Flamecraft – Dragon Miniatures

Flamecraft is one of the prettiest board games I’ve ever seen. The beautiful artwork, the joyful puns and the heckin’ adorable theme meant this was the first game my wife Kickstarted. And of course, we had to get the cute little minis to go along with the game. The first generation minis are great, they look so nice on the board and a few of them made their way onto my wedding cake. However, earlier this year, Lucky Duck announced that they were releasing a second wave of minis for you to collect and include into your game. This was seemingly aimed at people who missed the Kickstarter and bought the game at retail, but for those who love the game as I do, it was an opportunity to retire the loved dragons and upgrade them to the newest friends.

I won’t dragon with my thoughts Firstly I have to say: these new minis are fantastic. They stand out for the players and look great on the board. Secondly, they do something that the first generation didn’t do – they actually represent dragons you can find in the game. I think there was a vote at some point to choose the sculpts that would represent the dragons, but now we have Loaf, Thistle, Mulch, Hot Dog, Cole, Deathfang and Starburst standing on the board. Loaf and Hot Dog are two of my favourites from back in the Kickstarter. I think there was even plushies for them at some point. But It’s so nice to see them upon the board now. Even if I’m not usually playing as one of them, since I tend to play as green.

I’ve seen some excellent painted ones, but I don’t have anywhere near the talent to paint the ones I have with any great confidence. Are they necessary? Oh, no way, but do they elevate the game? Absolutely. There’s no shame with using the wooden meeples that come with the base game, they’re also great, but these little guys have so much character and they link to the dragons in the game so I’m never playing without them.