It is always exciting to receive a new board game especially when the theme fits an interest or hobby we already have. When I saw Kings Forge on the list of games Tabletop Tycoon has in their catalogue I had a feeling it was going to be a hit with my family. A little run down of the game before I get into what we thought of the game - This game is for two to four players ages 14+. Depending on the level of board games your children are used to this game will be just fine for children under the age of fourteen as well. It takes between 45-60 minutes to play, but as you get used to how the game is played & you are on a roll it will feel a lot shorter than that. It can be purchased for $50 on the Tabletop Tycoon website.
The goal of the game is of course to become the Master Forger & become favored by the King. Players will be working against each other to race to become the four to build four separate requested items to win favor with the king. It is a card & dice based game so how easy it is to build each item purely depends on the luck of the dice rolls and how well your ability is at working with what the cards are able to offer you. Prior to playing you are able to select one of their forge mascots to represent your smithy. I like using the Bat mascot shown below.
Each game will be slightly different as you'll only use a certain amount of cards each game. The game will consist of a number of rounds that will vary from game to game depending on how long it takes the first person to build four crafted items. Each round consists of three phases, the fist is basically a collection round where you'll score cards to help you with your goal of getting the correct number & color of dice need to build a item. The second phase is forging the items, this is done by making sure the number of dice & the dice color match what is on the items card. For example if a product shows three black dice + two blue dice that is what you'll need unused in your hand. If you have the correct combination of dice/color you will need to roll them & get an equal or higher number shown on each dice on the card. If you have a successful roll, you get to forge that item. Careful though, other players might have a chance to steal what you built. It doesn't happen often, but it has happened during our games. And finally the third phase is just cleaning up the dice putting them where they belong & reshuffling the cards to be placed back out.
Some of the cards & items picked up during the collection round can change the numbers of the dice you roll during the forging phase. Having those extra boosts can be quite helpful especially later on in the game, that way you won't need to entirely depending on the luck of the roll. Otherwise the game is pretty straight forward, you will just keep completing the three phases until someone is the first (at the end of a full round) to complete four builds. We have been enjoying playing this board game & look forward to playing it more. We like the mixture of it being a card game & dice game and I love the colors they selected for the dice themselves. The dice, game cards & the board itself are all aesthetically pleasing & fit the theme of the game perfectly. Setting up the game & putting everything away at the end goes quickly since there isn't anything complicated to set up.
Does this sound like a game you might be interested in playing?
If you want to find more great board games like Kings Forge head over to check out my Board Game Reviews section - While you are there you'll find a review for another fantastic Tabletop Tycoon game called Everdell.
Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Tabletop Tycoon for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.
