Kinfire Delve Vainglory’s Grotto
Do you like small card games?
Kinfire Delve Vainglory’s Grotto is a cooperative card game in which we will want to descend to the bottom of the well to defeat its final boss. It may not be the girl from Ring, but it can also draw us in quite well.
The gameplay in Kinfire Delve is divided into two stages. In stage 1, you will face the minions of your arch-enemy. You will also encounter various traps and obstacles. When we manage to reach the bottom of the well, we will begin the fight with the main antagonist. His resistance and special mechanics will hinder us from winning.
Why Kinfire Delve was love at first descent:
First of all, I really liked the card combo system. When taking on a challenge, we can play cards, and most importantly, other players can help us do so. This allows us to trigger various combos and take advantage of our heroes’ abilities. It works perfectly in a cooperative setting, and we all know how much I love mutual assistance in games.
As for the combat itself, it’s cool that it combines cards with dice. When we play cards, we know how much damage we will deal, and thanks to the dice, we can add something extra to our attempt. The only question is, will we succeed? It’s great to tempt fate a little. Because there are conversations like, “don’t play that card because we’re only 1 away from success,” and then it turns out how it turns out :P. The satisfaction of saying “I told you so” to someone is enormous.
Another cool trick is that we don’t replenish our hand after playing cards. To do so, we have to tire ourselves out, which leads to drawing an exhaustion card. Therefore, when playing our cards, we have to assess whether it’s worth using up everything or whether we can count on our fellow players or our luck with the dice.
In this small set, we have two unique characters to choose from. They are quite different, and each of them combos a little differently.
Asha is a rogue, my favorite class in RPGs.
Khor is like Minsk, except instead of a hamster, he has a flying rabbit on his shoulder.
There is only one boss, but he comes in three different forms. Each variant presents a different level of challenge and has a different ability that will make our lives miserable. Maybe it’s not a complete 180-degree turnaround, but at least it adds a little to the replayability.
Vainglory greedily steals cards from the well, thereby strengthening her powers. She’s not a particularly powerful boss, but we have to be careful not to supply her with too many goods for the market.
Another plus is that this title works great solo. Because then we play one character, and it can combo nicely with itself. However, I prefer to play with my friends, because then we have a little more excitement and there is more decision-making on how to play our cards.
Graphically, the game looks great. The illustrations capture the atmosphere of a Critical Role-style cartoon fantasy, and our heroes’ cards even sparkle. It’s lovely.
Preparing to play is very quick, and so is playing. An hour at most, and if we lose, even faster.
I saved the most important advantage of this little Kinfire for last. It can be combined with other boxes in the series. We can swap bosses and choose different heroes, which makes the game life longer. If we have two sets, we can even play with four people. Just like Aeons End, the more boxes on the shelf, the better.
Summary
Kinfire Delve Vainglory’s Grotto turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It is an exciting journey in which we descend into a well together to drive out its main occupant. We play cards together and support each other as we complete various challenges. The cards combine nicely with each other, and the dice test our luck and that of our friends.
In addition, the game has beautiful graphics and the components themselves are of the highest quality. The only downside I can see so far is that you have to get everything you need to mix characters and bosses in order to extend the life of the game. Because I don’t know about you, but when I like something, my collecting instincts go into overdrive.
Final verdict: Kinfire Delve Vainglory’s Grotto joins my list of games that are perfect for traveling and short board game vacations. It’s definitely Fire !!
Pros
- Light card combos
- Mutual cooperation
- Ability to combine boxes
- Tempting luck with challenges
- Beautiful graphics
- Shiny cards
- Fun to play solo
- Quick setup and gameplay
Cons
- You have to buy more boxes
- The cards will fit in sleeves if I throw out the insert
[Game provided by Portal Games]
