Sand Castle Games RA0101 Res Arcana, Mixed Colours,Standard

Product Information

I’m not sure that Res Arcana does anything revolutionary, but it’s exactly the kind of clean engine builder that I enjoy. The barrier to entry is much lower than in Race for the Galaxy. The symbology is super clear and there is a player aid should you need it. We didn’t find it necessary after two or three games. The two-player game only lasts 20-30 minutes, which does give you enough time to build and execute a really lean engine, unlike other engine builders that might last longer and still feeling like you never used the engine you created.

As I said in the review there is a take-that mechanic but it's not very exciting. It doesn't often get triggered and when it does it's not very interesting. The fun of the game is racing to beat your opponents to the Places of Power, especially when you are vying for the same ones. The TasteTake the 8 Magic Item cards and place them in a row for all players to see, preferably below the Places of Power. Brutal Bird of Prey: The resemblance to an angry bird of prey contributes to the creepy appearance of the Jeweled Statuette, which can produce a lot of Death essences for you and even gives some to your opponents.

Lux and Tenebrae expands Res Arcana to 5 players, adds a new artifact type -Demons- and introduces Scrolls: special one use powers that can be gained one round and used or saved for future rounds. Bard: Discarding an artifact with multiple types (Sea Serpent, Hound of Death) produces only 2, not 4 gold. Let’s look at the designer, Tom Lehmann, and his body of work. His most celebrated game is Race for the Galaxy… wait. There’s that word again. Res. Race. Race Arcana. Magic Race. Well, hot damn, I think we’ve figured this thing out. Now that we have that sorted out, Magic Race… er… Res Arcana is a fantasy-themed card- drafting (emphasis my own, more on that shortly) and engine-building game for 2-4 players that takes about 45 minutes to play, and plays well at all player counts. But make no mistake; that engine you’re building fuels a fast-paced sprint to be the first to score 10 points. Gameplay Overview:That is one of the greatest stunts I've ever seen, and surely one of the greatest stunts ever filmed. I don't even remember the movie, but I sure remember that train stunt. Claim a Place of Power – Pay the cost of the Place as seen in the upper left corner of the card and move it from the center of the table to the area in front of you. It will be yours for the rest of the game. Water Is Blue: Cards that portray water (Hypnotic Basin, Mermaid, Sunken Reef, Seafarer, Diving Cord, Blood Isle, Pearl Bed) have it drawn in blue. Additionally, the blue Calm essence resembles a drop of water. The Bard: Lux et Tenebrae introduces the Bard mage, whose special ability allows you to discard a creature, dragon or demon card to gain 2 Gold — presumably the bard tells a story about the creature/dragon/demon in question and is paid for it. The game can start in a couple of different ways, you either draw a hand of cards, use the introductory game settings or you draft cards.

Remove an artifact from your hand and place it face-up in front of you by paying its “cost” in essences which is found on the top left corner of the card. Yes, the rulebook suggests two different game variations that would work for 2-4 players or for 2 players only to change the game up a bit! How can I find out more information for each specific card/component? The intent is to make the two-player game tighter and the four-player game looser, and it does just that very well. And just like Lux et Tenebrae, it fits in the base box too, with the pearls occupying the central void in the essences tray…. I knew something would end up there. Overall, A Winner! Dragons are expensive, but there are many ways to play them at a discount: The Dragon's Lair and the Dragon Bridle passively decrease their cost by 3 essences each. The Dragon Teeth artifact lets you tap it and discard 3 Elan to play any dragon (except for the extremely expensive Ancient Dragon, which has an Obvious Rule Patch forbidding it) for free. The Dragon Tamer can be tapped to let you play one at a 2-essence discount. Many of these cards also have other Dragon synergies. Blow That Horn: The Conch Battle Horn is an example of a destructive horn: its first power creates a bunch of Death essences, and the second ability can destroy any one of your artifacts.Smart People Wear Glasses: The male Demonologist wears glasses and is implied to be intelligent — he's portrayed studying a book, and he's capable of growing demons in People Jars. Res Arcana never outstays it's welcome. It's the perfect lunchtime game or opener. Although if you're like me, you'll want play it again immediately, try out a different Mage (they all have a unique ability), and flip the Places of Power to their reverse side. For a game with such a small set of cards, it has loads of replayability. Res Arcana, Tom Lehmann's newest design, might just be his masterpiece. It takes a lot to blow me away these days, but Mr. Lehmann apparently figured out the right combination to do exactly that. This is an innovative, evolutionary design with fresh ideas and a razor-sharp focus. It's a lean set of rules and mechanisms that uses a brilliant combination of modular elements to create satisfying, compelling gameplay. You might be inclined to peg this as another resource conversion or tableau-building game and to some degree you'd be correct, but I don't think I've ever played a game in this design space that manages to balance accessibility with intricacy so well. If there is a tie for the most Victory Points, the player who has the most essence in their personal supply (with gold counting as double) will break the tie!

Games are rated for how salty (competitive), tasty (replayable) and spicy (original) they are. The Salt Gold is more valuable than the other four elements: it's the only one that lets you buy Monuments, and it has the distinction that discarding a card only gets you one Gold, as opposed to the usual 2 essences.Now, at first glance, this far from blew me away. It looked like it might create unnecessary bloat and a slower and stodgier experience. But not so once you play it though.