Kinfire Council is an asymmetrical political bout full of cultists, political schemes and hidden knives
Protect the city, but also your own neck.
Leading a city is hard work, and that job apparently becomes even more perilous when you must deal with the machinations of your fellow rulers alongside shadowy cults and threats from outside the walls. This is your lot in Kinfire Council, a new asymmetrical board game from Incredible Dream, the same studio behind both Kinfire Chronicles and Kinfire Delve.
Kinfire Council was designed by Kevin Wilson, a veteran tabletop creator responsible for both Arkham Horror and Descent: Journeys in the Dark. His latest project is a middle-weight experience with an intricate board layout and plenty of interaction between two to six players as they compete to enact their own plans for the bustling fantasy metropolis of Din'Lux.
Each player will control one of the city’s council members and see to the business of protecting the overcrowded and tense city while also furthering their own personal schemes for domination, personal enrichment or even altruistic governance (you simply don’t trust these other weasels and sneaks to get the job done). All the while, outside threats such as the Starless Nights threaten inhabitants, and growing political unrest has allowed the cabalistic Cult of Altan to form in the cracks of your oversight.
No two councilors have the same suite of abilities and workers that they will place to rebuild Kinfire lighthouses, information and influence with the other powers-that-be. Throughout the roughly two-hour sessions, players will change the rules of the game with decrees voted on by both the players and NPC constituencies throughout Din’Lux. There’s a definite advantage to spreading wealth and power amongst the metropolis’ known entities on both sides of the law.
“'Kinfire Council' introduces a unique twist on the worker placement mechanic with the Cultists of Altan. These enemy workers threaten the city of Din'Lux, creating a unique challenge for players,” Wilson said in a press release. “It's even possible for the Cultists to win, revealing the player in last place as their secret ally and the ultimate winner!”
Beyond Wilson, Incredible Dream’s team includes a surprising range of talent that shows in the artistic aesthetic and design of the Kinfire board game series. Co-founder Jane Chung Hoffacker comes from League of Legends developer Riot, while art director Katarzyna “Ulvar” Bekus’ previous credits include Cyberpunk 2077 and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales.
A demo version is available to play on Tabletopia if you want to check out the basic gameplay before backing Kinfire Council’s Kickstarter campaign, which will run through May 27th. Incredible Dream has already surpassed its initial goal of funding a physical core box that is expected to ship to backers in June of 2025.