Feeling in the mood for a cosy, lightweight, fantasy worker-placement experience? Flamecraft might just spark your interest! Polish those scales and check your fire alarms, this game is coming in hot!

1-5 Players 60 mins Age 10+

Designer: Manny Vega

Artist: Sandara Tang

Publishers: Cardboard Alchemy & Lucky Duck Games

A New Leaf

Flamecraft explores multiple high fantasy concepts like dragons, enchantments and rewarding retail interactions. This adorable worker placement game has players taking on the role of a Flamekeeper, a person capable of communicating with these scaly little critters and placing them where they can best practice their Flamecraft, the ability to cast enchantments on shops to increase their productivity.

Fresh Baked Bread

Players each have a dragon meeple, or minis if you have the deluxe version, which they place in one of the various shops around the quaint, colourful village depicted on the beautifully illustrated neoprene mat. Each shop provides a specific resource (good) that can be used to cast enchantments once the player has collected all the necessary ingredients from around town. Players may also place artisan dragons from cards in their hand into the shops they visit which provides even more and varied resources on future visits. Finally, players may then “fire up” one of the dragons assigned to that shop to activate its special power, this could range from gaining extra resources or reputation points to drawing new artisan dragon cards.

Once players have gathered the required goods, they can then enchant a shop by assigning their dragon and casting an enchantment that matches the shop type. Enchantments can have multiple effects, including empowering a shop, rewarding he player with reputation points or occasionally coins, which can be used as wild resources and count as additional end game points. The final step of the enchantment process is firing up all the dragons present at the shop rather than just one, allowing for a chain of rewards that can feel particularly satisfying.

Whenever a shop has reached its maximum three artisan residents, the player who placed the final dragon at that shop then draws a new shop from the deck and places it in one of the empty lots around the town. Dragon (artisan) spaces in shops provide one-off rewards and each shop will have its own variation. There are also specialty shops which, in addition to the standard range of rewards, have individual powers that can be used when visited.

Players start the game with one fancy dragon and other may be acquired during the game. These are secret objectives that provide additional reputation points if their in-game or end-game requirements are met. Play continues until there are no enchantments, or artisan dragons left to draw, at which point all players get one final turn before tallying up their reputation scores.

The Tender Meat

The game play loop itself is simple, effective and rewarding. Every turn players will get something, whether it’s in the form of goods from a shop, reputation points or additional dragons. Seldom did I feel like I had a wasted turn as I could always find some way to leverage my position. On its surface, Flamecraft appears a simple worker placement and resource gathering game, its cutesy art style courtesy of the immensely talented Sandara Tang, provides a cosy, comforting sense of ease, like sitting down with your favourite Studio Ghibli movie, to which the art has been compared.

What I love most about Flamecraft is its welcoming vibe, its a lighter game than most and this is to its credit as there are times when my son and I feel like sitting back and playing something with a little less thinking and a little more relaxing. Flamecraft fills that space perfectly. We know going in that we won’t be at the table longer than an hour, the rules are few and easy to remember and we get to spend a little time playing a beautifully produced game that immerses us in a safe, whimsical storybook world for a time, and who these days could have a problem with that? If you’re looking for a deep strategy game or a heavy euro, then this isn’t it nor is it trying to be. Flamecraft knows what is does and does it well.

My gaming group have played all manner of games, though mostly mid-heavier games, and they thoroughly enjoyed their time with Flamecraft, so much so, that its one of the few games that have seen repeated play throughs for us. The game’s accessibility absolutely played a role during those weeks when we were all feeling drained from work, Flamecraft hit the spot!

Potions Brewed

That having been said, there are definitely times when I’d love to spend more time in the world of Flamecraft and face some heavier decision making; I just want more of what the game does well, but taken to the next level. In that regard, Flamecraft falls short. If there were ever a game that could benefit from a standard and advanced variant, this would be it. Should Lucky Duck release an advanced expansion pack tomorrow that enhanced the game play and made for a more complex experience, I’d throw them my money! Alas, there isn’t a whisper that I’ve yet heard of regarding any expansion on the horizon, if any of you good readers out there have heard different, please do let me know.

An Exquisite Diamond

As you can already tell, I think the artwork in Flamecraft is just gorgeous! Sandra Tang has a wealth of fantasy art in various styles (I urge you to check out her work here!) and Flamecraft appears to be a departure from many of them. She successfully created, what I would describe, as an iconic look for the dragons in Flamecraft. moving forward, if I were ever to see one drawn somewhere, I would immediately associate it with the game.

The components in the retail and deluxe edition are both high quality, for instance, the play mat is found in both editions of the game. Other differences may have some players seeking out the deluxe version of the component upgrades if that’s their bag. For instance the retail version has punchboard tokens and coins and wooden meeples, whereas the deluxe comes with wooden resources metal coins and plastic minis for the dragons unique to each player colour. None of this affects the gameplay and is strictly a matter of personal preference.

Strong As Forged Iron

Flamecraft is a joy to play. It’s a game that feels genuinely fun and uncomplicated and a great option for those times when you feel like playing something light and not having to think too much. There are layers of strategy and someone who is familiar with the game will have an advantage. The game features great solo play with an intuitive system that matches with the game’s approachability. While I feel Flamecraft is aching for an expansion, the game as it stands is solid, smooth and a blast to play with your kids or with your gaming group. For those seeking medium to high complexity fare, Flamecraft might be a miss for you, but if you have a space in your collection for something family-friendly, light-medium weight and cute as hell, then look no further! Flame on!

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Flamecraft. If you’ve played it, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Or let me know of any other games you think hit a similar light-medium spot for your group? Feel free to join our Above Board Facebook group to keep apprised of upcoming content and to be a part of our awesome community of gamers.

Until next time, keep safe and take care of those dragons, Flamekeepers!

Flamecraft Review