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.
My experience with Double Fine is more limited than I had originally thought, as my deep and long-held love for all things Psychonauts blinded me to the fact that those are the only Double Fine games I’ve really played. Still, the general aesthetic of the studio’s titles is greatly appealing to me, as is the quirky humor they’re known for. Because of this, I was super ready to play Kiln and see what the latest offering from Double Fine had going for it, and though there are certainly enjoyable parts, I was a bit underwhelmed by the total package.
Most of Kiln is spent in “Quench” mode – the 4v4 team-based brawling mode that pits you and your allies against enemy pots as both teams attempt to douse the other’s kiln. While navigating stage hazards and enemy players trying to break you, you have to try to fill your pot up with water, then get the water over to the opposing team’s kiln to splash it without dying. It can certainly be challenging to get the water all the way to the other side of the map, and there are some thrillingly tense moments when you run into foes while filled with liquid or when the kilns’ health bars are tight.
It’s just that there isn’t much to the gameplay beyond that. There aren’t very many stages to play on, and the loop of running to the other kiln and brawling with other pots gets old fairly quickly. After playing each stage a couple of times, I didn’t notice much variety in matches, even when using different pot shapes or strategies. The novelty wore off somewhat quickly, which is an unfortunate thing for such a multiplayer-focused game. I hope more levels are added in the near future, as it feels like there just isn’t enough content in the game as it is.
Additionally, outside of playing these matches and making pots, there’s nothing much to do in Kiln. “Multiplayer-focused” might be selling it short, as there’s no singleplayer component, or even the ability to play against bots instead of people, so your only option is to play this pretty repetitive mode with other players. This seemingly means that if the game were to ever go offline, you’d essentially be stuck with, at most, the ability to craft pottery.
That being said, the pottery-making aspect of Kiln is its greatest strength. Being able to freely mold your blob of clay on the pottery wheel into whatever aesthetically pleasing or straight-up bizarre receptacle you can imagine is a blast, especially as you level up. Playing and winning matches leads to level-ups, which grant you new decorations and tools to use on the wheel. Soon enough, you’re able to craft the strangest shapes and use all sorts of pieces and glazes to fire up some wild pieces of pottery, which feels incredibly satisfying in a way that’s almost hard to describe.
Making pots in Kiln can change the way you play.
If that weren’t enough for you, there’s a decent amount to think about beyond the look of your pot when making it. Shaping your works in certain ways turns them into distinct archetypes with their own special moves, and a piece’s width and height determine whether it leans towards carrying more water at the cost of fragility or enduring plenty of smacks at the cost of water capacity. This adds a bit of much-needed depth to Kiln, and switching between different types of ceramics in matches can even be a bit strategic.
The art style and sounds of Kiln are also appealing, oozing that colorful charm that Double Fine consistently pulls off. The Greek mythology-inspired aesthetic is very creative and unlike any other take on Greek mythology I’ve seen, which is impressive given how widely it’s been adapted. I also never got tired of the sounds of smashing pots, which might say more about my psyche than anything else. Regardless, it all sounds great here.
The Final Word
Kiln looks great and has a creative idea at its base, but it gets old fairly quickly and doesn’t seem, like it’ll have the longest shelf life. Making pottery is incredibly well-realized and satisfying, and the team-based matches have their moments, but the main gameplay loop gets tiresome, and the lack of stages and content beyond Quench mode makes the game feel more empty than you’d expect.
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