Furnace (2021)

The reviewers consider 'Furnace' to be a highly enjoyable board game that offers a great tactile experience and significantly benefits from component upgrades, making it an excellent candidate for their list of upgraded games.

The reviewer highly praises Furnace as a streamlined, clever, and tense engine-building game with remarkable depth for its quick play time, highlighting the innovative bidding mechanic where losing can be advantageous. Despite a minor complaint about the lack of diversity in the industrialist artwork, the game offers substantial replayability and is adored by the reviewer.

“I’m sad that I missed it. It’s a really tight auction / resource management game, and the neat auction/compensation mechanism is quite fascinating.”

“Geeks Under Grace highly praises "Furnace" as one of the best games they've played recently, highlighting its brilliant and unique auction mechanism where losing bids can still be advantageous, combined with excellent engine-building gameplay that allows for emergent strategies from minimal rules.”

The reviewer highly praises Furnace, giving it a 9 out of 10, highlighting its blend of simplicity and complexity, and its engaging engine-building mechanics that he believes will be discussed for years to come.

“Pared-back, streamlined, and efficient, Furnace offers a lot of interesting small decisions without getting bogged down in a Rube Goldberg Machine’s worth of rules, mechanics and caveats. A refreshing addition to anyone’s collection.”

Grant Lyon praised Furnace for its engaging blend of auction bidding and engine-building mechanics, particularly highlighting the clever 'compensation' system that rewards players even for losing bids, adding a unique strategic layer to the game. He considered it a top-tier game of its release year, though he suggested it plays best with more than two players.

The reviewer highly enjoyed Furnace, describing it as a quick engine-building game that plays in a short amount of time.

The reviewer highly recommends "Furnace," praising its snappy and deep gameplay, particularly highlighting the delightful bidding mechanic and the satisfying puzzle it presents for strategic minds, despite minor issues like the difficulty of catching up if falling behind early.

The reviewer highly praises Furnace as an excellent engine-building game with an exceptionally clean and strategically deep auction system that offers unique compensation mechanics, making it easy to learn yet difficult to master.

The reviewer praises Furnace as a great board game that, despite its appearance, is far from a lump of coal, offering a concise yet engaging engine-building experience with clever bidding mechanics that shines, especially with its British HQ's variant.

The reviewer highly regards Furnace as a very solid engine-building game, noting that upgraded components significantly enhance the overall premium feel and experience of the game.