KeyForge

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KeyForge
Pyrkon 2019 KeyForge card game.jpg
KeyForge being played at the Pyrkon 2019 in Poznań, Poland
DesignerRichard Garfield
PublisherFantasy Flight Games
Release date2018-
Typeunique deck game
Players2
Age range14+
Playing time45+ minutes
Chancemoderate
Websitewww.keyforgegame.com

KeyForge is a card game created by Richard Garfield and published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2018.

In it, players take on the role of Archons in the world of the Crucible. Each Archon races to be the first to collect a resource called "Æmber" and forge three keys. KeyForge is sold in individual decks containing 37 random cards, along with a unique randomly generated deck name.[1]

The first set of KeyForge, Call of the Archons, was released on November 15, 2018 with 370 cards in the expansion.[2] The second set, Age of Ascension, was released on May 30, 2019 with 204 cards.[3] The third set, Worlds Collide, was released on November 8, 2019 with 284 cards.[4] The fourth set, Mass Mutation, was released on July 10, 2020, with 259 cards.[5] "Dark Tidings" was originally scheduled to be released in February 2021, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic was initially released over March to May 2021 with 280 cards.[6]

In June 22 2022, it was announced that Ghost Galaxy has acquired KeyForge from Fantasy Flight Games.[7]

Gameplay

KeyForge is a two-player game, with each player using a single deck of cards to play creatures, artifacts, actions, and upgrades. The game aims to gather enough Æmber (pronounced "amber") to forge three keys before the opponent does the same. Creatures can reap Æmber and fight one another, while artifacts provide unique effects. Actions are used and discarded, and upgrades are attached to creatures to improve their abilities.

Each card in KeyForge is associated with a House, with each deck containing cards from three Houses. At the beginning of each player's turn, that player declares a House – they may then only play, use, or discard cards belonging to that House. Unlike similar card games such as Magic: the Gathering and Android: Netrunner, cards do not typically require a cost to be paid such as the expenditure of mana or credits. Instead, a player may play and use as many cards on their turn as they wish, provided the cards belong to the declared House.

KeyForge also differs from other card games' approach to deck composition. Each deck features a unique card back with the name of an Archon; decks are intended not to be modified after purchase. This is intended to reduce card trading and selling so that "net decking" (a process in other card games of researching and recreating more powerful decks) is made more difficult or impossible.[1]

Sets

New cards are released regularly through expansion sets. For each new set, there is a chance for one of the houses to be rotated out and not be featured in the set, while new houses can be added to the set.[8]

Set Initial Release Date New Cards Brobnar Dis Logos Mars Sanctum Shadows Untamed Saurian Republic Grand Star Alliance Unfathomable
Call of the Archons November 15, 2018 370 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Age of Ascension May 30, 2019 204 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Worlds Collide November 8, 2019 284 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Mass Mutation July 2020[9] 250 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Dark Tidings March 2021[10] 280 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Development

KeyForge was announced at Gen Con on August 1, 2018. An announcement trailer and accompanying introductory article explaining the game were published to the Fantasy Flight website, citing a launch date in the fourth quarter of 2018.[1][11] Pre-orders for the Keyforge: Call of the Archons Starter Set and Archon Deck were made available the same day, as well as PDF copies of the rulebook. It was also announced that KeyForge tournaments and events would be sanctioned through Fantasy Flight's Organized Play program, details of which were later announced on the Fantasy Flight Organized Play mini-site.[12]

In the game's rulebook, Garfield wrote about the origin of the game, expressing his desire to see "sealed deck and league play" formats return to popularity. He described the contrast between KeyForge and other trading card games as "like the difference between exploring a jungle and walking in an amusement park (...) In the amusement park experts are telling you how to play the game, the safest strategies, and what net decks to use. In the jungle you have the tools you have."[13] Garfield claimed that he had wanted to create KeyForge for 10 years before release, but the printing technology central to the idea was not yet available.[14]

KeyForge was released November 15, 2018, with prerelease events taking place earlier in the month. On the same day the KeyForge Master Vault app and website were launched to help players keep track of decks.[15]

Products

SKU Name Release Date
KF01 KeyForge: Call of the Archons Starter Set November 15, 2018
KF02a KeyForge: Call of the Archons Archon Deck November 15, 2018
KF03a KeyForge: Age of Ascension Archon Deck May 30, 2019 (United States) and May 31, 2019 (Europe)
KF04 KeyForge: Age of Ascension Two-Player Starter Set May 30, 2019 (United States) and May 31, 2019 (Europe)
KF05a KeyForge: Worlds Collide Archon Deck November 8, 2019
KF06 KeyForge: Worlds Collide Deluxe Archon Deck November 8, 2019
KF07 KeyForge: Worlds Collide Two-Player Starter Set November 8, 2019
KF08 KeyForge: Worlds Collide Premium Box November 8, 2019
KF09a KeyForge: Mass Mutation Archon Deck July 2020
KF10 KeyForge: Mass Mutation Deluxe Deck July 2020
KF11 KeyForge: Mass Mutation Two-Player Starter Set July 2020
KF12a KeyForge: Dark Tidings Archon Deck June 2021
KF13 KeyForge: Dark Tidings Deluxe Archon Deck June 2021
KF14 KeyForge: Dark Tidings Two-Player Starter Set June 2021

Spin-off media

In 2020, an anthology of science fantasy short stories set on the Crucible was released called Tales from the Crucible.[16]

Reception

IGN described the game as "a bold new idea and a vastly different kind of game format", but questioned the randomization model, speculating that "people won’t be spending tons of money on single rare cards, but that may have been replaced with spending tons of money on random deck boxes in the hopes of getting lucky with a great card combination."[14] Polygon called the game "remarkable" in a hands-on demo and suggested that it "has its work cut out for it just in establishing a marketplace presence".[17]

Upon release, the game was well received. Tom Vasel of The Dice Tower said the decks in the initial core set "feel balanced" and praised the unique aspects of the game and the gameplay.[18]

KeyForge won both the Fan and Academy selected Best Collectible Card Game awards at the 2019 Origins Awards.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c "KeyForge: Call of the Archons". www.fantasyflightgames.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  2. ^ "Call of the Archons". Archon Arcana - The KeyForge Wiki. 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  3. ^ "KeyForge: Age of Ascension". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  4. ^ "KeyForge: Worlds Collide". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  5. ^ "Mass Mutation". Archon Arcana - The KeyForge Wiki. 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  6. ^ "Dark Tidings". Archon Arcana - The KeyForge Wiki. 2021-05-30. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  7. ^ "There Has Been A Shift!". keyforging.com. 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  8. ^ "Fantasy Flight Unveils New 'KeyForge' Expansion". icv2.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  9. ^ "Keyforge Announces Mass Mutation Set". GAMING. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  10. ^ "Keyforge's next set Dark Tidings gives your unique deck an evil twin". Dicebreaker. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  11. ^ Fantasy Flight Games (2018-08-02), KeyForge - Trailer, retrieved 2018-10-06
  12. ^ "KeyForge Organized Play". www.fantasyflightgames.com. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  13. ^ Garfield, Richard (2018). "The Origin of KeyForge", KeyForge Rulebook. Fantasy Flight Games. p. 13.
  14. ^ a b Marks, Tom (2018-08-01). "KeyForge, the next Game from the Creator of Magic: The Gathering, Uses Billions of Unique Decks - Gen Con 2018". IGN. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  15. ^ "The Master Vault". www.fantasyflightgames.com. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  16. ^ Tales From the Crucible: A KeyForge Anthology
  17. ^ "KeyForge is a remarkable new card game gunning for both Magic and Hearthstone". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  18. ^ The Dice Tower (2018-11-11), KeyForge Starter Set Review - with Tom Vasel, retrieved 2018-11-15
  19. ^ "Origins Awards 2019 Winners". icv2.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  20. ^ STAFF. "Root dominates winners at 2019 Origins Awards". tabletopgaming.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2021.

Further reading

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