Designed and illustrated by Zion Wu and published by Giza Games, Age of EON is a duelling card game where players each have three demigod characters. They deploy one character each round and are competing in three combat zones. The player who wins at least two of the three combats in a round defeats and retires their opponent's character, and the game ends when a player has lost all three of their characters; so after a minimum of three and a maximum of five rounds.
The game comes with four attack decks, and you choose two to play with. The attack cards are the same in both decks: they are numbered 1-10, representing the card's strength but with the three lowest value cards (1-3) having a potentially powerful additional effect when played. Each round you'll draw and play with seven of the ten cards in your deck. You take turns playing an attack card face up to one of three 'land' cards in play. However, each land card will also have a card randomly on top indicating whether it is subject to physical or magical attack. Cards 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 10 can make physical attacks; cards 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10 can make magical attacks; and you can only play a card face up to a location where it can make a valid attack. The other limitation is that you have space for a maximum of three cards apiece at any location.
Of course there's more. Where the land card matches your deck, the 7 and 9 cards have boosted strength. Players have access to two 'Sacred Seal' cards, each of which can be used to block one of your opponent's three spaces at a location. The timing of when to play these can be crucial to winning a location. And tho' each player's attack cards are the same, the character cards are very different. Each of your three demigod characters has a single use per round 'mighty force' special effect that can only be activated when the total value of the attack cards in play meets the threshold (14, 16 or 18, depending on the character card). These single-use cards are all very different and all potentially game changing, and optimising activation of a power, and anticipating your opponent's activation, are central to developing a winning strategy. Activate your special power too early and its impact may well be dulled but there are risks too in leaving it too long - and you're barred from using the power on your last turn in the round.
In summary, the Infernia (red deck) characters manipulate the deck; the Aten (yellow deck) cards let you switch cards that have already been played; the Yonashiro cards allow you to flip cards; and the Tikan (green deck) boost card strengths and protect them from being manipulated by an opponent.
The low-value cards take up precious space on your side of the table but they can have a powerful effect in negating an opponent's high-value card by causing it to be flipped... Having drawn 7 cards from the 10 in their deck, it's highly likely that your opponent will be holding at least one of the 1-3 cards that might flip your 10, so you may feel the need to hold that card back, with the risk that a 'Sacred Seal' card might yet block you from playing it to the location you need it most.
With most games running to around 15-20 minutes, Age of EON is an easy to play filler-length game. We've found from our plays at Board's Eye View that it can be surprisingly addictive. We weren't sucked in by the background game lore but we found the subtlety of game play, including making the most effective use of our particular demigod character card powers, revealed a depth of strategy that hadn't been immediately obvious at first glance. It's been fun too seeing how the different powers work against each other.
Age of EON is due to launch on Kickstarter on 20 February. Click here to register your interest and to make sure you don't miss Giza Games' launch day 'Early Bird gift'.