Arcane Wonders | Furnace | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 2-4 Players | 30-60 Minutes Playing Time Multicolor,AWGAW08FN

Product Information

I would be lying if I failed to admit the superficial fact that my interest in Furnace had everything to do with its box. Up to eight cards (based on player count) are drawn from a deck that is – perhaps a bit like Res Arcana’s – a bit too small. A wealthy looking man complete with serious beard and hat stares away from us resolutely, and instead of a torso, his neckline gives way to a number of factories – the heart of which glows red – the furnace. Whenever you upgrade a card and flip it over, the artwork shows the factory, oil pump, or whatever, becoming greater than what it was. Once everyone has collected their compensation and the cards that they won in the Auction phase, players will then move into the Production phase.

Winning a new company card is obviously the best outcome, but earning resources times the number on your bidding token is still pretty sweet. The new Startup cards (the cards that provide opening resources and effects) and Capitalist cards (special powers for each player) are also easy but unique, just as good as the Company cards. It knows what it wants, innovates as much as it needs to, and creates a distilled, engaging gaming experience.Players build a stack of these clear plastic cards, then peer down into them and try to judge how far down certain obstacles and treasures are.

Each card has one or more icons along the top, some very serious industrial artwork in the middle, and then an operation action at the bottom. Engine builders are popular for this reason, but often the mechanism has a much more complex rule structure or mixed in with other mechanisms. At the start, each player gets a capitalist card with a special power and a unique starting business. There may be another card that would compensate you with two Iron if you lost the bid for it, and another that would allow you to convert Iron to Oil.Nor can they ever place a disc onto a card with a number that is the same value as one of the discs already placed onto that card. Bearing the weight of a theme that features heavy industries extracting coal, iron and oil from the Earth during the early 19th Century, it may be a surprise to some that Furnace is a relatively lightweight teach, with simple rules and mechanics giving away to a feverish optimisation puzzle. I say often and not always because it’s also entirely possible to place that lowly one anticipating a loss, only to then accidentally win the Auction and be stuck with a less-than-desirable bottom effect and no compensation. Each has two effects: one that you can use after purchase and a second that you can also activate when it’s upgraded. Furnace is an engine building game from the same designer that created one of my favorites, Smartphone Inc.

Each player also starts with a random capitalist (or with no capitalist at all, if you are playing the easy, introductory version). The only player interaction in the game is the one during the auctions; you see what the others do, and you react accordingly. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to acquire yet in the US, but let’s find out if it’s worth trying to track down. As the game goes on, your ultimate goal is to create a chain of cards that lets you maximize your point-scoring.The discs are numbered one to four, and the highest disc on the card at the end of the Auction round wins that card. I would never bother playing Furnace with two players or by myself; there are far better games to play with two players or solo, even though I’m sure other Furnace fans might consider these the most important parts of the expansion. In any given round, there will be a card—maybe two—with the particular effect that best suits a given player’s strategy on the bottom. These cards either give you resources or allow you to convert resources into different types, like coal into oil. That said, it’s also a very relatable theme and it does fit with the production chain mechanism that is already tough to think through without having to also consider a more abstract concept.

The art is great across all the components, echoing the technical illustrations of the era in which it is set. But really, these extra cards are just icing on the cake; this is an absolutely excellent expansion for an excellent game. Enjoy the immersive atmosphere of Art Deco, Constructivism, and Bauhaus with stunning industrial building and structure designs. There are only two rules about this: a player can only put one of his discs on a company, not more, while discs of the same value cannot be put on the same company.Should you lose the bid for these tokens, the “Business School” card under the tokens provides compensation, but they each provide two options and players can mix and match these.