Is Artifacts the PERFECT expansion for The Vale of Eternity?

[@WatchItPlayed]

Looks great - very excited for this expansion now. Thanks for the detailed overview gents!

[@meeple]

Well hello there! It is indeed great.

[@allfunandgames]

You recommended the base game to me at CMON Expo Bangkok last year and I will be forever grateful. Hoping to get the expansion and see you again at this year’s CMON Expo!

[@meeple]

Hey there! I will be back at CMON Expo Bangkok this year, so I'll bring my copy with me in case Mandoo doesn't have it there (although I imagine they will). Maybe we can get a game of it in while we're there!

[@allfunandgames]

@@meeplewould love that! See you there and safe travels!

[@wedgeex]

This is what I've wanted to hear. Vale of Eternity was my game of the year from 2023 as well and I've said all it needs is about 40-50 more cards and it's perfect. If this expansion is up to snuff then it'll be one of my favorites of all time. Super hyped for this one.

[@meeple]

I shared those same sort of thoughts prior to playing with this, and for me anyway, Artifacts nails it.

[@Erril_Ferndal]

Thanks guys! Looks like I have to order this as well 😆

[@meeple]

If you like the base game, this one is a no-brainer (for me anyway). 😁

[@OrangEEverything9822]

A perfect expansion for me would introduce official solo rules with the additional content and more.

[@thrakh5842]

Hey guys ! What about about a video on the best game expansions ?! Please ! 😛 a top 20 or something

[@georgeresso6835]

this is one of those rare games that has hit a unique design space...and expansions can only broaden that space..i think its great and the expansion only makes it more great

[@Wanderer_Meeple]

I know you!! You're famous! Remember when I said that you, David? 😂 It was awesome meeting you. Also, can't wait to try this expansion! This game is a awesome

[@btbrewer25]

We like this game as well. Thanks for sharing the details. Looking forward to adding this to our copy. I wonder if they will add it on BGA so I can start playing it right away? Does it come with a new scoring board that goes to 80 or do you just loop around on the existing one?

[@meeple]

You still use the same score board, which seems perfectly fine to us. There is a cardboard standee representing the cave of artifacts that has a reminder of the new 80-point goal though.

[@georgeresso6835]

the shelter can be overpowered... u store a card(s) and when u see a card that combos with a card in your shelter...boom combos baby

[@stivomali3022]

Based on the discussion of multi-box art, and getting a feel for the far left of the main box, I'm guessing Expansion #2 will involve something along the lines of "night effects" or "dark creatures". You heard it here first!

[@meeple]

Ooooooh! I like where your heads at on this theory. Thanks for sharing that. Now I'll be obsessed with whether or not you're right. 🤣

[@loksumko1090]

I've seen reviews say that the game is less suited for 2 players because the card market size is smaller. Does this expansion help alleviate that with the new abilities and artefacts?

[@IamSalva]

Does not need a Expansion to be good at 2. Its perfect at 2. Most high ELO Players on BoardGameArena prefere to play 2 player games.

[@meeple]

I really don’t see any issue with the base game at two. You won’t see as many cards at 2-player, but I love that imperfect information. I’ve probably played most at two. I would say I like 3 best if I had to pick, but really all player counts are good in my book.

[@daforkgaming3320]

@@IamSalva I think all of them have their advantages: -2 Players is best for learning/teaching the game; you only have 4 cards around to look at. There's a lot more strategy involved as the limited possibilities makes it more feasible to predict every possible situation. -4 Players has a lot of chaos. The deck will almost if not always run out and get reshuffled, so you can see every card in the game. There's a lot of chaos and things can go either way. -3 Gives a balance of both 2's strategy and 4's chaos. Isn't the best at either, but incorporates both.

[@sapien01010]

Pleeaaase make this available for BGA

[@meeple]

I would bet that they're on top of that already. We'll see.

[@OrangEEverything9822]

BGG already has a new expansion slated for 2025 “Curse”.

[@meeple]

Looking forward to it!

[@joeferreti9442]

Well, the amount of cards in this game should have been more like 160 in the basegame instead of only 70. And the expansion should have brought it to around 200 instead of only close to 100. :/

[@daforkgaming3320]

I'd rather have 90ish cards which all contribute to the game and have a lot of fun, well-thought interactions with the other cards than 200 cards which feel random and don't work well with other cards

[@frankdetank9126]

🥓🥓🥓

[@meeple]

I love bacon.

[@frankdetank9126]

@@meeple me too! I like to share bacon on videos that I think are good/informative/entertaining.

[@elqord.1118]

The perfect expansion would be the one that eliminates the need to read over half of the cards sideways or upside down the whole time. God that annoyed the hell out of me

[@meeple]

Fair point. I generally read them aloud and/or pass them around as we deal them out.

[@PatrickBrophy]

I've streamlined my copy of the game to remove the radial and and the scoring track. You can easily just deal the cards to the first player and have them draft one and pass the hand. It speeds the game up too since you don't need to kreen your neck looking at the cards on that silly radial. For the scoring track, I just use 2 d10 percentile dice for each player. Already planning to just use those as the artifact markers as well, so everything still fits in the deck box I consolidated the game into.

[@daforkgaming3320]

There's a lot of strange design choices in this game. While I love the art style, some of the design choices make the visual design one of my least favorite in that department (Vale of Eternity is still one of my favorites for it's elite gameplay though). Some of my issues include -The strange way the cards are placed, as you mentioned -The eternity standee has no function -The +60 marker is needless and a waste of card board. Just make the score markers double-sided and flip them to indicate you scored 60+ points

[@robi_ness]

How does this compare to Seasons with expansions?

[@meeple]

I do want to be clear about my comparison to Seasons. This is a very different game, but just includes some elements that remind me of Seasons (tableau limitations, card play, etc.) With that said, this is a much more accessible game--easier and quicker to play, and a more straight-forward experience. I love Seasons, but when the dust settles, I'll probably play more games of Vale in my lifetime. From an expansion standpoint, I think this expansion does for Vale, similar things that the Seasons expansions did for it -- more of what you like, and an interesting twist to add something new.

[@sanderschippers2708]

More cards more luck involved getting a combo?

[@meeple]

I've never felt that the game really relied on specific combos. I find them when and where I can. The increased deck size will mean you miss seeing some cards though, especially in a lower player count game. For me, I enjoy the tactical element of discovering what each gameplay has on offer, and making the most of it.

[@bertilandersson6606]

cant expansion ad new sets of cards an you select a couple of colors/sets each game

[@dougradcliffe1466]

Release date?

[@scottg1501]

Renegade will be releasing the expansion this fall.

[@meeple]

What @scottg1501 said. This is apparently an Essen release, with an almost immediate release here in the US as well.