Fantasy Realms Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Fantasy Realms, a combo card playing board game published by WizKids Games. In Fantasy Realms, players are trying to create the highest scoring hand over the course of the game.

This is a guest post from April W. 

Sometimes great things come in unassuming packages, yet as gamers, we often judge games by their cover. There is certainly nothing to catch the eye in this generically themed game, but after watching some overviews and hearing positive opinions, I wanted to find out if there was, in fact, a little magic hidden beneath the lid.

Fantasy Realms is a drafting and set collection game for 2-6 players, though it plays best with 2-4. Playtime can be anywhere from 5-20 minutes.

In Fantasy Realms, players are dealt a hand of seven cards, which they will refine throughout the game. The deck is then placed in the center of the table. This concludes set up. Turns are simple: take a card, discard a card.

In a bit more detail, the first player to take their turn will draw from the deck and then discard a card (it can even be the one they just drew) to the table. Discards are displayed so that every card is visible—this is important because, on future turns, players have the option to draw from the deck, or take a previously discarded card. The game ends when the 10th card is placed into the discard area. Players immediately score their hands and the highest score wins.

In the two-player variant, players start with no cards. Instead, they draft a hand by either drawing two from the deck and keeping one, or picking up a discard. They play until 12 cards are discarded instead of 10.

The crux of the game lies in how the cards score; there are 10 suites, each with its unique theme. Some cards complement each other,