# Anyone playing Keyforge? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 5, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630 "2018-12-05T19:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/1 "2018-12-05T19:44:55Z")
It’s a new game by the creator of Magic (and other games) Richard Garfield. It is a card game but the difference is you don’t get individual cards but rather you buy decks. Each deck is unique and you don’t (actually you can’t) change them. They are designed to be balanced but in the event they aren’t there is an optional handicap mechanic I play Magic but find I have less and less time for deck building so this idea of just getting decks and playing is intriguing to me. The game looks fun. Has anyone played it? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/2 "2018-12-05T21:16:11Z")
That’s how Shadowfist is. It’s a card game similar to Magic (you place site cards, defend them with characters, attack your opponents’ sites and characters) but you buy decks that represent a faction in a war. All prebuilt. It works fine, it’s more of a traditional card game since the “collectible” part is missing but it’s not a totally new concept. > **[Shadowfist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowfist)** > > Shadowfist was created by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia. It was released in June 1995 as a collectible card game (CCG), but was shifted to a fixed distribution of cards as of 2013. It shares the same background as the Feng Shui role-playing game, also by Laws and Garcia and released the following year. In September 2018 ownership of Shadowfist switched to Vetusta Games. > Shadowfist is a multi-player asymmetrical strategic game, the design of which is influenced by games such as Cosmic Encounter, Dun... ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/3 "2018-12-14T23:51:13Z")
A friend of mine bought a few decks. I haven’t played it yet, but I’ll report back when I do. ---
**Author:** ![Heller\_Highwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@Heller\_Highwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heller_Highwater)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/4 "2018-12-15T23:08:36Z")
A friend of mine bought the starter plus a couple of additional decks, and we happened to play last night. It was a lot simpler than Magic, I think. Not at all difficult to pick up and learn. Interestingly, the amount of combat seemed to depend on the nature of both your deck and your opponents, so different match-ups would play out differently in that regard. The faction mechanic added an interesting twist, and it felt like it made your decisions about what to play when more meaningful. All things told, we both enjoyed playing it; the game seems pretty easy to get in to. The fact that the decks are non-customizable makes the barrier for entry pretty low, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/5 "2018-12-18T13:00:55Z")
So I got the Starter set and played a couple games with the starter decks (the set comes with two starter decks everyone gets and two random ones). The game is fun. I liked it even though I lost both games. It felt to me one of the decks was more straight forward with playing lots of creatures while the other was more complicated to pilot since it relies a lot on stealing aether (the resource that wins the game). One thing I noticed is playing Magic has spoiled me a little because I am familiar with the cards and abilities. The game goes much slower when you have to read every card on both sides of the board. In that vein I think the cards could have been designed a little better for readability. I felt like the text was very small and I had to pick up the cards to read them ( but then again I don’t have the greatest eyesight). That aside, I enjoyed it and hope to play again with the random decks that the set contained. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/6 "2018-12-18T17:53:23Z")
I looked into this a few days ago as a gift idea, based on the recommendation of a hardcore gaming cow-orker as being the “hot thing”. Indeed; most places I visited online were sold out, and the places that did have inventory were selling packs at double MSRP. I plan on checking it out after the new year. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/7 "2018-12-18T19:56:10Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > I looked into this a few days ago as a gift idea, based on the recommendation of a hardcore gaming cow-orker as being the “hot thing”. > > Indeed; most places I visited online were sold out, and the places that did have inventory were selling packs at double MSRP. > > I plan on checking it out after the new year. FWIW you only need to buy someone two decks. The starter pack contains tokens to represent the Keys, Damage and Aember but you don’t need to have those things to play. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/8 "2019-01-11T14:54:03Z")
Sort of bumping this to see if anyone else is playing. I have played it several times since getting the Starter set. I like it and I am interested enough to maybe buy more decks to play with some different Houses but the game does seem to have one big issue: I find in most (but not all) games, the person who gets ahead stays ahead. There is a lot of back and forth in the early game but once someone gets ahead by a key or two it is very hard to catch up. It could be a function of the decks i have played with an against but I have also seen this in a games I watched on YouTube. Is this anyone else’s experience if you are playing? ---
**Author:** ![carnalito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@carnalito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnalito)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/9 "2019-01-16T20:08:54Z")
I am very interested in starting playing, but i am unsure on how fun it would be to play with the wife and the kids, i have a feeling it’s more of a gamers game. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/10 "2019-01-16T20:28:33Z")
> [@carnalito](#): > > I am very interested in starting playing, but i am unsure on how fun it would be to play with the wife and the kids, i have a feeling it’s more of a gamers game. My son and I played for the first time a week and a half or so ago. It’s actually very approachable, and a hell of a lot of fun. It’s only 1 v 1, however… unlike Magic, I can’t really conceive of a way to play it with more than 2 players per go. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/11 "2019-01-16T21:57:05Z")
I think it could work as a family game. But yes it’s 1 v 1. However if you buy the starter set you get 4 decks (two starter decks and two Randomized ones) so you can each play a game at the same time in two separate games if you have 4 people. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/12 "2019-02-27T17:21:40Z")
Just wanted to bump this once because I have had a chance to play this game quite a bit and I have really been enjoying it. It might be the novelty factor but I like it a lot. The barrier to entry is very low. In theory you just need two decks to play against each other (and some items to use as markers and tokens if you don’t have the “official” ones). I feel is a cross between a card game and a board game and could appeal to both audiences. While some may lament the lack of deck building, I think it works because you can just sit down and play with little preparation. At the same time you get depth of game play as I have found the more you play a given deck, the more you learn about how it plays and the better you get at it. With just a handful of decks in your collection you could have replayability for a long time. Check it out if you haven’t and enjoy board or card games. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/13 "2019-02-28T17:10:58Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > It’s a new game by the creator of Magic (and other games) Richard Garfield. It is a card game but the difference is you don’t get individual cards but rather you buy decks. Each deck is unique and you don’t (actually you can’t) change them. They are designed to be balanced but in the event they aren’t there is an optional handicap mechanic > > I play Magic but find I have less and less time for deck building so this idea of just getting decks and playing is intriguing to me. The game looks fun. Has anyone played it? Can’t? What’s to stop you from buying multiple decks and mixing and matching cards? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/14 "2019-02-28T19:36:38Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Can’t? What’s to stop you from buying multiple decks and mixing and matching cards? The decks have unique backs and names and contain a card that gives you a deck list. They are also usually registered online as well. I suppose someone could sleeve the cards and mix and match for fun but the game isn’t balanced to do that so the deck you create would probably be absurdly powerful. Part of the fun of the game is playing with the decks you have and learning how to play them. For example, I had a deck that seemed very meh to me and I dismissed it as average but after some games I saw how its synergies worked and now I feel it is one of my strongest decks. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/15 "2019-03-11T22:10:11Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Can’t? What’s to stop you from buying multiple decks and mixing and matching cards? The rules of the game. I mean, you could do it anyway, but I think a big point of the game is to balance and simplify it by not allowing deckbuilding. I have played a few games and I like it a lot, although I was a little annoyed at how many cards have keywords that you just have to look up, and the way to look them up is in a giant kind-of-hard-to-read pdf rulebook. It would have been nice to have a mobile friendly website or an Android/iOS app with a searchable rules glossary. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/16 "2019-03-12T14:51:39Z")
Yeah the first few games were slow because I constantly had to read the cards over and over but eventually you pick it up. Helpfully the two teaching decks in the Starter set have reminder text on all abilities. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-playing-keyforge/825630/17 "2019-03-12T17:08:02Z")
Yeah, it’s really only when you’re dealing with new cards, but it does make the learning curve kind of rough. Even after reading the 3-ish pages of how to play, you look at your starting hands and immediately have to go look up like 4 keywords. They could have done like they do with Magic cards and put reminder text on cards when there was enough space, rather than just having naked keywords that _require_ looking at the rulebook the first time. But anyway. It’s a fun game.