Peeling Back the Gloom of Kilforth to Look at the Mechanics
Learn more about the mechanics behind the fantastic stories that evolve through play in Gloom of Kilforth.
There’s always something special that comes out of the stories within Gloom of Kilforth: A Fantasy Quest Game. Every bit of flavor text includes the foundation to find links between cards. I have a thousand questions about the world… Yet I don’t want them answered! It’s a fascinating way to leave the interpretations open-ended with each and every play.
Game Overview
Game Name: Gloom of Kilforth: A Fantasy Quest Game
Publication Year: 2017
Designer: Tristan Hall
Artist: Ania Kryczkowska
Publisher: Hall or Nothing Productions
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Pomgind again?! I kept the same setup as my latest play because it seemed terrible to leave this halfling wizard to such a fate. Yet almost immediately, it was a repeat run-in with the Cult of Masklaw! Was he doomed to another failure, or were the dice finally going to be kind?
First Play
April 24, 2019
Complexity
3
Latest Play
August 19, 2021
Expansions
1
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
10
Play Time
2 Hours
High Score
45
Game Area
44" x 28"
Low Score
5
Doom Guard… Aid?
I’ll focus on the mechanics rather than my usual storytelling here, although that’s not to say that I didn’t have a narrative going on! Time to look at other aspects.
When a hero enters an empty location, an encounter card is drawn based on the terrain type. Forest and plains locales are often safer, but there could be anything there!
At the end of each day, a night card shows which location falls into gloom along with a unique event or situation.
I was actually glad for the Doom Guard here! They took away some terrible people. Less for Pomgind to deal with!
By the Roll of the Dice
Perhaps the more polarizing element of gameplay comes down to the core mechanic: Dice rolls. In general, 5s and 6s represent successes and skills add more dice.
Effectively, 4 different skills may be built up during play with the addition of things like allies, items, spells, and titles. The more dice, the greater the chance of success!
At this unique place deep in the forest, Pomgind needed 3 successes with his 5 knowledge dice. Nice roll today!
If a 33% chance of success seems too difficult, there’s an easy variant: 4s also count for a 50% chance of success.
The Return of Timor
I definitely shuffled well! Yet somehow, Pomgind had the exact same encounter with a revengeful beggar again. I did mention how Timor would probably haunt him forever.
Naturally, this extremely rare card combination raises the question of repetitiveness. Do the cards get stale?
Honestly, it depends. The narrative is so strongly tied to the combination of cards that single cards don’t detract from it. But it does come down to enjoying the story.
In all of my plays, I’ve made it through 2/3 of a deck in the worst case and usually see less than half of the 8 decks.
The Value of Expansions and More Content
To be clear, I use both the base game plus the Gloom of Kilforth: Encounters Expansion Pack. Even with just the base game, a solo hero should have a very hard time going through more than a single deck during play. There will be repeat cards, yet each play has so many variables that it shouldn’t feel exactly the same… Except with Timor. Ha!
Expansions that add more of the same or very similar elements can sometimes feel like they add variety by sacrificing the balance of the base game. In this case, it simply opens up more avenues to explore more stories and ensure that there are even more combinations possible. Encounters still feel balanced in terms of what cards may be drawn.
New rewards also open up a lot of possibilities in terms of the assets a hero might acquire. The only real downside is how more cards can hinder the discovery of a needed keyword. But some skills and bonuses allow for cards to be cycled through more often. Pomgind fell victim to not finding a keyword before, yet the narrative was still worth it!
Back to the Casket
A 5-chapter saga forms the main quest for a hero, and completing this is the way to trigger the appearance of the main enemy, known as the ancient. Showdown!
For the solo game, 3 keywords must be collected in order to advance. Gold must also be spent, although I use the variant where I pay twice the chapter number.
Silly me cut off the required keywords, but I believe they were forest, place, and spell. See how each card matches?
It should be noted that a card can only be used for a single keyword, so the sanctified altar couldn’t count for both.
Perfect Timing
Mixed in the night deck is a series of weather cards, ranging from absolutely beautiful sunshine to possibly the worst… A very evil veil of fog that limits movement!
Actions can be very limited during a day, and being stuck in a single place often impedes progress tremendously.
A weather card normally stays in effect until the next weather card is drawn, save for this terrible example.
Pomgind was prepared! He learned how to control the weather early on so I could avoid this problem. Though the spell was sacrificed and lost, it was worth it. Onward!
The Golden Robber
Immediately, it should be known that this was far too much gold to end the game with! It’s a useful currency for advancing through a saga and buying assets at the market.
The key is that last statement because Pomgind wasted far too much time and couldn’t keep revisiting Sprawl City.
Most cards come into play as rewards for defeating an encounter. Yet they’re mere rumors with a destination where they may be found. Lots of traveling, indeed!
But a market action allows a card to enter play as an asset, as it was purchased. Also… Unicorn rider?! Beautiful card!
Session Overview
Play Number: 10
Expansion: Encounters Expansion Pack
Accessory: Pimp My Gloom Expansion Pack
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Warrior Difficulty Level
Outcome: 54 Points (Loss)
Alas, the showdown with the Marquis of Pain was swift and terrible! I left too many enemies in play so he gained extra health, and Pomgind didn’t have enough to fight with. Apparently, he was always doomed to failure. Still made for a fun play, despite the disappointing finale!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
6
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- Even when playing relatively quickly, a story emerges to tie together various aspects in memorable ways.
- The difficulty level may be adjusted in several ways, many of which take place during setup with little effort.
- Most cards are entirely unique and evoke all sorts of ideas with amazing artwork and just enough flavor text.
- Although dice rolls are paramount, there are all sorts of assets to acquire that can grant exciting abilities.
- Traveling around to turn rumors into assets is interesting and introduces the idea of side quests into the fray.
- So many combinations are possible with the heroes, sagas, and ancients to add a huge amount of variety.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Bad luck can and will ruin certain plans or end in defeat, which can be frustrating if the story isn’t the focus.
- A certain desire to be creative in interpreting the connections between cards is needed to fully enjoy the game.
- The wooden tokens and cardboard tiles don’t match the artistic style and can detract from the aesthetics.
- Locating a specific card on the map can take a little while since the names face left and right rather than forward.
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Ancient
- Overall Goal Progress 50%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game against the Abbess of Penance.
Win at least 1 game against the Deacon of Betrayal.
Win at least 1 game against the Marquis of Pain.
Win at least 1 game against the Prince of Ruin.
Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Gloom of Kilforth: A Fantasy Quest Game? There are some mechanics that lean towards luck, but where else can these stories be told? Pomgind will be officially retired now, sad as I am to leave him lost in failure. I’ll be continuing on with this world… Only in a different game very soon. Keep an eye out for more stories!
The descriptions of the mechnanics are more in my alley. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t like the previous description. Your storytelling showed, what this game can be. So I appreciate both.
I always want to know more about the mechanics, however, because in this case, “the more polarizing element of gameplay”, really gets to me. I don’t like the – what I call – “Arkham Success”. I don’t want to chuck 100 dice only to have 4 and bellow.
Your prevoius post showed me, what it can be, this showed me what it probably won’t be for me.
Which is a pity, because it looks amazing. Even the dice look so good. I can see that a lot of effort went into this game.
Your pictures do the rest 🙂
Glad I could help out! We can’t love every game out there, and there are some I know aren’t for me. I still enjoy reading about how others are having fun, even if I won’t add it to my collection. I hope I can sort of do the same here with some entertaining stories that don’t require anyone else to live through the frustrations with bad dice rolls!
“I hope I can sort of do the same here …”
Oh definitely. I enjoy your stories. May it be about a Halfling or The York’s victory over the Tudors.
Ha ha! Oh, there is definitely a return to Obsession in the not-too-distant future. So much storytelling there… Although so much different from the ones that come out of this world!
The trick to get me to like a game like this is to have lots of luck-mitigation powers – “modify a die” or “search the deck” or whatever – which a player can opt into rather than relying on getting the good rolls and card draws.
(On the other hand aiming a game at my tastes is generally not consistent with having a big success.)
There are definitely some nice dice mitigation factors from the assets! Although luck still plays a role, it’s interesting to find some great card combinations that might grant extra successes in certain scenarios. Bring limited to 6 assets is also a fun challenge… I usually want them all but am forced to choose in order to find the most optimal choices.