Shards of Creation

Shards of Creation ended up almost at the top of the children’s preferences, and not by accident. It gave us many pleasant games on holiday, even during the twelve-hour ferry ride home, while the group at the next table, playing Uno to kill time, watched us with obvious envy. I was tempted to go over and convert them too, but they were all girls and I did not want to provoke the wrath of the gods. Besides, Nolan had already shown us in practice where hubris leads.

At its core, Shards is a trick-taking game. Its flow rests on rounds of card play and on the different “shards,” the card sets the players choose to use. It is a simple, direct framework for getting younger players into the spirit of things, without the game immediately running out of steam.

Interaction comes through that very contest for tricks, but also through which card sets are on the table. In their first one or two games, the children preferred the simpler options, such as Cultivation and Honor. After many games, though, their vote shifted clearly toward the more complex sets, Odium and Preservation. There you have it: a game that does not remain stuck at the easy level, but naturally draws you toward the next step.

My verdict is simple: Shards is very good. And perhaps there is hope for the new generation, provided we are willing to take them by the hand rather than grab them by the face.