire Chronicles soonish. Have to get further in the campaign. It's mostly a boss battler, but with a straightforward story and campaign mode and leveling up. The initiative bag system is my biggest complaint (mainly if you are playing with 3+ players). If you are playing with 1-2 I don't think it'll bother you much.
Deliverance I haven't played, but Jason just did a review. It sounds like it's a crunchier boss battler than Kinfire, but with less of a focus on narrative.
So you could think of it this way, if it helps:
Most story, least combat - Distant Skies
Some story, straightforward combat - Kinfire
Not much story, more tactical combat - Deliverance
Dang, this looks really good!
... and I bought it. About to play this weekend!
Thanks, Bairnt. I don't need to speed up your coverage! Good stuff!
Sweet!!! Thanks
Quite enjoyable to watch. Hopefully there will be some more of it.
P.S. your playthrough is as closest I''ll ever get to this overpriced exaggerated tag price game.
Thank you glad you enjoyed it. I will be continuing the adventure over on my channel meet me at the table to stay tuned
You sound salty, did you not back this in time?
having to pay extra for some narration is crazyyyy
They could also have no recorded narration at all, like most story games, so I’m not sure I agree 😅