Aristeia!

By my fifth game, against an opponent on only their third, Aristeia! had already made it clear that it is not spent after one clever first impression. There is real depth here, and it has given me an experience as satisfying as Shadespire’s — perhaps better in the right circumstances — without asking me to do homework on the metagame away from the table.

The sequence is exactly right: open the box, choose a scenario, draft, then start throwing punches. The draft is not window dressing. It is where you begin asking which character will face which problem, and what sort of trouble your team is bringing with it.

Then the scenario and the chosen characters shape the confrontation, rather than sending you away to build decks or chase developments between games. You do lose deckbuilding, yes, but you gain a complete contest that starts at once and keeps the decisions where they belong: across the table from your opponent.

My first outing with the Smoke & Mirrors characters was a very good one; I liked them, and they noticeably changed the terms of the game. When time is short but the appetite for a properly arranged scrap is not, Aristeia! is a thoroughly satisfying package.