The starless nights have, unfortunately, returned. Now, Seekers, it’s up to you to disperse the energy of the Vainglory’s Grotto Well to stop the Master from being unleashed and wreaking havoc on the world as we know it. Use your kinfire lanterns, alongside a bit of strategy and luck, to seek out epic victory and get out safely.

What Is It?

Cooperative – Players work together (or 1 player goes in solo) to take down the Vainglory master

Action Selection / Multi-Use Cards – Each turn the active Seeker can interact with an event or challenge card. For events, players read and perform the text on the cards. For challenges, players can choose to play an action card of an appropriate type (color) to contribute a base value. Action cards may also provide a benefit to the player (i.e. draw cards, give bonuses to certain challenge types, et cetera). Then, the other player can boost that action up to twice, if they have a card with a matching boost at the bottom, to add to the value (in solo you may boost your own actions)

Dice Rolling – After card plays, the active Seeker will roll the 4 dice to, hopefully, add additional value to the challenge. Some challenge cards will also change the values of certain die faces.

Variable Player Powers – Each Seeker’s deck/cards are unique, plus they have a unique passive ability, and a unique lantern card which they can use as an action card if they are lucky enough to flip it over.

Who Is It For?

  • 1 to 2 Players – It works well at either count, but I personally really preferred it at 2 because I think the decks and abilities work really well together, which makes for a more interesting game
  • Ages 14 & Up / Mid-Weight Gamers – Gameplay is fairly streamlined, but there’s definitely some strategy that might be harder for younger or less experienced gamers
  • Fans of cooperative games and variable powers/decks
  • Players who don’t mind a bit of luck between both card draws and dice rolls

PROS

  • Aesthetics – Gorgeous artwork, stunning cards – many with gold foil or UV printing
  • Components – Cards are excellent quality; nice dice; average cardboard tokens; box is very sturdy
  • Rules – Well-written, no issues learning from them
  • Interesting decision making of what challenge to attempt when, what actions are best suited for challenges, when to boost versus save cards
  • Cards/dice are colored to denote type, but each color also has a different symbol which I appreciate for color blindness
  • Player decks/powers feel very balanced and synergize so well
  • Good level of challenge without being overly difficult
  • Small variety of final bosses

CONS

  • Rules – The rulebook has a list of achievements as well as ads for their other game in the middle of the book. Both things that I would expect at the end of the rulebook so that it did not interrupt the flow of learning
  • Length – Game can run a little long for what it is, especially because of the luck of what cards come out
    • Luck – Sometimes you won’t see any events/healing in the game, making it much more challenging
  • I wish there were more opportunities to light your lanterns
  • The flow of the game is very similar play to play, so I do question the overall replay value of the game

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thought the game was pretty cool. It looks amazing, and there are a lot of unique challenges and card combos, so it’s fun to strategize and work out your best moves turn to turn, while still having that intensity that comes from the luck of the dice rolls.

While getting exhausted (running out of cards) is pretty much avoidable during the game at some point, you definitely feel like you can prepare for it when you’re getting close. Plus, if you’re lucky enough to see certain cards, you may be able to remove exhaustion to keep yourself in the game longer.

I definitely think that the game is perfect for 2. I played the solo as well, but I just didn’t feel like my deck was strong enough, and many turns I just wanted to do so much more. It also took me much longer to complete challenges in most cases. At 2, I think the decks works so well together, and it really elevates the experience.

If you like 2 player co-op card games – check it out!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 6/10

Designer – Kevin Wilson
Artists – Katarzyna Bekus, Sandra Chlewińska,
Weronika Kozyra, Katarzyna Redesiuk
Publisher – Incredible Dream Studios
MSRP – $19.99
Website

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

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