Explore a mysterious continent with 2-6 players where time moves forward on each of your turns while you seek specific resources to fulfill the goals you lay out as your journey progresses. There are two types of cards used in Faraway. Region Cards are displayed in a central area and are the backbone of the game. Sanctuary Cards are in a stack next to Region Cards and players may draw them when/if they meet the requirement needed to obtain them.
Gameplay:
- Exploration - Players start with three Region cards in their hand. Each turn, players choose one of these cards to place down in front of them and to the right of their previous played card. Play continues until all players have placed eight cards. Region cards have a number referred to as the “exploration duration” in their upper left-hand corner. Next to this number, there may be clue symbols. Cards may also contain wonders (uddu stones, chimera, or thistle symbols) in their upper right-hand corner. Finally, there will be different types of quests on the lower right of these cards, and many will have a pre-requisite that requires specific symbols be present to earn fame points. The goal in laying out these cards is to complete quests to earn fame points.
- Gain Sanctuary Cards – If the last placed Region card had a higher “exploration duration” number than the previous card, players may draw a Sanctuary card, and an additional card for each clue symbol found on both the Region card and previously earned Sanctuary cards. Sanctuary cards contain quests that award points, symbols to help meet quest goals on Region cards, and clue symbols to earn extra Sanctuary cards.
- End of Exploration phase – Starting with the player with the lowest “exploration duration” number just played and going in ascending order, players choose one new Region card from the display to add to their hand. Next, they choose one of the Sanctuary cards they just obtained to add to their play area below their Region cards. Finally, new Region cards are chosen for the display, unless the 8th round of play is complete.
After eight rounds of play, the game ends and scoring proceeds as follows: All players flip all Region cards facedown and one at a time, moving from right to left, reveal and score fame points using both Sanctuary cards and only previously revealed Region cards. When all eight of the Region cards are scored, calculate points for Sanctuary cards and the person with the most points wins the game!
This is one of the most unique card games that I have played, mostly because of the way it is scored in the opposite direction from the order in which cards were played. Although a quick game with a 15-minute playtime per player and an easy-to-learn set of rules, it is really a brain-burner to produce scores on each Region card. There is some luck involved, which depends on the available Region cards a player can draw and whether they have the first choice of the displayed cards in a round. With a range of 2-6 players, this game works well with various sizes of groups. I recommend Faraway for its compact size, affordable price, and replay value. 2-6 players, 15-30 minutes. - - - Marsha