Tabula Games is coming out with a new standalone game within the Mysthea Universe. Many previous titles like Mysthea, Icaion, Mysthea: The Fall, and Volfyirion also connect to this same world giving players many games to play with similar lore. Volfyirion Guilds is a fast-paced deck building game for 2 players and plays around 20-40 minutes. Again, this is a standalone game, so players will not need to own any previous titles, but it also can be combined with Volfyirion amplifying the classic game.
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The Story
Volfyirion Guilds takes placed immediately after the events included in the game Volfyirion and about 60 years before the events in the game Mysthea.
This story focuses on 5 major guilds, all created by the king of Mysthea. In the beginning, these guilds were both small and big Houses formed to pursue the common goal. It’s important to know that one of these biggest and elite guilds was formed and managed by the Volarees family, even though there were also many other smaller families associated with this guild. With time, the system that the king created brought a silent war of power among these guilds, with the focus on the Volarees Guild.
Disputes arose between between guilds and the strength of Volarees increased more and more with other guilds or houses disappearing including Rorius house. The king being a visionary and intelligent man knew it was time for a political challenge. He empowered other guilds, making sure that Volarees would not be the only powerful force inside his kingdom. His purpose was to divide the power accumulated by the Volarees House without releasing retaliations that could potentially undermine the entire political stability of his kingdom. Before the king made a huge move, he studied out the dynamics between the various families of Ilvash including their passions and weaknesses that could change the entire challenge.
The story continues as a new Qoam field is discovered at the bottom of one oof the farthest floating islands of Mysthea that hosted a very unique flower. Telron, a talented young Qoam manipulator identified unique properties within the petals of that flower. When those petals are turned into pulp and then burned, it produces fumes that induces divinatory powers when inhaled. Telron was granted ownership of the new field from the scholar guild, and Volaress claimed ownership for the discovery.
Both the scholar guild and Volaress discussed ownership of this new discovery with one side claiming the importance of studying it and the other the property rights of it. The king saw this and decided to rebalance powers among the guilds redistributing lands forming 5 guilds: Varorin the Guild of Merchants, Volarees the Guild of Nobility, Lusma the Guild of Faith, Kaetur the Guild of Soldiers, Magista the Guild of Scholars.
Years later the guilds fight for power using guerrilla and sabotage techniques. With time, luxurious palaces were transformed into command centers and were called Vaults for the secrets that were stored inside them. With time it was then mandatory to enroll in one of the guilds that represented that citizen’s interests. But with these changes, fighting between guilds for political and economical power arose ignoring the real needs of the population.
Mechanics
Volfyirion keeps all the mechanics used in the base game with an addition giving the game more depth. The game includes 110 new cards including new card types, new abilities, and some additional mechanics.
The main engine in the game is a system that uses points. Each card that’s played provides a combination of points, and during a turn the player can spend those points to perform actions.
In the game there are three types of points: command, wonder, and knowledge. Each of these points will allow for different actions to take place. Each player will start with the same cards but players will refine their deck to match their strategy to win the game. In addition, the cards have a system of colors that offer synergies to trigger powerful combinations and unleash chain effects.
What’s New with the Mechanics?
If you are familiar with the base game, then you might be wondering how this game differs form that one. Volfyirion Guilds introduces two new card types: Agents, and Vaults. These card types also introduce new mechanics into the game.
Agents – these cards will carry out delicate tasks for the guilds to perform. These cards also help reduce the randomness of the deckbuilding, helping to find ways to acquire certain cards and to improve the management of that turn.
Vaults – These are the most important areas of a guild’s command center. They contain all the secrets and valuables for that guild. These cards enhance the strategies and choices for players, but also remove the whims in seeking the conditions to trigger a specific combo. But these all come with a cost, as the vault’s abilities are unlocked when their owner loses a city. This helps the player who is at a disadvantage to be able to catch up to the runaway leader leading to a more balanced match.
Ways to Play the Game
Remember Volfyirion is a standalone game but can still be combined with the base game Volfyirion. As would be expected, if combining the game, it will change the game giving players different actions and an increased variety of cards.
Highlights of the Game
It’s a fast-paced game that only lasts 20-40 minutes with intense turns of lots of actions and decisions. The game is easy to learn and takes almost no time to setup yet hard to master as the game is highly strategic and every choice with have a significant impact on the turnout of the game. The game is also highly replayable and isn’t repetitive as you can choose to play your cards in many different ways combining cards to create synergies and focusing on different paths to victory. The new features in this game will increase the depth of an already very well-liked game adding in new cards with new abilities and new mechanics.
Again, you can play Volfyirion Guilds as a standalone game, or combine it with the base game Volfyirion causing a different gameplay. Additional content and extra rules are going to be released during the Kickstarter campaign, so we can hope for some nice surprises as well.
The Dragon Miniature
Word has been passed down that the 120mm dragon miniature will also be available not only for those interested in backing Volfyirion Guilds but to anyone interested in the dragon miniature itself.
Art
The art is done by Travis Anderson with 4 additional illustrators including Andrea Butera. The complete collection of illustrations will be available in a Volfyirion Guilds Artbook.
Price Point
The base game is 14€ which is $16.69. This includes 110 cards + Volfyirion Token + 4 Tarots + Rulebook.
The Box
The box will include a tray that separates spaces for the main deck, the additional cards and the iconic dragon meeple. The box will be different than the first card game as it will be horizontally oriented and made of a thicker material. The size will let the game be portable and easy to bring along to play in so may places without filling up more room than needed on your board game shelf. There will also be deluxe collector’s box available that will solve functional requirements for those who like sleeves, playmats, and supporting the tokens and components.
Is It Safe to Back a Game From Tabula Games?
Tabula Games is an indie board game publisher that established in 2017 and is based in Italy. Tabula Games has been using Kickstarter to help bring all their creations to life and has done it successfully with the following games:
2017 – Barbarians: The Invasion
2019 – Icaion and Mysthea: The Fall
2019 – Barbarians: The Invasion 2nd Edition
2020 – Sanctuary: The Keepers Era
So with so many titles under their belt already, this new campaign for Volfyirion Guilds will be safe to back. Tabula Games has also formed their own community of supporters who love the worlds and games they have created. You can explore each of their games including the lore, mechanics, and rulebooks for each on their website at Tabula Games.
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Images Courtesy of Tabula Games
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