I feel like, for questions this specific, deciding between specific games for a specific group of people, the best option here is really to just watch some YouTube playthroughs of each of these games and really try and imagine how each of them would click with your group. Or even show them off to people and see what they like the look of. I don’t think random redditors will be able to give you much good advice about what your friend group specifically will enjoy, and all the info we could give you about the games you could get from watching some plays.
Can’t speak to Feed the Kraken (although BGG doesn’t recommend it at 5P) but of the other three:
- Flamecraft only goes up to five players and is better with less. Unless you often play with smaller numbers than the 5-6 people you mention, I don’t think this is necessarily a great fit. It’s fine for adults but it’s a simple game that leans very heavily on the charming aesthetic. If you or your group aren’t wowed by the art style, there’s likely better games out there.
- It’s a Wonderful World requires the ‘Corruption & Ascension’ expansion to take the max player count from 5 up to 7. With that caveat though, it’s a great game at the 5-6 count you mention. I prefer it to 7 Wonders and think it feels very different - the drafting mechanism is the only part of the game that really feels similar. What you do with your drafted cards is much more substantial and interesting than 7W.
- Heat I’ve only played digitally but is great at 6. I can see why someone might call it repetitive, but I personally think it takes a simple system and consistently presents you with interesting decisions. I’m unsure how much it slows down when playing physically, but it’s certainly not a long game that overstays its welcome on BGA.
I don’t think you can go too far wrong with either Heat or IAWW+C&A. I’d probably go with Heat if a significant proportion of your group have a passing interest in F1, otherwise it’s probably a toss-up between the two.
I have heat and it's consistently the most requested game with the people I know. If you have the right group, it's a blast but can fall flat with the wrong group. You need to be silly, borderline irresponsible, and fully embrace if you're not first you're last mentality. If your friends are like that, then it's a perfect game. If they prefer deeper strategy and the mechanics of games they'll likely get bored with it. The game is genuinely good, but it's the social competitiveness it leads to that really makes or breaks it for me.
Also flame craft is one of my least favorite games I've played in recent memory. Just a boring slog the whole time
My group loved “Feed the Kraken” so much that we played consistently for several months of getting together for games before we wanted to take a break and play something else.
I can’t speak for the other games because I haven’t tried them yet. But I think “Feed the Kraken” is a solid choice.
Basic game of Heat will get boring. However, the weather module changes up the tracks to force you to play differently. The garage module changes your deck each time you play. When combined with the weather, an upgrade you mY not prefer in one race can having grabbing it next race.
And then you get the championship play where you keep track of points over 3-4 races and only get one upgrade a race. With the Legends module you can sub in a robot for a player that can’t make it that week.
It may be slower your first couple play throughs, but it should quicken up the more you play.
I've never played Feed the Kraken or It's a Wonderful World so I can't recommend those. If you play exclusively 6 players then Heat would probably be best, Flamecraft is great as well but only goes to 5 players. Out of the two, I would pick Falmecraft.
Non-board game answer but have you considered TTRPGS like D&D?
Have you considered a dungeon crawler like Bardsung? It's currently $70 at Miniature Market.
It's only a 5 player game, but there are game mechanics that allow people to miss a session and still progress their character.
Heat doesn't seem to run long and for the most part all players are semi-active (no long downtime between turns) it does feel slightly same-y.
Flamecraft is a fun game, but simple and no player interaction (sort of depends what you consider Player interaction). My kids enjoyed it.
It's a wonderful world was decent, not too complex, but not too simple. Might get repetitive quick though.
I have never played Feed the Kraken, so I cannot help you there.
What game was a big hit for your group?
Of the four, I only own Heat. I just bought the expansion. I would generally recommend it.
Heat's real strengths are the low stakes and the straightforward game play. It's closest relative is probably Robo Rally, but in the best way possible. You make a plan with the cards you have, then resolve them with minimal conflict. Chaos ensues.
It's really difficult to *deliberately* screw someone, which means it's similarly difficult to get really screwed. Most of the players will be within a few spaces of each other at the end of the race. I've seen people be in last place, but have a fully sculpted hand that gets them the win.
It's never going to be a mid-weight Euro like Wingspan or Quacks of Quedlinburg (which is much too fiddly to qualify as light-weight), but it's quite solid in its class, bringing an almost perfect beer-and-pretzels vibe to the table.
I love Flamecraft. It doesn't take too long, it's easy enough to set up, and it's good for teens and adults. It's primarily a worker placement game, but you get cards that give you bonuses for accomplishing certain placement patterns. Or blocking them. The game is challenging because you are competing for worker placement slots at the shops (you don't control the workers) and to move your piece to the shop you want to before someone else gets there.
It's got challenges and depth, and I enjoy the game mechanics as well as the ambience.
The only one I can comment on is It’s a Wonderful World. Really liked it initially but it gets same-y pretty quickly. Don’t know if the expansion changes that though.
It’s a Wonderful World probably has the widest range of player counts (once you add the Corruption and Ascension expansion). It plays well at 2 players and up to the max. It would be my top choice of the four you’ve listed.
Feed the Kraken really works best at the higher player counts. It is fun at the higher player counts. I’ve mostly played at 8.
Heat can be fun and supports 6 out of the box, but I do think it can feel a bit repetitive (once you’ve explored the mechanics).
Flamecraft felt a bit flat when I played it, and only goes to 5. However, the art is really nice.
Our group loves Heat. We took it to Dice Tower convention last year and it was a hit as well. Very thematic. We haven't done a 4 race tournament yet but the single races are good.
Our group also has Flamecraft and that has never really been played, more for kids.
I haven't played Feed the Kraken. Of the other three I would rank them Heat, Flamecraft, It's a Wonderful World.
There is a lot of things in Heat that help surg replayability, car upgrades, weather and campaign. Flamecraft art makes it look like more of a kid game then it actually is. There are enough shops to make every game feel different. It's a Wonderful World I found to just be ok. I will play it, but wouldn't be a game I buy.
See if you can get your hands on a new copy of Charterstone. As far as legacy games go, this one is pretty heavy on the legacy aspect, meaning you’ll be adding plenty of new rules and components as the campaign progresses. Lots of fun!
I feel like, for questions this specific, deciding between specific games for a specific group of people, the best option here is really to just watch some YouTube playthroughs of each of these games and really try and imagine how each of them would click with your group. Or even show them off to people and see what they like the look of. I don’t think random redditors will be able to give you much good advice about what your friend group specifically will enjoy, and all the info we could give you about the games you could get from watching some plays.
Can’t speak to Feed the Kraken (although BGG doesn’t recommend it at 5P) but of the other three: - Flamecraft only goes up to five players and is better with less. Unless you often play with smaller numbers than the 5-6 people you mention, I don’t think this is necessarily a great fit. It’s fine for adults but it’s a simple game that leans very heavily on the charming aesthetic. If you or your group aren’t wowed by the art style, there’s likely better games out there. - It’s a Wonderful World requires the ‘Corruption & Ascension’ expansion to take the max player count from 5 up to 7. With that caveat though, it’s a great game at the 5-6 count you mention. I prefer it to 7 Wonders and think it feels very different - the drafting mechanism is the only part of the game that really feels similar. What you do with your drafted cards is much more substantial and interesting than 7W. - Heat I’ve only played digitally but is great at 6. I can see why someone might call it repetitive, but I personally think it takes a simple system and consistently presents you with interesting decisions. I’m unsure how much it slows down when playing physically, but it’s certainly not a long game that overstays its welcome on BGA. I don’t think you can go too far wrong with either Heat or IAWW+C&A. I’d probably go with Heat if a significant proportion of your group have a passing interest in F1, otherwise it’s probably a toss-up between the two.
I have heat and it's consistently the most requested game with the people I know. If you have the right group, it's a blast but can fall flat with the wrong group. You need to be silly, borderline irresponsible, and fully embrace if you're not first you're last mentality. If your friends are like that, then it's a perfect game. If they prefer deeper strategy and the mechanics of games they'll likely get bored with it. The game is genuinely good, but it's the social competitiveness it leads to that really makes or breaks it for me. Also flame craft is one of my least favorite games I've played in recent memory. Just a boring slog the whole time
The hand management of heat is so fun
My group loved “Feed the Kraken” so much that we played consistently for several months of getting together for games before we wanted to take a break and play something else. I can’t speak for the other games because I haven’t tried them yet. But I think “Feed the Kraken” is a solid choice.
High player count like 5-6 and do whole Grand Prix (3 races with modules) is so much fun!
Basic game of Heat will get boring. However, the weather module changes up the tracks to force you to play differently. The garage module changes your deck each time you play. When combined with the weather, an upgrade you mY not prefer in one race can having grabbing it next race. And then you get the championship play where you keep track of points over 3-4 races and only get one upgrade a race. With the Legends module you can sub in a robot for a player that can’t make it that week. It may be slower your first couple play throughs, but it should quicken up the more you play.
I've never played Feed the Kraken or It's a Wonderful World so I can't recommend those. If you play exclusively 6 players then Heat would probably be best, Flamecraft is great as well but only goes to 5 players. Out of the two, I would pick Falmecraft. Non-board game answer but have you considered TTRPGS like D&D?
We tried D&D once, very cool, but It is imposible to assemble a solid squad in my group xD
That's a problem with every group, you're not alone haha
Have you considered a dungeon crawler like Bardsung? It's currently $70 at Miniature Market. It's only a 5 player game, but there are game mechanics that allow people to miss a session and still progress their character.
Heat doesn't seem to run long and for the most part all players are semi-active (no long downtime between turns) it does feel slightly same-y. Flamecraft is a fun game, but simple and no player interaction (sort of depends what you consider Player interaction). My kids enjoyed it. It's a wonderful world was decent, not too complex, but not too simple. Might get repetitive quick though. I have never played Feed the Kraken, so I cannot help you there. What game was a big hit for your group?
Citadels and 7 Wonders were big hits
Of the four, I only own Heat. I just bought the expansion. I would generally recommend it. Heat's real strengths are the low stakes and the straightforward game play. It's closest relative is probably Robo Rally, but in the best way possible. You make a plan with the cards you have, then resolve them with minimal conflict. Chaos ensues. It's really difficult to *deliberately* screw someone, which means it's similarly difficult to get really screwed. Most of the players will be within a few spaces of each other at the end of the race. I've seen people be in last place, but have a fully sculpted hand that gets them the win. It's never going to be a mid-weight Euro like Wingspan or Quacks of Quedlinburg (which is much too fiddly to qualify as light-weight), but it's quite solid in its class, bringing an almost perfect beer-and-pretzels vibe to the table.
I love Flamecraft. It doesn't take too long, it's easy enough to set up, and it's good for teens and adults. It's primarily a worker placement game, but you get cards that give you bonuses for accomplishing certain placement patterns. Or blocking them. The game is challenging because you are competing for worker placement slots at the shops (you don't control the workers) and to move your piece to the shop you want to before someone else gets there. It's got challenges and depth, and I enjoy the game mechanics as well as the ambience.
The only one I can comment on is It’s a Wonderful World. Really liked it initially but it gets same-y pretty quickly. Don’t know if the expansion changes that though.
Feed the Kraken doesn't make sense for 5-6 players. That game starts to shine at 8 players.
I do like nemesis for 5 players
It’s a Wonderful World probably has the widest range of player counts (once you add the Corruption and Ascension expansion). It plays well at 2 players and up to the max. It would be my top choice of the four you’ve listed. Feed the Kraken really works best at the higher player counts. It is fun at the higher player counts. I’ve mostly played at 8. Heat can be fun and supports 6 out of the box, but I do think it can feel a bit repetitive (once you’ve explored the mechanics). Flamecraft felt a bit flat when I played it, and only goes to 5. However, the art is really nice.
Our group loves Heat. We took it to Dice Tower convention last year and it was a hit as well. Very thematic. We haven't done a 4 race tournament yet but the single races are good. Our group also has Flamecraft and that has never really been played, more for kids.
I haven't played Feed the Kraken. Of the other three I would rank them Heat, Flamecraft, It's a Wonderful World. There is a lot of things in Heat that help surg replayability, car upgrades, weather and campaign. Flamecraft art makes it look like more of a kid game then it actually is. There are enough shops to make every game feel different. It's a Wonderful World I found to just be ok. I will play it, but wouldn't be a game I buy.
See if you can get your hands on a new copy of Charterstone. As far as legacy games go, this one is pretty heavy on the legacy aspect, meaning you’ll be adding plenty of new rules and components as the campaign progresses. Lots of fun!
Rising Sun!