I felt a cold spot when I went near the door of my apartment the other day, and when I went to investigate a sudden wind blew the door back and revealed a box from Resonym Games. Upon opening I discovered Phantom Ink: Arcana, the stand-alone new expansion to the original Phantom Ink that was easily one of my favorite party games of the past few years. I’d clearly summoned up a preview copy of the game and, lest I anger the spirits, I think It’s best I dig right in to see just what the team at Resonym had brought to Kickstarter from beyond the veil.
What’s In The Box?
22 Arcana Cards (Gold Foil in the Kickstarter Edition)
75 New Question Cards
35 Object Cards
6 glass beads (Crystal Tokens in the Kickstarter Edition)
2 Pencils (Disappearing Ink pens in the Kickstarter Edition)
100 Page Pad
What’s New?
I covered the basic gameplay of Phantom Ink over in my review of the original, but in brief its a game where a team of “mediums” work to guess an object that the “spirit” player has chosen. The Spirit uses clues given by the Mediums to help them suss things out, writing each answer slowly one letter at a time. They can be stopped as soon as a Medium understands the answer, because if it’s too obvious then the other team might be able to steal. First team to guess their object wins.
Phantom Ink: Arcana adds over 200 new objects and 75 new question cards to the game, and if you thought some of the questions in the base game could get weird…hoo boy. See, part of the strategy is to have questions that are obtuse enough in answer that they help prevent a steal. Arcana adds to that with new clues like “What stresses it?“, “What would it advertise on TV?”, “If it were human, what first name would it have?”, and my personal favorite, “What would a wizards do with it?”
The Arcana cards are an absolutely brilliant addition to the game, adding a great way to mix up the game and make things easier (or harder) as needed for the teams that play them strategically. They’re also just beautiful to look at (especially the gold foil versions I was sent that come in the Kickstarter edition), with art that evokes the classic Major Arcana of the tarot but still fitting the esoteric darkness of Phantom Ink. These cards also introduce crystals to the game, a resource used to pay for the cards.
Finally, the game adds in a 2-3 player co-op mode, which challenges the team to guess a word in 8 rounds or less. It mixes the gameplay up in a few ways. First, there’s no Silencio. Instead, the Spirit chosen can only write a set number of letters for each clue, which increases as the game goes on. Second, the Sun and Moon turns alternate playstyles: Sun turns are normal while Moon turns let you guess or “ask for Guidance” by having the Spirit answer a question card drawn from the deck. I’m a really big fan of this mode of play, since one of the big issues with truly fun party games is the difficulty there can be trying to play with…smaller parties. This solves this problem beautifully, creating a co-op mode just as creative and challenging as the full game.
Phantom Ink Arcana adds a lot to the base Phantom Ink game, and if you’re a fan of the original this is a great way to add to your games. But if you’ve never played Phantom Ink, this might actually be an even better version of the original thanks to the refined and more creative questions, the more varied gameplay brought on by the Arcana cards, and the co-op option that allows smaller group sizes. Plus that new shiny purple cover is just plain snazzy.
You can back Phantom Ink: Arcana on Kickstarter, with the base edition going for $28 and the upgraded Kickstarter Edition set at $32. The game is set for full release at your FLGS later this year, at an MSRP of $27.95.
Images via Resonym Games
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