Multiplayer-only games had a boom period around a decade ago, with millions of players playing them constantly. Overwatch was the most popular hero shooter, while battle royales such as PUBG and Fortnite revolutionised the gaming industry as a whole.
In more recent years, newer multiplayer-only games have failed to make a splash. Sony's Concord cost $69.99 NZD at launch, but the whole game was shut down only two weeks later due to a very low player count.
This year saw the demise of Highguard, another PvP hero shooter, which lasted only 45 days. Even Bungie's Marathon is struggling with low player counts despite being critically acclaimed by most critics.
The only reason I'm talking about multiplayer-only games is that Microsoft has released its own game this year called Kiln. Kiln is developed by Double Fine, which is known as the maker of the popular Psychonauts series.
Instead of being a hero shooter, Kiln actually tries to be something different for a change. This is because you assume the role of a spirit that takes control of a pot. As you control the pot, you have to extinguish the fire of your opponent's kiln to win matches.
The pot can fill itself with water, and you press the right trigger to squirt it at the opponent's kiln. Kilns in the game have three health bars, so you have to squirt them multiple times to extinguish the fire.
Aside from extinguishing fires, every pot can also fight, too. By pressing the X button on an Xbox controller, pots can somewhat punch other pots to break them apart. Every pot also has its own special move that can even do more damage.
Each match lasts around 10 minutes, and it's a 4v4 match online. Sadly, there are no offline modes whatsoever apart from the mandatory tutorial levels at the beginning. However, player counts for this game are not minuscule thanks to the fact that this game is available for Game Pass subscribers on PC and Xbox.
The only problem I have with the game right now is the lack of content. Kiln only has five levels available at launch, and there is only one game mode to play thus far. That said, a roadmap has been scheduled with more content coming in the near future, such as new maps and customisation options.
Speaking of customisation, decorating your pot is one of Kiln's best features. After you finish the tutorial, you are free to sculpt your own pot. You can make your combat pot as small or as big as possible.
A big pot is able to carry lots of water, but you have little health. On the flip side, a small pot carries tiny amounts of water, but your health is much larger.
Having a balanced team of big and small pots is the best way to play the game, in my opinion. From my experience, though, a medium pot with good health and decent water capacity is the key to victory.
When you play lots of matches, you level up your rank, and this, in turn, allows you to earn lots of decorations and currency. Aside from stickers, you can paint your pot or add other things like handles, glazes, and more.
Despite having a unique premise, I found the gameplay loop of Kiln to be really repetitive after only a few matches. All you are really doing is going to the other side of the map to extinguish the fire of your opponent's kiln. This game really needed more than one game mode or other objectives to prevent the monotony of its gameplay.
Not to mention, PS5 and Xbox players are still getting charged a multiplayer fee just to play this game. If you don't have an online subscription for this game on consoles, you won't be able to play it.
Overall, Kiln actually tries something different with its gameplay, which is great, but the game suffers from a lack of content at launch. The game might get better in the future with more maps, but right now, Kiln isn't worth playing at launch.
Verdict: 6.5/10