Furnace

Game Designer: Ivan Lashin
Artwork: Oleg Yurkov, Sergey Dulin, Vadim Poluboyarov, Marta Ivanova, Egor Zharkov, Ilya Konovalov

30–60 min

2–4

12+

Game Overview

Furnace is an elegant engine-building euro game where the players take on the roles of 19th-century capitalists building their industrial corporations and aspiring to make as much money as they can by purchasing companies, extracting resources, and processing them in the best combinations possible.

GAMEPLAY
The game is played over 4 rounds. Each round consists of 2 phases: Auction and Production.

AUCTION PHASE
Each player has 4 discs with values 1–4 to bid on the cards in the common row. The players take turns placing 1 of their discs on the cards until they don’t have any discs left.

Placement Rules
1. No discs of the same value on one card
2. No discs of the same color on one card

Then, the cards are resolved one by one in order from left to right. The highest bid receives the card. All other bids get compensated: the value of the disc multiplies the compensation.

PRODUCTION PHASE
Now, the players manage their own cards in any order they wish. They may gain resources, process them into other resources or money, and upgrade their cards for additional effects.

GAME END
When the 4th round is over, the player with the most money tokens wins.

International Publishers

Key Selling Points

Fast and easy to learn, yet hard to master

Multi-stage production chains

A unique auction mechanism where you profit from each bid (sometimes it’s even better to lose an auction)

Lavish and historically-accurate artwork

High-quality components complementing an exquisite experience

The game variants significantly enrich the gameplay, though are perfectly balanced

Contents

46 cards

17 Capital discs

40 Coal cubes

20 Iron bars

15 Oil drums

1 die

82 tokens

1 Round counter

rules of play

Gameplay ArcHWay — Auction Mechanism in Furnace

Learn more about lost bids that can be more profitable than winning ones!

Gameplay ArcHWay — Mastering Production in Furnace

Learn more about building your industrial empire and some basic rules you’ll have to follow!

Gameplay ArcHWay — Historical Setting in Furnace

Who are the characters featured in the game? Who are these people? How did they live?

Gameplay ArcHWay — New Characters in Furnace

Sharing the stories of Annie Malone and Charles Spaulding featured in the international editions of the game.

English Review by All The Meeples Of The Rainbow — Reading Time: 4 min.

One word: elegant. Love the bidding mechanic in this game and the 2 player automa works incredibly well. Simple production line game, but the heart lies in the auction. Great game.

English Review by @ellalovesboardgames — Reading Time: 3 min.

Such a simple ruleset with so many challenging and interesting choices per turn. An absolute delight!!!

English Shoutout by WEM — Reading Time: 1 min.

The bidding system of Furnace (@HobbyWorldInt) is simple, clever, and challenging.

English Rundown by Rahdo — Watching Time: 29 min.

In terms of final thoughts, folks, I’ve got to say, Jen and I were blown away by this game. This is AMAZING!

English Review by Tom Vasel — Watching Time: 8 min.

This is not quite what I would call a filler (a game that you play in between other games), but it definitely is not long — it feels meaty, and I like that! I mean how many 45-min games are there that move at a good clip and before you are done, you feel like you’ve played a really good game?

English Review on boardgamequest.com — Reading Time: 6 min.

A great auction-based engine builder. The compensation mechanism adds a lot of depth and interest to the auction rounds.

English Review by Antonios S on rpg.net — Reading Time: 7 min.

Furnace is an extremely pleasant surprise of a game that punches well above its weight. It knows what it wants, innovates as much as it needs to, and creates a distilled, engaging gaming experience. I won’t be surprised at all if it hits the top-200 in BGG as soon as it becomes available, or if it gathers a handful of nominations and awards.

English Review by @the_deck_builder — Reading Time: 3 min.

The gameplay gave me vibes of engine-building games like Res Arcana, London, Race for the Galaxy, Gizmos, and Mechanica so if you enjoy games like those then I think you’d really enjoy this one as well. Look for this game to come straight to retail next year from Arcane Wonders. You definitely won’t be disappointed.

English Review by @madboardgamer — Reading Time: 3 min.

Furnace is a really good game and deserves to be released all around the world!

English Review by The Gaming Gang — Reading Time: 2 min.

Furnace is a solid, if relatively lightweight, bidding and engine building game set during the industrial revolution.

English Review at justpushstart.com — Reading Time: 5 min.

Furnace is a thinky title, with stunning artwork and intuitive symbology, that many will surely enjoy!

English Review at dice-settlers.com — Reading Time: 7 min.

The game is fun with all player counts and since the game is only four rounds, it does not take too long to play. The one tiny nitpick might be that the box is a bit large for its contents. But you can look at it this way, this leaves room for expansions. All in all, this is a great and fast bidding and engine building game with lots of meaningful decisions and gorgeous artwork. An instant hit in our gaming group.

English Review by @MillicanDarque – Reading Time: 7 min.

For me this is the top of my list when it comes to engine building games. <…> This is one that I would definitely recommend. Overall it’s a very solid game that is a lot of fun and you don’t even need a top hat and cane to play.

German Review at brettspielpoesie.de — Reading Time: 3 min.

Furnace ist mit seinen wenigen Regeln total zugänglich, die notwendigen Entscheidungen aber dennoch nicht banal.

German Review by @PottGamer — Reading Time: 3 min.

Kurz:
Einfache und kurze Regeln
Super knifflig Im Gameplay
Geiles game
Von mir ne dicke Empfehlung, also behaltet es im Auge.

German Review at spielbar.com — Reading Time: 5 min.

Der Kopf raucht da schnell so wie ein Hochofen.

German Review by BoardGameMonkeys — Reading Time: 4 min.

Wer diese Art von Spiele mag, wird Furnace mögen. Mir hat es großen Spaß bereitet, die Firmen geschickt anzuordnen und zu kombinieren und der Ärger war groß, wenn ich eine bessere Kombination übersehen habe.

German Review at heimspiele.info — Reading Time: 3 min.

Ein cleveres, kleines Spiel, nicht unbedingt für zwischendurch, da sitzt es zwischen den Stühlen, da es doch etwas fordernder ist, um die effizientesten Möglichkeiten für sich zu finden, aber im Gegensatz zu vergleichbaren, großen Spielen, dann doch weniger zeitaufwendig. Rundum fein umgesetzt und auf jeden Fall mehr als einen Blick wert!

French Review at vindjeu.eu — Reading Time: 5 min.

J’ai presque envie de dire que l’on est dans un brass version jeu de cartes. Si vous préférez, dans ce style, un jeu malin, rapide et avec le même thème. Il vous plaira surement!

French Review at lelabodesjeux.com — Reading Time: 7 min.

Tout simplement mon jeu favori en 2020 !

French Review at ludolegars.fr: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 + Video — Reading Time: 15 min; Watching Time: 30 min.

Quand j’avais lu la règle de Furnace, voici quelques jours, je m’étais frappé le front en disant : « Wahou ! Quelle belle idée élégante pour les enchères ! ».

Spanish-English Review by @geekandpink — Reading Time: 3 min.

¡Este es un juego muy simple pero asombroso! ¡¡Me encantó!! El arte está increíble! Y ciertamente voy a presentárselo a muchos amigos. 💜

This is very simple but amazing game! I loved it!! The artwork is also amazing! I’m certainly going to introduce into a lot of friends 💜

Spanish-English Review by @freethemeeple — Reading Time: 3 min.

Gran juego que da una experiencia completa en poco tiempo. ¡Muy recomendable!

Great game which gives a complete experience in a short time. Highly recommended!

Spanish Review by MishiGeek — Reading Time: 7 min.

Su parte más original es el formato de pujas por disco y es a la vez su mejor mecánica. Furnace está bien hecho, funciona y hay poco de lo que quejarse en cuanto a las sensaciones que nos transmite cuando lo jugamos.

Spanish Review by @ludus_lab — Reading Time: 4 min.

Particularmente nos gustado bastante este Furnace porque con unas mecánicas que se explican en dos minutos nos ofrece un juego con bastantes decisiones interesantes que tomar y en el que será complicado optimizar al máximo nuestro motor de cartas. Además hay pocos juegos que con una duración tan contenida ofrezcan una profundidad similar.

Italian Review by I Giochi Del Topo — Reading Time: 6 min.

CONSIDERAZIONI: Un gioco che si presenta con infinita eleganza e semplicità, con due fasi ben distinte ma perfettamente correlate tra loro.

Italian Review by Giochi Sul Nostro Tavolo — Reading Time: 8 min.

Eleganza, fluidità e la soddisfazione nel veder girare il proprio motore produttivo ne fanno un prodotto trasversale adatto sia ai più esperti alla ricerca di un prodotto fresco e veloce, ma anche a quei giocatori che si sono avvicinati da poco al mondo dei giochi da tavolo e vogliono esplorare nuove meccaniche, perfetto per famiglie di giocatori: ben fatto!

Portuguese Review by Jogo EU — Reading Time: 6 min.

É um jogo inteligente, rápido, elegante e capaz de juntar na mesma mesa jogadores casuais, mais experientes e agradar a ambos.

Dutch Review by SpinLi — Reading Time: 6 min.

Furnace is echt wel de kachel aansteken en stilaan opstoken naar een serieus vuur. Het aanschaffen van de perfecte combo aan kaarten en het ideaal optimaliseren van deze engine zal leiden tot de overwinning. Toch zal elke speler ietwat anders z’n motortje opbouwen en dat maakt het best tot een tof spel, je gaat altijd wel mee doen en het gevoel hebben dat je motortje aanslaat (zij het misschien wat trager of minder efficiënt als een andere speler). Het woord dat het meeste bij mij opkwam tijdens het spelen van dit spel was : interessant, erg interessant!

Dutch Review by Spellenbunker — Reading Time: 5 min.

Ontspannen en gezellig om te spelen, ook omdat je veel zelf in de hand hebt. Tot nu toe bevalt dit spel heel goed. Het zit goed in elkaar. Hoewel het spel niet moeilijk is, vraagt het tegelijkertijd om creatief handelen. Een eigenschap die perfect past bij en 19-eeuwse kapitalist.

Polish Review at for2players.pl — Reading Time: 7 min.

Furnace jest jedną z lepszych gier, w które zagraliśmy w tym roku. Proste zasady, sporo kombinowania i ładna oprawa graficzna. Do tego ciekawy mechanizm licytacji, w których każdy coś zyskuje i który dobrze działa też we dwoje.

Game Rules (EN)

All you need to know to play the game.

Official FAQ (EN)

All of the frequently asked questions get answered in this single-page document.

Single-page Overview

Learn how to play the game at a glance.

Sell Sheet

Single-page gameplay overview with all the business information included (MSRP, MOQ, Availability).

Are you a publisher or a reviewer interested in the product? Feel free to contact us right now!