What’s Hiding In the Well?
Starless Nights have returned to the world of Atios, cities swallowed in darkness where only the light of Kinfire can penetrate the dark and combat against the evil that has ventured forth.
You are a Seeker, and have been sent to a Well, where reality itself warps and great evils lurk in their depths. There you must delve to try and defeat the Master known as Vainglory, a being who uses illusion and trickery to try and bring evil back into Atios. This is the wonderfully magical setting you find yourself in when you play Kinfire Delve: Vainglory’s Grotto, a 1-2 player cooperative dungeon diving game, set in the Kinfire Chronicles universe. Released in 2023 and published by Incredible Dream Studios, this was my first foray into the Kinfire mythos, and I was very eager to check it out.
The Kinfire Universe
Kinfire Chronicles is a relatively new world with already a lot of clout behind them in the board game realm. Kinfire Chornicles: Night Fall, is a big box cooperative adventure game which peaked my interest in this world, and Kinfire Council moves away from the co-op to the competitive with an intriguing negotiation game which has been high on my wishlist for a while.
But my first steps into the city of Din’Lux, where the Kinfire world is set, has been with Kinfire Delve: Vainglory’s Grotto, a much tighter experience then their two larger brethren. A co-op card game where you make your way through a dungeon, or using the game’s parlance, a Well, to try and defeat the big boss at the end. Like a much smaller version of Slay the Spire.
Either played solo or with one other person (you can add 1 to 2 more if you own one of the later additions), you play cards of different colours to complete challenges that vary in difficulty and effect.
You’re trying to add presence, which work essentially like hit points, to the different challenges, with rewards for completing it and penalties for failing. Presence comes from your cards power, boost values which you can get from other cards (your own cards solo, your partners cards co-op), as well as from dice to throw a bit of luck into the mix as well.
As you delve deeper into the Well, and if you manage to complete enough challenges without one of your characters dying, you get to unlock the final gauntlet, and the Master at the end, who comes in three different flavours randomly selected at the start to always add a bit of replayability and the unknown to your game.
It is short, simple, easy to learn and play. For once your board game box isn’t lying to you, it takes about one hour to play, and works in much the same way if you play it solo or co-op. But did Vainglory’s Grotto light the Kinfire in my soul and make me want to explore the world of Atios further?
Delving Deeper
My short answer to that question is yes, Kinfire Delve: Vainglory’s Grotto is an excellent hidden gem.
The setup is easy and takes less than a minute once you’ve had a perusal at the absolutely gorgeous cards (more on that later), and with the basic rules you can get going immediately with it. With in one to two turns you will understand how this game works.
It’s a really snappy card game that perfectly flows as you play it. There are really good tactics and strategies that you start working out quickly, what cards to play when, how often you should boost using the cards, what challenges to undertake. The two seekers that come in the box, Asha of Brillbrook and Khor both play wildly different to each other, yet it’s incredibly straightforward to understand where their strengths are, and in a two player game how they complement each other.
But where the game really shines in all this darkness is its difficulty, because I think it hits that perfect sweep spot of being challenging, without being punishing. A small card game like this doesn’t work if its impossible, and if its too easy it would lose any replayability. Instead the balancing of managing your hand of cards, potential for exhaustion which can really hamper your game, and just the strength or affects on the challenge is seamless. You really feel like a hero going on a daring quest.
It also wonderfully comes with additional challenges which you can aspire to complete as you play the game. A bit like trophies or achievements for any Playstation or Xbox fans out there, these are just bonus missions you can set yourself to do. Like their video game equivalents, it doesn’t matter whether or not you do them, but just gives an extra something to try and achieve, and a great way of coming back to the well again and again, especially with the three different Masters you can face at the end.
There’s beauty in the darkness
Where Kinfire Delve: Vainglory’s Grotto really excels is in the artwork. The design on the game box alone just transports you to a Dungeons and Dragons inspired adventure, and the art on the cards is on a different level.
Every card feels unique, each design lovingly created to set you in this magical world. In particular the designs on the well cards are so beautifully imagined. For such a short and simple card game I don’t think it was necessary for the designers to go that hard on the art, but I am very pleased they did.
I am not familiar with the world at all, neither are my gaming group, but I am certain if I whipped out this box and showed them these cards people would immediately want to play. You don’t need to be familiar with the world or the terms they’re using. Seekers, wells, delving, Kinfire lanterns, they mean nothing to me, but the game and in particular the artwork do such a great job of bringing to life that universe, that you will immediately want to seek out more from it. And isn’t that a marker of its success?
Just keep delving
While I might be waxing lyrical about Kinfire Delve: Vainglory’s Grotto, the game is by no means perfect. The cardboard progression markers which you place onto the challenges and the 10 sided die to mark your health are a bit bland and basic in contrast to the beautiful cards, and I do think the game probably lacks a great deal of variety when compared to other co-op affairs like Sky Team or Bomb Busters.
I suspect once you’ve completed all three bosses on the hardest difficulty and done the challenges, you might be thinking about your next game.
But I don’t think that’s necessarily a problem, as the actual core mechanics of it are good enough, that your next game might well be another Kinfire Delve! Scorn’s Stockade (which I will be trying very soon!), and Callous Lab are new entries in the series, which not only adds new challenges and seekers to the game, but allows you to use seekers from other entries to make it a three to four player experience, which I am very keen to try.
As mentioned, what I can say about Kinfire Delve: Vainglory’s Grotto is its achieved what it set out to do, make you interested in the other games in their new universe. It’s a small card game that is quick to understand, a joy and a challenge to play, with artwork that makes it stand out in comparison to other games in your collection.
It might be on a bit of a time limit in my own collection, but right now I am loving my experience with it. I am facing it on hard mode, taking on the challenges, and continually delving into the abyss to face Vainglory once more. May the light of Kinfire, guide my way.
About the author:
Paul Websell is a freelance contributor for Zatu who spends his time either playing board and video games or talking about them. While he’s not on social media, you can view his other blogs right here on Zatu!
