Kiln

Kiln is a delightful and brilliant blend of player-driven creativity, melee brawler combat, and MOBA map design. Though it may be slightly lacking on content, it's a great game to unwind with, or to fire up with the family.

In Xbox’s sea of acquired game studios, Double Fine Productions has emerged as one of its most unique. A studio always excited to offer something new, Double Fine’s latest game, Kiln, is about possessed pottery doing battle.

I like Kiln’s cheeky humor and colorful style. I’m frankly amazed the game is more than just a wacky premise. The pottery-making sim aspect isn’t half bad. Unfortunately, Kiln feels constrained by a lack of alternative modes and maps, with systems and mechanics that could be deeper. In its present state Kiln is engaging for a while, but the fun doesn’t last long enough.

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Making your own pots in Kiln using the ever-growing range of options is delightful, truly allowing you to express yourself. And it's fun to take your pots into battle too, at least for a while. With just one match type currently available, Quench, things can soon get a little repetitive.

Unfortunately, there are negatives regarding the multiplayer aspects. If there were only a few tweaks to the system that would allow Kiln to be seen in a better light. Kiln is a fun alternative to most multiplayer games out on the market. Just like making a vase, Kiln needed more shaping before the final product came out.

A genuinely different kind of team multiplayer game, with exactly the sort of thoughtful weirdness you’d expect from Double Fine.

As far as premises go, Kiln follows the standard Double Fine formula by being completely unlike anything else out there. It's just a shame that it doesn't lead to a compelling pseudo-MOBA, party brawler or anything else in between.

Much like the pottery it's based on, Kiln is a game that has some creativity but is pretty empty on the inside.

Kiln has some cool ideas throughout, but the multiplayer-focused main gameplay loop and the lack of much beyond that fairly simple premise hold the game back. Crafting pots and messing around can be very enjoyable, but I don’t think that’ll be enough to sustain either your attention or the game for too long.