- Publisher : Lucky Duck Games
- Designer : Manny Vega
- Artist(s) : Sandara Tang
- Players : 1–5
- Playing time : 60 Min
- Weight BGG : 2.18
What's this?
In Flamecraft, 1 to 5 players take on the role of Keepers of the Flames, collecting items, placing dragons, and casting enchantments to upgrade the town’s shops.
Dragons are specialized (bread, meat, iron, crystal, plant and potion) and the Flame Keepers know which shops are best suited to each. Visit a shop to obtain items and the favor of one of the dragons present.
Collected items can be used to enchant a shop, gaining reputation and favor from all the dragons in the shop. If you are lucky enough to attract more extravagant dragons, you will have opportunities to gain even more reputation.
How do you play?
At the start of the turn, we move our player pawn to any shop in the city. In the presence of other players in the store, we must give them a commodity of our choice or a coin. Next we need to decide whether we collect from the shop or enchant the shop.
Collection in the store allows, in order, to:
Collect foodstuffs (from the store, dragon and enchantment cards).
Place a dragon card on a free space in the store corresponding to its symbol.
Set a dragon ablaze using its ability.
Use the power of the store.
If we enchant the store, we must choose an available enchantment, pay its cost in goods, and earn the rewards from the enchantment.
If you choose to enchant the store, you must select an available enchantment, pay its cost in goods and reap the rewards associated with the enchantment. Then, the enchantment card is slipped under the shop, which will now produce an additional commodity, and finally, we can set all the dragons in the shop on fire using all the abilities of the dragon cards.
Players take turns moving their pawn to different shops to collect enough foodstuffs to carry out enchantments and score victory points.
As a shop has all of its slots occupied by dragon cards, new shops with new abilities are added around the city. The game ends when the pile of dragon or enchantment cards is exhausted.
Is it good?
Flamecraft is a great family game with simple card and resource management mechanics. The material, including a neoprene mat and cards with magnificent illustrations, is of very good quality.
Finding the right timing to harvest enough resources and perform enchantments before our opponents adds a strategic dimension to the game. The gaming experience is fluid, tense and pleasant.
Although I didn’t fall in love with it due to a certain repetitiveness in the mechanics, which boil down to the collection of resources for enchantments, the game will certainly please a wide audience. Experienced players will also find something to have a good time.
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Review Flamecraft
Positives
- Illustrations
- Quick games
- Accessibility
Negatives
- Lack of depth
- Not enough variety in the powers of the dragon cards
- Repetitive
