- Flamecraft
- Designer: Manny Vega
- Artist: Sandra Tang
- Publisher: Cardboard Alchemy
- Players: 1-5 Players
- Playtime: 60 Minutes
- Ages: 10+
Flamecraft was introduced to us from friends while on a trip to Boston. I quickly fell in love with the concept and adorable art! There are these wonderful little artisan dragons that all have specialities, like baking bread or making potions. Honestly, how can you beat that? It took a few rounds to get the hang of but now it is one of our most played games and we are constantly bringing new players to the world of Flamecraft!
What’s In the Box?
- 6 Player Tokens (aka cute lil dragons)
- 6 Reputation Markers (hearts)
- 1 Town Mat
- 8 Player Aid Cards
- 28 Shop Cards
- 6 Starter Shop Cards
- 36 Artisan Dragons
- 6 Starter Dragons
- 36 Fancy Dragons
- 36 Enchantment Cards
- 7 Companion Cards
- 124 Goods Tokens
- 24 Coin Tokens
Setup
While Flamecraft does have a lot of components to it, the Town Mat makes it easy to set up. You will need a decent amount of space for this one, as she’s beefy! Roll out the Town Mat in the center of the play area. Place the 6 Starter Shop Cards on any 6 spaces at the end of the Town Mat. Make sure to place the cards face up. You will then place the 6 Starter Dragons in the Starter Shop with the matching icons, bread to bread, meat to meat, etc. Place the Goods Tokens in two piles on each end of the map so players can reach them, and place the Coin Tokens on the Town Map over the icon of a fountain.
To create the Shop Deck, first divide the Shop Cards with matching icons to create 6 face down piles. Then use the remaining Shop Cards to create a 7th pile. Take 1 card off of the top of each Shop Card pile with an icon and 4 from the 7th pile. This will create a stack of 10 Shop Cards to be used. Shuffle them together and put them to the side of the Town Map.
You will then set up the Artisan Dragon Cards. If you are playing with 2 players, remove 12 Artisan Dragon Cards (2 of each goods type. If you are playing with 3 players, remove 6 Artisan Dragon Cards (1 of each goods type). All Fancy Dragon Cards will be shuffled together and placed next to the Fountain on the Town Mat.
The next step is to set up Enchantments. There is a Purple Enchantment Deck and a Golden Enchantment Deck. The Purple Enchantment Deck is recommended for your first play through. Shuffle one of the Enchantment Decks and place it on the marked space inside the Reputation Track.
Finally it is time for player set up. Make sure each player has a dragon Player Token, a matching Reputation Marker, and a Player Aid. Return all unused components and cards to the box. Randomly select one of the Reputation Markers. This will be the first player. Play will continue clockwise. Deal each player 3 Artisan Dragons and 2 Fancy Dragons. Players will choose to keep one Fancy Dragon. The remaining Fancy Dragon Card goes to the bottom Fancy Dragon pile. If playing with 4+ players, the 4th and 5th player take 1 goods token to start. You are now ready to play a 2 to 5 player game of Flamecraft!
Objective
The objective of Flamecraft is to earn the most Reputation points. To do this, you will go around the Town Mat to collect Artisan Dragons, Fancy Dragons, and cast Enchantments. Play continues until either the Artisan Deck or Enchantment Deck runs out. This triggers the end of the game.
Gameplay
A player’s turn takes place in two parts. First, they must visit a shop. Second, they can choose to either Gather or Enchant. At the end of a player’s turn they must check for any conditions to either expand the town, discard their Goods and Dragons down to their limit, and/or refresh the face Enchantments or Artisan Dragons.
A player starts their turn by choose which shop to visit. It must be a different shop than the last one you visited. If there are no other player dragons on the Shop Card you may visit it for free. If there are 1 or more player dragons on the Shop Card you must give each visiting player one of the Goods from your stash. After going to the shop, a player chooses to Gather or Enchant.
If a player chooses to gather, they get one Good for each of the icons present. After collecting their Goods they may Place A Dragon in the shop. In order to Place A Dragon, the Dragon’s icon must match one of the gray icons showing at the bottom of the shop card. The player can then collect any rewards listed on the Dragon Card they placed. Rewards can be earning Reputation, drawing a Fancy Dragon, drawing an Artisan Dragon or gaining Coins. If a player places the last Dragon in a shop, they must then draw a new Shop Card at the end of their turn and place it in any open slot on the Town Map. If a player chose to Place A Dragon, they may also Fire the Dragon in the shop and use its ability. Finally, some Shop Cards also have an ability. If a player chose to Gather, this is the last step of their turn.
If a player chooses to Enchant, they choose an Enchantment from the face row that matches the shop’s icon. They will pay all of the good required from their stash, put the enchantment behind the shop and gain any rewards listed. The player then has the option of Firing all Dragons at the shop, and gaining the rewards from any of their abilities.
At the end of the player’s turn they complete 3 steps if needed. First, they expand the town by adding one Shop Card to an empty shop space on the Town Map, if they filled up a shop with its final Dragon. Second, they must look at the number of their various Cards and Goods. Players may not have more than 6 Artisan Dragons in their hand, and cannot have more than 7 of any type of Good. Finally, if a player has picked up any Artisan Dragons from the Park or used any Enchantments, they must refresh to 5 face up cards.
Flamecraft gameplay continues until either the Artisan Dragon Deck or the Enchantment Deck has run out. Each player will get 1 final turn. At this time, players will resolve any Fancy Dragon abilities they have to earn their final reputation. Note: All Coins must be returned before counting up Fancy Dragon scores. The player with the highest score wins. If there is a tie, the player with the most Artisan Dragons wins. And if they remain tied, the player with the most leftover Goods wins. If there is still a tie, players share the victory!
Final Thoughts
I am bit biased when it comes to Flamecraft, as I believe it is the most played game in our home. We have taken it on many vacations and introduced about a dozen other people to the game, who have all enjoyed it. It has just enough crunch to keep heavy players involved and is sweet enough to pull in casual gamers. The Rule Book is well laid out, which aids in ease of play. Even though there are a lot of components to Flamecraft, every part of the game feels necessary, without any extra bulk. If you are looking for a good time with a variety of types of players, Flamecraft is going to deliver. I am happy to have it as part of my collection and I would recommend it to almost anyone ages 10 and up!
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