KeyForge Review

Matt: Long ago, a man known only as Richard Garfield launched a juggernaut that would forever dominate the gaming nights at local game stores. Yet it was not the game he thought it would be. A game where players could learn to master a deck. So he went away to learn the dark magics of the “Algorithm” and returned with –

Marc: you’re not seriously about to try and review KeyForge on your own are you?

Matt: Well, I was going to try…

Chris: you’ve barely even played other competitive card games! You need an expert opinion.

Matt: Do either of you play Magic?

Chris: Well, no, but we do play a lot of Netrunner!

Players: 2
Time: 15-45 mins
Designer: Richard Garfield
Publisher: Asmodee, Asterion Press, Fantasy Flight Games

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Matt: KeyForge is the new 2 player card battling game from Fantasy Flight that has been the talk of the gaming town for a few months now.

Chris: In it, you are racing to forge keys!

Matt: It really is an unimaginative name. It’s a bit like calling your Euro game “Score Victory Points”.

Chris: But it’s already different to classic games of this ilk where the aim is just to smash your opponent.

Marc: Exactly. Here, fighting won’t do much of anything to get you closer to winning.

Matt: but… you do fight?

Marc: of course! You can’t let your opponent have too strong a board position or they’ll reap their way to victory.

Chris: Reaping being the thing creatures to do to get æmber.

Marc: isn’t it good this is a blog so we don’t have to pronounce ‘æmber’?

Matt: and æmber is what you’ll eventually KeyForge with. Wait, this is just a cube-gathering game! I know how to play those!

Chris: It’s only a cube game because you didn’t get a starter set.

Matt: I know. I’m using little wooden churches to represent my keys too because they look vaguely like keys.

Chris: ?

Matt: if you squint.

Marc: Honestly this is one of the best things about KeyForge! The rarity of the starter set and how cheap the decks are has led to most people playing with what they have to hand or what they could cobble together.

Chris: it is stupidly cheap to just pick up a deck.

Matt: which is great if the game itself is good. So… is it?

Chris: I really like it!

Matt: let’s break it down a bit then. Each player has a deck featuring cards from 3 of the game’s currently 7 factions (called Houses). You’ll draw a hand and from then on, each turn, you’ll pick one of those three houses.

Marc: you can play cards of that house to the table, activate cards of that house that are already on the table, and discard cards of that house, if you want to.

Matt: what is interesting is the amount you can potentially do on your turn. The only limit is the amount of cards of that house you have available.

Chris: compared to similar games, the zero cost to play cards is a huge deal. Think of mana in magic, credits in Netrunner

Matt: boxes in Arkham…

Chris: that absence makes for a very different tempo and a very different feeling game.

Marc: it is very freeing.

Matt: I love the chaining draw powers of Logos. You draw another card of that house and you get to play it immediately.

Marc: those big power turns are what makes these games so addictive! Welcome to the fold, you’re one of us now.

Matt: I…

Marc & Chris: one of us!

Matt: Instead of a resource, you have the restriction imposed by the other houses in your hand and play area. You might want to trigger Mars as you have three out on the board but you have a hand full of Brobnar and, besides, some of those Mars creature’s actions aren’t ideal right now.

Chris: this is the crux of the game. Managing your forces. When is it better to hold on to an interesting card and when is it better to discard it to keep options flowing into your hand.

Marc: this is why you’ll also need to balance attacking your opponent, to keep them from building up huge turns simply because of the number of creatures they have out, and reaping to gather the æmber you need to actually score points.

Matt: sounds great! Lots of interesting decisions! But…

Chris: but luck. There’s a strong luck of the draw element here.

Matt: as in all card games of this sort.

Marc: I do feel like the shear power of some of KeyForge’s cards makes it worse than in other card games. There are a whole class of cards that wipe out all the creatures on the battlefield but there might be at most one in a deck. If it comes out right when you need it that’s ace. Otherwise…

Chris: otherwise you just need to deal with it. You can discard to mill your deck but ultimately you’ll have to suck it up and acknowledge you’ve been outmanoeuvred.

Matt: I do find those reset cards to be amongst the most frustrating in the game.

Chris: they are necessary though – to always give players some sense of hope if the board state swings too much in one player’s favour.

Matt: and this is a swingy game.

Chris: but that’s also part of its charm.

Marc: getting exactly the right card at the right time feels great. And the power of some of those cards and some combos is also a major selling point! You just have to look at the art to see this is not a game to take too seriously. And in that context big plays are exactly what you want.

Chris: likewise dealing with that luck of the draw. This is a game where you need to go where fortunes take you and just enjoy the journey.

Matt: not that there isn’t any skill involved.

Chris: exactly! A skilled player with their own deck will crush a newbie most of the time. But that newbie will still be able to pull off some nice moves.

Marc: is it time to talk about the elephant in the room?

Chris: deck names? I hear they’re all racist.

Matt: Unique GameTM!

Marc: the greatest change to card games since magic.

Chris: I love it. Each and every deck of KeyForge is unique, by virtue of the algorithm. Matt you understand algorithms. You explain it.

Matt: No one understands this algorithm. But fundamentally what it seems to be doing is selecting a more or less randomised subset of the cards from 3 houses, with a few stipulations about number of repeats and certain cards always appearing in combination with other cards where their abilities interact.

Marc: and then every deck gets a unique card back and unique name.

Chris: which are often hilarious

Matt: this blows all expectations for the game out of the water.

Chris: It’s almost funny watching hard core magic players losing their minds and searching for the ‘best’ deck as though this was still Magic.

Matt: I’ve always had the impression Magic players struggle to process anything that isn’t Magic. It’s probably to do with memorising all those cards.

Marc: That’s exactly what’s so exciting about KeyForge! What it does for the new player experience. I’ve introduced people to the game by just buying them a deck and playing against them with one of mine! It’s not like Netrunner where I introduce them to a starter deck and finish by saying “Now go forth and buy every Netrunner card and then return to play me”

Chris: Marc was always like a Shakespearean character

Marc: Playing it this way, you’ve not just given someone a pleasant experience, you’ve also given them everything they need to play the game. More than that, you’ve given them their own part of the game.

Matt: this is what finally got me to step out and experience a type of game I have had no interest in pursuing. The “meta” that builds around these games is like a wall.

Chris: Unlike Marc I’ve not been buying people decks to get them into it. In fact, I’ve had the most fun playing it online and figuring out how to play my decks a bit better with quick games.

Marc: That’s really the key. Learning the ins and outs of your decks. Because you really do get better with them with practice.

Matt: the real keys are the decks we made along the way? Wait, that can’t be right.

Chris: the decks are not balanced. And that’s another reason why KeyForge will not have quite the same tournament experience of other games.

Marc: I actually love the idea that the most powerful deck in the world might be in the hands of a child who only plays on the playground with their friends.

Matt: but there’s something appealing about trying to do well with a “weaker” deck too. That might not apply to tournaments but, frankly, look at this game. The world, artwork, system screams “JUMP IN AND HAVE FUN!”

Marc: and that’s exactly how I enjoy it. Ì will attend tournaments and organised play but I probably won’t travel abroad to do so as I have for Netrunner in the past.

Chris: but will we still be playing it in 2 years time?

Marc: In terms of popularity, there are currently (2019-01-29 09:21 GMT) 549,323 registered decks. That’s insane. A well supported game with that big a player base definitely has potential in the future. I think it will depend how people take to the organised play side of things, much like more traditional collectible card games.

Matt: I think I couldn’t possibly not recommend people try this game out. Just pick up a couple of decks and have a blast. Does it then matter whether the game grows and continues? If you want to buy more decks, do so! If not, then you’ve hardly wasted an investment.

Chris: and if you do buy more decks you’ll almost certainly get use out of them because you’ll want to find out how they play.

Marc: FFG have done an incredible job of hooking into that joy of discovery and exploration. You can go deep into one deck or wide to experience as many different playstyles as possible.

Matt: It’s never going to be a serious competitor to Magic styles of games, but then, I don’t feel like it has to be. I don’t know what FFG are hoping for with it, but there is definitely a way of enjoying it if you want to.

Rating: Keyping It

Our copy of KeyForge was provided for review by Asmodee UK. You can pick up a deck for £8.99 RRP from your local hobby store.