Kinfire Council Components Overview and Impressions
Depending on when you read this article, you might have already read about how much we loved the components in Kinfire Chronicles: Night’s Fall. If you haven’t, check that article out as well. One thing I can say about Incredible Dream Studios is that no matter what game they release – whether it’s one of the outstanding Kinfire titles, or something less flashy like A Gentle Rain – the components are going to be amazing, whether you get their Upgrade Kits or not. Incredible Dream sent over Kinfire Council, an expansion, and the Upgrade Kit for us to check out, so let’s see if it matches the quality we have come to expect.
One thing I glossed over in our components article for Kinfire Chronicles was how impressive the boxes are for Incredible Dream games. The artwork on all the boxes – the Upgrade Kit included – is phenomenal, and before I even took off any shrink wrap, I knew something special was inside.
Kinfire Council uses a ton of cardboard, but like with other games from this publisher, the cardboard is nice and sturdy, punches out really well, and feels good to handle when playing games. Again, I’m happy to report that where pulling items from a bag is required, plastic chips are used instead of cardboard. It seems like such an obvious thing to do, yet I know a ton of games that don’t do this; I’m looking at you, Quacks! The workers you’ll be using are plastic chits as well, and your characters are double sided (front and back) acrylic. The art is amazing too!
Sorting out all the cardboard you’ll punch – resources, city tiles, upgrades, etc. – will take a bit of time, but I’m happy to report that Incredible Dream has included a handy little storage chart inside the box so you know where everything is supposed to go.
I did have to split up some components a few times, but overall everything has a place, and setting up Kinfire Council is a breeze because of it. The dual layer city boards house all the city locations, numbered, and unless you are swapping out tiles and replacing them with different city tiles from the expansion, everything goes away neatly with the city boards often acting as “lids” for the component trays beneath. This also becomes useful when you play the game as each of the three city districts are at different heights at the table, using storage trays to create those levels.
It’s a great storage solution, and useful for the game as well.
There are a lot of components here, including a good number of cards. Like all games in the Kinfire series, the card quality is outstanding, and while I like to use the included sleeves in Kinfire Chronicles because of all the shuffling, I don’t feel the need to use sleeves in Kinfire Council. These cards are going to hold up really well, even after a couple dozen plays. The great card quality extends to the lighthouse site sheets as well, all which look great, feel great, and will quite obviously hold up well, especially since there isn’t a whole lot of shuffling that will happen.
Everything available in the base game of Kinfire Council is outstanding, and you’ll be very content to own this version of the game. If you want a bit of bling though…
Upgrade Kit
Ok, here we are again – another Kinfire title, another Upgrade Kit to talk about. While I said the Upgrade Kit for Kinfire Chronicles was a must own for me, I don’t quite feel that way about this. Let’s be fair, I love wooden pieces, and the upgrade kit comes with a ton of those, from the coins to the resources. And they are huge as well, potentially too big for some people.
The reason why I wouldn’t be as eager to pick up this Upgrade Kit has nothing to do with the quality of the base game. In fact, it’s because the base game components are so good that I’d hold off a second before getting this. For sure, if Kinfire Council becomes one of your top games of 2025, or you expect it to be, grab that Upgrade Kit and show of your game! But if you simply just want to experience the game, Incredible Dream has produced an OUTSTANDING production just in the base game.
That being said, neoprene player mats are a really nice upgrade…I’m such a sucker for Neoprene mats, despite having no solution on how to store them!
Once again, this is an excellent production from Incredible Dream Studios. And while I don’t think this will get tabled for review until after GenCon 2025, I’m pretty excited to get home from the convention and get this to the table!
Article By Adam Roffel
