Sand Castle Games RA0101 Res Arcana, Mixed Colours,Standard

Product Information

I thought Res Arcana would feel like Race for the Galaxy with a fantasy theme, but it doesn't. It's much easier to see what cards are going to work well together. It's also easier to teach and learn, and the graphic design and symbology are cleaner. I enjoy both games a lot and will be keeping both, but would be more likely to pull Res Arcana off the shelf because it's such a smooth experience. Cards generally provide you with essences (fire, water, life etc.) in the first phase, which you will spend to trigger powers, take over a Place of Power, or a Monument. These 'buildings' are essentially just more arsenal for your tableau with income and powers of their own. The Warrior's Hall has a power that gives every player one Elan essence. It's a fairly weak ability, but it can be worth using if you really want that essence and know your opponent(s) can't do much with it. All Monuments have a power. The exception is the Great Pyramid, which compensates by being the only one worth 3 points instead of 1 or 2. Additionally, the Obelisk is a virtual vanilla that gets you 6 essences when you buy it, but does nothing after that point.

After using a scroll's power, it is returned to the center (where it can be claimed again by Inscription). Since the game almost always ends on turn 4 in competitive circles, you can calculate exactly what the yield will be by the final turn. Magical Shard, a card that taps for a single essence, has no cost, so you might think that it net’s you an essence on the first turn. However, since cards can be discarded for 2 essences, there is an implicit cost of 2 essences on top of every artifact card’s actual cost. This is when things start to get heavy, as most Places of Power generate at least one victory point every round. If you're not almost ready to buy a Place of Power now too, you could fall by the wayside. To mitigate the dragons' status as Awesome, but Impractical outside of Dragon's Lair strategies, both expansions bring in new game pieces to help them: Lux et Tenebrae gives them a new Place of Power with the Dragon Aerie. Perlae Imperii adds the Dragon Tamer, a mage tailored for them with one power that makes them cheaper and one power that straightens them.Had my regular Cthulhu Wars crew over today. We usually try to start with something else (we've been playing a fair amount of Tiny Epic Crimes lately) and when talking about a couple other games, I... Res Arcana now supports 2-5 players, with the number of Places of Power and monuments varying with the number of players. All magic items are always available. In effect, Perlae Imperii adds a little more to every aspect of the base game, just as the first expansion did: artifacts, mages, monuments, magic items and places of power. But it’s more than the sum of its parts as, yet again, there is a new mechanical flavour this time in the form of pearls.

Blood Sport: Implied. The Duelist can generate a Gold essence if you pay 1 Death essence. In other words, they kill their opponent and make money.Res Arcana is from Tom Lehmann, the mind behind Race for the Galaxy, and, while this is not the same game or even a sibling of it, it shares the same DNA.

Final Score: 5 Stars – A remarkably elegant and simple game to learn, Res Arcana reveals itself to gamers through repeated plays, and delivers a rewarding game experience for all levels of player.Midas Touch: The Ring of Midas is a nod to the Midas touch — it can be turned to make gold, but also references the downside of Midas's power with its ability to turn life essences into gold. It might be an exciting idea to play all 8 of your artifacts, but unlike most other engine building games, more isn’t always merrier. If you spend all your turns ramping up your resource production, you’ve spent a ton of resources doing it, and you’ve spent very few of those resources on scoring points. And that’s not how you win a race. But I’d say the Sea Serpent is the best dragon of the bunch. Its high cost is a boon with the Sacrificial Dagger or the Sacrificial Pit. Additionally, it scores very nicely with the Sorcerer’s Bestiary, netting you a cool 4 points total. F Tier Typically, it will just get discarded, but the marginal utility of being that last point you need is worth something. The Dragons One of the cool things about Res Arcana is that if you are the first to pass during the round, you take the first player token which counts as one victory point. This can (and often does) mean the difference between winning and losing. I remember a few games where my opponent was bang-on ten points with the token and I managed to get eleven points just to scrape in there with a win. I also remember times I wanted to pass with nine points, but my opponent beat me to it, and I lost by one measly action.

Res Arcana is an engine-builder from designer Tom Lehmann. Tom Lehmann is probably most well known as the designer of Race for the Galaxy, which is definitely one of the classic engine building games in our hobby. We are among many fans of the game, despite the standard complaint about overwhelming symbology. Noble Bird of Prey: The Hawk has a noble-looking illustration and is mechanically tied to the Life and especially Calm essences. Moreover, its abilities are tied to knowledge and Psychic Powers. If at any time you have more than 5 of the same essence in your personal stash, you may take 5 of that essence and replace it with a 5x essence chip found in the middle of the essence tray. In some ways, Res Arcana reminds me of a Donald X. Vaccarino design more than a Tom Lehmann design, especially in how these modular pieces combine to create a malleable, emergent matrix of potential decisions that lead to that sense of revelatory combinations and uncovering hidden pathways along the development curve. It's incredible to see this range of options bloom over such a short playtime - we're talking 30-45 minutes here. Turns have an almost puzzle-like feel as players navigate this matrix of options and effects, but it's more than just the cards and their powers. Timing is also a key concern- you'll want to be able to identify when it's worth the essences to play an Artifact, determine when a card will be more valuable discarded to gain two essences or one gold at the expense of the card being unavailable for most of the game, and when to pass so that you can select a specific Magic Item you need for the next turn. The impact is that the solutions you discover- and I can't emphasize enough that there is a thematic sense of growing revelation through play- are tremendously satisfying. Discard an artifact: discard an artifact from your hand to your discard pile to gain 1 gold or any 2 other essences (either the same or different).Each player shuffles their artifact cards and places them into a pile in front of them face-down. Then each player draws the top 3 cards to form their starting hand. Card Cycling: Divining things has this as a theme. Draw 3 cards then discard 3 cards. In the game design, its purpose is to help a player dig for a card they need, or just bail them out of a bad draw by replacing bad cards with better ones: Place an Artifact – Play an artifact from your hand to the table in front of you. Pay the cost in resources as shown in the upper left corner of the cards Angry Guard Dog: The Guard Dog is an angry-looking dog with a spiked collar and Glowing Eyes of Doom. In gameplay, it's able to scare off dragons. Once you run out of actions you pass, the first player to pass gains the first player marker (worth one point), then draws a card and trades in their item for another. Once all players have passed the round ends and unless someone has 10 points a new round will begin. Amy’s Thoughts