Shards of Infinity

Shards of Infinity makes no attempt to hide that it is a familiar deck-builder recipe, and honestly, it does not need to. It is quick, pleasant, and very clear about what it wants to do: collect cards, build something up, and, when the time comes, throw punches by the bucketful. It produces both resentment and joy, which is exactly what I want from a game that lets me give the player across the table a meaningful look.

You begin with ten cards, draw five, play them, buy from the available centre, deal your damage wherever you can, then refill your hand before the turn passes to the next player. The flow is classic and recognisable to anyone who has touched a centre-drafting deck builder, without loading the process up with unnecessary bells and whistles.

The difference I felt most is the interaction. If you choose that direction, attacks keep landing, while the choices in card collection open up plenty of strategies and nice combos. The focus mechanism is especially interesting: a third statistic that rises slowly, strengthens certain cards, and acts as the main race condition. Reach 30 and you can deal infinite damage, so simply buying whatever looks shiny is not enough.

Yes, there is plenty of luck, as there is in centre-drafting games. Even so, the system feels very well worked out here, and the result stays enjoyable. I have already bought the expansions, but I have not opened them yet because I am not remotely tired of the base card pool. And at such a great price, with no bells, whistles, or perfume, it is hard for me to complain. I will return to it.