Aeon's End

I did not expect to like a deckbuilder so much without eyeing the person next to me suspiciously, but Aeon's End managed it. It is cooperative, flows very nicely, and after only two plays it already left me feeling that it has plenty of replayability.

At its core, it is a shared effort against the enemies rather than a contest between players. It does not have the direct confrontation some people may look for in other deckbuilders; instead, everyone is facing the same problem and trying to build their decks well enough to withstand the pressure.

The enemies have their own clever “engines,” and that is what keeps the game alive. In both games I played, the situation felt convincingly balanced on a knife-edge: we could win, or we could end up as stew. That uncertainty makes the cooperation matter, without the game needing to turn aggressive between us.

I would happily take it as an honest solitaire game, especially because it plays very well solo and with two. So far I liked it more than Thunderstone, and if the next three or four plays confirm this first impression, I will probably start hunting down the expansions too.