“19th century capitalists manipulate the market and manage their industrial empires.”
Link: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/318084/furnace
Playing Time: 30-60 Minutes
Weight: Light-to-Medium
Genre: Engine Building & Auction
Designer: Ivan Lashin
Players: 2-4
About as naked an engine building game that you’re going to find. Players play as 19th century robber barons, trying to build a financial empire. They’ll do this by taking turns bidding on various pollution-spewing industrial sites which can generate resources, and convert those resources to more valuable resources, such as money. We like money.
The auction system, though, is the real reason this makes the list. Each player is given four discs numbered from 1 to 4. On their turn, they’ll place one of their disks on one of the factory cards (no duplicate numbers), and when all bidding is done, whoever has placed the highest number will be able to use the card to expand their industrial empire.
BUT all other players who placed a number there get ‘compensation’, where the amount of compensation is multiplied by the number placed. Thus, I may drop a 3 on a card, hoping and tempting an opponent to overbid me with a 4, because getting 6 coal is way more valuable to me than the card itself. The compensation completely upends normal auction dynamics, adding an entirely new dimension to the experience.
Furnace isn’t perfect. It can feel a little dry, and for a small filler game, it is capable of generating more than its share of Analysis Paralysis in those who are prone to it. But if you like the idea of a very novel auction mechanic tied to a very straightforward engine construction game, Furnace may well be right up your alley.
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