While Thandar is home to all different types of beings, it is not always all peace and prosperity. Sometimes, champions get at each others’ throats, abilities are put to the test, and factions must stand together to overcome adversaries. Let’s see how you stack up against the competition!

What Is It?

Deck Building – Players start with a basic deck of cards, either all identical to one another, or asymmetric based on a chosen character. They will have to build an improved deck by purchasing action, item, and champion cards. Actions and items are played for various effects (attack, gold, healing, et cetera) while champions stay out in front of players once played, to help in protecting their health, and so players can use them again on future turns.

PvP – The goal of the game is to take other players out (how many varies based on play variant). Players are constantly attacking each other’s champions, and their health directly.

Who Is It For?

  • 2 to 4 Players – I think it scales well, and there are various options to keep the game fresh at different player counts too
  • Ages 12 and up – Pretty small ruleset, so great for a wide range of ages
  • Fans of deck building where you are trying to take out other players instead of building up points
  • Fans of Star Realms who might prefer fantasy theme

Variants / Expansions

Free-For-All (2+ Players) – Everyone can target everyone. Last player standing wins.
Hunter – First Blood (3+) – Players can only attack the player to their left, but may attack champions on their left and right. When a player is eliminated, the player to their right wins.
Hunter – Last One Standing (3+) – When someone is eliminated, the player on their right gains 10 health. Last one standing wins.
Hydra (4 Players, 2 Teams) – Teams share health score, players all have their own decks. Players take shared turns, but have their own pools. When a team’s health is 0, all players on that team lost.

I think that all of the variants work well, and having different options helps to keep each play feeling a little different. I’m partial to free-for-all, because it allows players to gang up on a leader and try to keep the playing field as even as possible throughout. I like the team game the least, because it adds more time to the game, since you are likely going to be discussing strategy with your partner, even though you make independent decisions.

Character Packs – These different characters add new starting decks for players, as well as special ability cards plays can use during the game; one ongoing and one one-time use. I really like the character packs, as they add a nice level of uniqueness to the start of the game, and I think it’s cool to see how players might tailor their strategy to the cards the began with.

Emperor (6 Players) – With character packs (or 2 copies of the game) players can split into 2 teams of 3 and play as 2 Commanders, 1 Emperor per team, with limited targeting rules until players start to get eliminated. Again, I’m not as big a fan of the team play just because I feel like it bogs down the game a bit.

PROS

  • Aesthetics – Nice art across all the cards
  • Variability – The store deck is a decent size, and you can make a ton of different combos with the cards of the same factions, so you can take a different strategy every game
  • Smooth game play / quick turns
  • Small box / easily portable – 5 character packs also fit into the box, as long as you do not sleeve
  • I think the character packs add a lot to the game, I really like them

CONS

  • Rules – Instead of a rulebook, it is a folded up sheet, which I really dislike for rule books as they are harder to reference
  • Theme – I like the art to go with the theme, but it nothing about the game really brings me into the world, so the theme is more or less irrelevant

Final Thoughts

If you like deck building games, this one is a solid choice for your collection. I love the various options you have, since the different factions all have different strengths/focuses, so you can really try out new strategies every time. There are a lot of great combos you can make, especially once you become more familiar with the factions.

If you prefer games where you are vying for points, instead of trying to take other players out, then this might not be the best choice for you. But if you don’t mind a bit of PvP, then it’s worth checking out!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 7/10

Designer – Robert Dougherty, Darwin Kastle
Artists – Randy Delven, Vito Gesualdi, Antonis Papantoniou
Publisher – Wise Wizard Games
MSRP – $23.99 (Base Game); $5.99 (Character Packs)
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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