What do you do when the entirety of the world goes dark? Do you rise up to the darkness or fall in fear?
This is the core story premise for Kinfire Chronicles: Night’s Fall, a cooperative fantasy board game for 1-4 players published by Incredible Dream Studios. Players are Seekers, uniquely trained characters who have sworn themselves to protect the elven city of Din’lux and help rebuild the world beyond. What makes them stand out especially are their Kinfire lanterns, artifacts that can push back against the cataclysmic Starless Nights, and the approaching doom that only special towers hold back with the light. (EN: This review is a long time coming as Kinfire Chronicles: Night’s Fall made our “Most Anticipated” list for Gen Con 2022)
This game is a massive box containing 21 adventures, six Seekers, and many deckbuilding options for players. But how does it hold up?
What’s In The Box?
The game is a foreboding construct, as it is a significantly heavy box with multiple decks and boxes designating a series of events, characters, character changes and more. Thankfully, the game tries to ease you in chapter by chapter by presenting the contents of each “session” or chapter in a singular box that presents. For example, the first box contains guidelines for how to run combat, the necessary parts for the monster you fight, and the ‘chits’ required to play.
Each chapter is accompanied by sections of the map book and content book, where players must decide how they handle various matters. As players work through the game, they’ll be presented with a variety of scenarios, choices and monstrosities to face off with.
The packaging and tokens look delightful, and I could stare at the NPC and Seeker art all day, as it is exceptionally well done. Every piece of the game feels well-made, and the game’s design all fits in a single box despite having more than a hundred sections.The game weighs a lot, mind you. I picked it up at a convention, and lugging it more than a mile to my Airbnb was not a fun experience. But that weight is not wasted.
How to Play
The gameplay is in three phases: adventuring, battle, and exploration. Players will be encouraged to engage with the world in preset ways that can help tell a story; albeit without a need for a GM (although having a player who understands the game may benefit everyone.) They’ll also have exploration options, such as tools and options for dealing with problems. Finally, combat is the most demanding option in the game.
All of these options will depend on a player’s deck, which is organized into three colors: red, green, and blue. Each Seeker starts with different card color numbers, reflecting their skill levels in those sections. Exploration will often ask a player to draw a certain number of cards in hopes that they will have an appropriate number of cards to perform the task. For example, an attempt to wade across the river may require them to draw a single blue card out of three draws.
Combat is similar. Players draw a hand and then are asked to draw ‘chits’ from a bag of tokens. If they draw a token with a Seeker’s face on it, they’ll get to play their turn and use any relevant cards. If they draw a chit with a number, that will likely refer to an enemy’s ability and cause the enemy to attack. For example, it might cause a dragon to use its claws, or to whip its tail at the closest player. These chits primarily control the enemies and require little GMing to operate. Some chits are basically ‘wild cards’ and let players choose who will go, and one that resets the bag.
As the campaign goes on, players will experience different combat encounters, exploration opportunities, and a variety of NPCs as they help establish a small town in the first few chapters. Each chapter is supposed to last between 60-90 minutes.
What should be noted is how failure isn’t the end. If all players fail the objective, it’s not the end of the game. It may mean decreased incentives or a penalty for a future experience. There are eventually options for adding cards and expanding a character’s skills through in-game currency and story-earned upgrades.
Experience Playing
I only had time to play through the first four or five chapters with one other player. The box was sometimes enormous and overwhelming, but we eventually figured it out. Each chapter is self-contained and easy to manage and set up, particularly if you have a history with games like Gloomhaven.
The deckbuilding did become a bit overwhelming, and it took time to figure out how each Seeker worked. For example, I picked the dwarven sorcerer, who specializes in using status effects and other things to limit your opponents and help different players damage them considerably. My friend chose the warforged character, who was more designed for guarding.
The Seekers’ play style isn’t always clear and may require some review before players choose. That said, there is a lot of flexibility and options to build around for those who enjoy deckbuilding mechanics, and I eventually caught on by the third chapter about how to play the game best.
Each chapter has a guide on how to play within them, which meant that we as players, were not overwhelmed with a tome-sized text describing every aspect of gameplay before we started. Instead, we learned as we went and likely made more than a few mistakes. Some elements felt like handholding, but I can also see how a character could grow in strength over time.
The game is intentionally built so you can run everything until the end, and there is lots of room in each character’s box for expansion. There are also reroll options, tools for keeping up and more. I am intrigued by where the game is taking itself story-wise and what the villain will be (without any spoilers).
If there is one suggestion, I would like either a cheat sheet or an index somewhere so players can look up rules as they progress without flipping through each booklet to get an answer.
I can see how the game would lose some replay value, as the story doesn’t offer much variation when it comes to the conclusions. Some players may also not enjoy the lack of heavy penalties for failure. But I found the straightforward nature refreshing.
Conclusion
Kinfire Chronicles: Night’s Fall is a large and overwhelming game at first glance, but it offers a complete and entertaining experience for players looking for a fantasy-oriented experience. While the rules are not self-evident, the game does its very best to handhold players through gameplay and to help them learn the mechanics as they go. It’s an exciting game that I hope will keep bringing you back for each chapter.
You can grab a copy of Kinfire Chronicles: Night’s Fall from the Kinfire Chronicles website or your FLGS at an MSRP of $149.99.
If you’d like to learn more about the Kinfire universe, you can check out our reviews of the Kinfire Delve series of two-player games: Callous’ Lab, Vainglory’s Grotto, and Scorn’s Stockade.
Images and Review Copy via Incredible Dream Studios
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