Designer: Ivan Lashin
Publisher: Arcane Wonders
Player Count: 2–4
Playtime: 30–45 Minutes
Engine builders are fun, though there aren’t a lot of quick ones outside of Century. Furnace helps to fill the gap further while also giving players a unique auction. It also leans heavily into its neat 19th-century capitalist theme, making players acquire industries, extract resources, and turn it all into sweet, sweet profit.
A Brief How to Play
In Furnace, each player begins with a unique Capitalist power and a starter factory that produces basic resources or conversion options. The game takes place over four rounds, each divided into two phases: Auction and Production.
In the Auction Phase, players use four discs numbered 1 to 4 to bid on company cards. You can’t place a disc where you already have one, or if the same number is already there. The player with the highest bid gets the card, but everyone else gets compensation shown at the top of the card multiplied by the number on their disc.
In the Production Phase, players activate their tableau of factories to generate resources, convert them, or sell them for money (victory points). Some cards can be upgraded to improve their effects. After four rounds, the player with the most money wins.
Pacing and Interaction
Furnace is as snappy as engine builders get. The rules are straightforward, setup is minimal, and turns move quickly, especially after players get used to the core loop. Fortunately, any hobby board gamer will be comfortable with the rules about halfway through Furnace, so momentum picks up quickly. With only four rounds, the game is short but not rushed. Instead, it distills economic efficiency and spatial puzzle-solving into a quick but rewarding puzzle. It’s not quite a filler game, but it’s quick enough to play a couple of times or maybe even be a game night dessert if the players know what they are doing.
The auction phase is where most of the player interaction happens. Like in most auction games, it’s not just about always outbidding your opponents. Watching your opponents’ bids, anticipating what they need, and bluffing with your own is a puzzle and a mind game. Sometimes it’s better to lose with a high-value disc than to win it all for the sweet, sweet multiplied compensation.
The production phase becomes a solo puzzle as players optimize their engines, but by then, the game has already offered plenty of tense player-to-player decisions. Furnace is a fantastic blend of interaction and solitaire.
Replayability
Though short and accessible, Furnace offers a surprising amount of replay value. The variety of cards and unique player powers gives different combinations and strategies across multiple plays. Since the game rewards both winning and losing auctions, there’s more flexibility in how players approach the changing game states. If only played with two players, there isn’t all that much replayability. It’s not zero-sum like most auction games, but there just isn’t as much variability, even with all the options amongst the cards. It’s hard to recommend this game to couples who will only play with two players, but if there can be more player count variety, it’s easy to recommend. For those who only play as duos, they should look towards other engine builders like Century or wait for Furnace Duel to come out later in 2025.
Theme and Components
The artwork and industrial theme won’t be for everyone, but they’re cohesive and well-executed. The company cards look great, and the upgraded sides show visual signs of progress, like wagons turning into cars. It’s a nice thematic touch that adds personality without cluttering the cards’ aesthetic.
Component quality is solid but not flashy. The wooden discs for bidding are cleverly designed in varying sizes, making the auction state easy to read. Resource tokens are functional and kind of cute, but they aren’t incredibly detailed or anything.
Furnace Is Great For Fans Of…
Furnace is great for fans of engine builders like Century: Golem Edition who want a bit more interaction. If you enjoy clever auction mechanics, this one has one that you likely haven’t seen before. It shines best at 3–4 players, though the 2-player variant is functional for at least a few times.
