Forges of Ravenshire
- David Breaker
- 16 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Pick up your hammer and rush to the forges, it’s time to talk about Forges of Ravenshire from B.A. Games. The Blacksmiths Guild of Ravenshire needs a new Forgemaster. You and your fellow smiths (up to three other players) are competing to see who can make the most money and become the new Forgemaster...
This is Sam Stockton’s second game, which came to Kickstarter in May 2023 and was delivered to its backers around August 2024. Forges of Ravenshire is played over four 'seasons' or rounds. Each season starts with the gathering phase, where players will acquire contracts, recruit guild members and gather resources. Players roll their dice (workers) and place one of them on an available location to gather resources. They then retrieve a different dice worker to gather even more resources. However, the various workers are from different guilds and when retrieved they will activate the guilds you have invested in. All players take turns placing one of their workers and retrieving another worker three times.
After the gathering phase is the production phase: take your previously placed three dice workers and now place them on different areas of your forge to gather more resources, make charcoal or steel and forge contracts to make money.
At the end of every season, check to see if any special titles have been earned. Titles bring prestige and hard-earned money. Finally, roll your three dice workers again and prepare the county of Ravenshire for the next season.
All in all, Forges is a simple yet fun game that can be used as an great way of introducing gaming novices to modern board games. For sure, it's built around common game mechanics we have seen before, such as worker placement, resource production and contract fulfilment, but tho' Forges of Ravenshire doesn’t change the mould, what it does do it does very well. The game is a breeze to teach and play. The decision spaces are simple enough, but balanced to make an important impact on your game. Yes, the game is mostly a multiplayer solitaire eurogame: it's playable solo, and with 2-4 players the only player interaction comes from the placement or removal of 'worker dice', similar to Raiders of the North Sea (Garphill Games). Don’t, however, let that put you off this excellent game. The production quality of the box and its content is top-notch, with dual-layered boards as standard in the retail edition of the game and also an excellent game tray insert that is the best I have seen in years. The artwork from Liam Peters and Andrea Radeck is also top-notch and really does suit the theme of the game.
My only criticism of Forges of Ravenshire, and this is minor, is that the replayability is somewhat limited. I would say the game could do with some extra bits from an expansion to flesh it out further but then I appreciate that, for some, what this game offers is enough.
(Review by David Breaker)
