Flamecraft – DON’T BE FOOLED! – Gameplay and Review
Flamecraft is a beautiful board game and I had made up my mind to buy it the moment I saw it. Now I appreciate great artwork in a game, but my wife loves dragons and is basically willing to play any game if it is “cute” enough. So I went for the deluxe version. I’ve had several chances to play it with my family and in this video I’ll let you know what you can expect and whether or not the investment is worth it.
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The Perfect Boardgame Attribute Scores
Theme: 3
Mechanics: 2
Components: 9
Strategy: 4
Complexity: 4
Luck: Medium
Interaction: Low
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 – Introduction
0:32 – Theme Score
4:30 – Mechanics
4:49 – How to play Flamecraft
5:52 – Gather Action
8:36 – Enchant Action
9:33 – Mechanics Score: How does Flamecraft play?
12:50 – Flamecraft Board Game Components
15:02 – What is the difference between the deluxe and standard version
16:35 – Strategy Score
17:22 – Complexity Score
17:40 – Conclusion
I mostly agree with everything said here. I've only played it once with 5 people and it felt long with definite information overload by the end.
I appreciate a well proofed review. Thanks
Biggest issue i had on my first playthrough was how messy the game was. Stacking cards onto cards made the game feel like a mess, and found any moment moved the cards move and need to be readjusted.
This is just common sense? What moron is fooled? this is a light weight euro game…. Most of your "cons" are actually pros. You aren't reviewing this with respect to the actual audience at all. Which is supposed to be your job as a reviewer. No one cares about your personal opinion, we want to know if we will like it. So tell us who that audience is and how well it works for THEM. Not you. You are irrelevant.
Thank you for the honest review!! Just subscribed 🙂 We need more objective reviewers like you!
Helpful tip: there are more than 6 dragon effects. The basic 6 plus the fancy dragons have several different effects as well. Overall not a bad review of the game though you out a few things. The game comes with lots of add ons to make it more "interesting ". It has 2 different enchantment decks so you dont have to bore of the 1 and it has additional companions to add to the game if you want more going on. I really like how you organize your reviews though. Definitely will have to check out some others from you!
Just looking at the game from afar, it seems to be more of a game for kids in which adults can join. So if I was to take advice from someone regarding this game, it'd be a kid and not a grown-up
In my mind flamecraft meant that the dragons use their flame ability to help craft items in the different shops.
I am looking for ideas on how to improve the gameplay, rules to make the game more interesting, inventions by players? I was very excited my first time I played it, and then bored right the second time.Does anyone have tips? I have already heard the race to X amount of points as a way to speed up the game when the end starts to drag and the play becomes to repetitive.
Think this review is hitting that “hey let’s critique chunky cheese as a Michelin starred restaurant” type of vibes solely based off the games hype and overhype due to art style. It’s as if you are being counter culture solely for the purpose of going against the grain. It would probably be more healthy if you criticize games based off of the targeted audience for said game.
I understand the review but also very on purpose with the title. I’m so thankful I didn’t listen to you and ordered, the game is great, and I don’t agree with any of your “negative” views cause that didn’t happen, it’s not perfect but it’s really good, also there is complexity by adding the new shops. I think people confuse “honesty” with just negative bashing to get views, but I’ll be looking forward to see if your other reviews are not like this.
You have karuba on your shelf. There is no player interaction, the game plays the same everytime (make roads) and yet it is a wonderful family game. Flamecraft is a family game to play with kids. There is nothing especially deep and it is designed like this. So I don't understand why you don't see it like it is. Also since you don't like it I really don't understand why you are suggesting the deluxe version that is way too expensive. That been said, you are of course untitled of your opinion but as a boardgamer I think you come off way too harsh and negative in this particular case.
Finally SOMEONE sees what I see!! This game only shines because of it's looks. Not worth what the secondhand market is offering.
Thank you for the honest review! I played Flamecraft twice and did not enjoy it either time. I didn't even want to keep it as a gateway, beginner-friendly game. I agree with your review and I honestly don't get the hype for Flamecraft. And, I am sorry many of these comments are dismissive of your opinion.
Seeing people say this must be an honest review because it's critical of the game that they haven't played, as if the game can't possibly be actually good. Makes me wonder about an audience like that.
Just got the game a while ago and I watched this before the purchase. After a few runs I think it is honestly a fun game to play so I gotta agree with some people comments here that this video seems to be a little too harsh. I've played with my brother (who is 16 btw) and some of my friends, they all love the game for its theme and the gameplay is perfect for 2-3 players. Maybe 4+ players can be a little too much I guess? To enjoy this game to its fullest I think the players you are playing with have to be somewhat competitive or know how to min-max, my guess for your dissatisfaction with the game came from playing with your family while your daughter being 6 can be… disengaging to both you and her.Mechanic wise I agree the game could have done something better with interactions between players rather than you do your things I do mine, but I think some of the shop mechanic do offer interesting choices sometimes and people will try making some weird interactions with it (purple dragons are nuts when it comes to activating fancy dragons). If this game has an expansion that allow you to interact more with others I think this might come close to Everdell, but I doubt it will ever happen when they want a more family-oriented.One thing I heavily disagree with this video is your theme point as you compared Flamecraft to Tea Dragon Society. I own both and not gonna lie here I think Tea Dragon Society is mediocre. The artstyle is subjective but I think it's subpar to Flamecraft's, its card description might fit the card but that's it, the game almost feel like it was created from the names alone, not the other way around with clunky mechanics, unfitting designs and weird choices for card actions and artworks (Young love, Sunset, etc featuring all humans and no sign of dragons). Back to Flamecraft, while the artisan dragons effects don't fit well with the artworks, the fancy dragons, companions and additional shops however do a phenomenal job on making effects that are both well-balanced and fit to the names/artworks or at least they are waaaay better than Tea Dragon Society.Overall, you did well in spotting the weak points of this game but I still personally think it's a bit too harsh, especially on theme and strategy parts while your opponents (or players you played with if you prefer) are not that engaged enough to play the game to begin with. But harshness is honesty after all, I respect your opinions.
Don't you think your opinion is a little too harsh for a family game? in European games the theme is almost always a pretext but that doesn't make them any less fun or interesting. I disagree with your opinion on everdell, for example, with regards to the theme. What's a game where you can feel the thematic, just as i can understand what you mean?as far as interaction is concerned, that is not necessarily for fun or entertainment. on your library I see titles that don't have a very high interaction but are still fun and strategic (gizmos, for example).
Awesome! Prolly the the very first boardgame youtuber to give an honest review criticizing a game.
you have some good points but some I think you gave too much negative, I watched many videos of people playing Flamecraft and you can see the players strategize on where to go next, players think of what to do to out play each other.you said your daughter was bored when she was playing, if we were look at the game it says it is suitable for ages 10+ up. the age of 6 kids, cant strategize yet, that's why she went to play Lego.anyways.. good video, you explain your points well. just too much negative points. the title is also too negative, the game seems fun. Il get a copy of my own.
A little tough on the game… I felt plenty of magic while playing, but I'm not critical if it's engaging, and every game needs a hard review. If you want to keep the game moving, disallow everyone to take more than a few seconds to make decisions. Keeps people attentive and sharp, and encourages being competitive. I hope you get more games out of it. Id be willing to buy your copy:)
Are you selling the deluxe edition 👀 lol!! Ugh, I still wish I backed this!
The biggest point against the deluxe version is the price point… at Essen SPIEL the standard version was at 35€ and the deluxe at 95! Just for some miniatures, coins and wooden pieces. I would never recommend buying the deluxe version except on a drastically reduced price point
Even the most engaging games can’t keep younger kids at the table for more than 10-15 minutes. Ours are constantly going back and forth to take their turns
I think you have valid points but I feel your opinion is not completely objective, I´d ask what do you think about everdell, because the animals are cute and all but you can have the same game with any other theme, actually if you don´t place the tree the game per se it´s not very thematic, it could be anything besides animals, also the position of the resources doesn´t matter there ( I don´t think it matters in almost any game), so good points but I had to stop watching the video because I felt it was not an honest opinion but it felt biased….
I think you made a harsh review.Like trying to have a dune imperium interaction game on a simple family game.I really disagree about the low player interaction. Everything is in constant movement, the dragons effect in town. The final score dragons. The constant give another players resources to win points. Etc.
thank you for your honest review. much appreciated. too late though, already preordered the game. hopefully my family will have a better reaction.
Did you have an opinion of Creature Comforts? We thought the game play was really fun on that one and combined with a cute quality production. But also suffers from being too long at 4. We do simultaneous play at 2 and it works really well. Surprised so many people (adults!) are extolling the fun gameplay of Flamecraft. Not many saying the gameplay is okay but elevated by how cute and nice the production is. That said, I’ve been so hesitant because I feared there was no there there despite the extolling coming in from those that got the game and had their first several plays. So I just went conservative and got the cheap retail version. Looks nice. If it’s boring, I also think I can sell that UNLESS they overprinted it and everyone discounts it incredibly to sub-$20.
18:04 Ah, that is so cool! I will have to check out that website! 😊
I hope you don’t get flamed by the Flamecraft fans! 😂
I know my daughter will love the theme and components, which is why I backed it. That’s unfortunate the rest of the game scores so low. 😮
Kinda feel like you only scraped the theme of the game and overlooked that yes each type of dragon has the same ability. At 3:14 as you say that you can see both are the same effect on both meat dragons except for name and art. As for the thematic reason of that effect specifically, tasty magic meat attracts more dragons to the town. You're right in pointing out the cards don't specifically give that to you, but it's also not a negative to let players use their imagination to fill in the intended gaps.
Also it's interesting you give it a middling score for theme and then immediately discard the town matt in the next section without addressing how it adds to the theme while providing reputation tracking. Lasty your take on the title is pretty flimsy. The game is sold as a game about building a town with artisan dragons that do the crafting. I don't blame your kid from being disinterested when you think so little of the thematics and play in such a technical manner. Edit to add, 14:14 you are contradicting yourself with 3:14
Thank you for the objective review.
Regarding the 36 dragons, wouldn't them sharing only 6 effects reduce that burden?
Tbf "town building with dragons" is still a more interesting twist than the all too common "medieval town building"
Thanks for showing! Your ideas are great! 😉