Seasons
RULES
- Goal
- Become a wizard and have the highest prestige score when the three years end
- Flow
- Each round, roll the seasonal die to gain resources and crystals, and summon power cards
- Win
- After December of year 3, crystal and card scores are totaled to determine the winner
- Twist
- Cards left in hand cost 5 points each, so you must plan your summoning ahead
RULES VIDEO
Players become great wizards competing in a three-year magical duel. Before the game begins, you draft 9 spell cards, carefully planning which cards to use each year, then roll a massive, beautiful seasonal die to gather elements, play cards to build powerful magical synergies (engines), and aim to collect the most power — a gorgeous, refined card-drafting and magical engine-building board game.
※When a player feels intense mental overload, fatigue, or study-like tedium just from reading the long text of numerous spell cards and mentally combining synergies between them, even from the pre-game 9-card draft stage. Or when someone with a low tolerance for having painstakingly gathered elements and power ruthlessly stolen by an opponent's spell effects (e.g. the pillaging Kardliya, blood gems, etc.) or their engine cards destroyed — this kind of direct 'muddy interference' easily upsets them. Also for a group that finds a rules-obsessed atmosphere of meticulously checking special-effect resolution order and fine timing rules stifling.
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Scores by situation
New faces+−
♡☆☆☆☆ [First-Meeting Barrier] Explaining the seasonal conversion rates for power, summoning cost limits, and above all the unique text and timing of dozens of individual spell cards takes an enormous amount of time. In a first-meeting group, everyone tends to burn all their energy just reading card explanations, and the resulting lull makes this an absolute no for a first-encounter session.
Close friends+−
♡♡☆☆☆ [Explanation Barrier and Brain Freeze] Even in a close-knit friend group, if they aren't deep board game enthusiasts, everyone freezes at the very first draft stage (drafting 9 cards and splitting them into 3 groups of 3). Reading random card text with no sense of its value drags downtime out enormously, and players often end up playing haphazardly without understanding the text, collapsing in a way that makes this risky for casual friend-group recruitment.
Strategy+−
♡♡♡♡☆ [Strategist's Building] The pleasure of devising a completely new magical tech tree based on the card pool drafted each game is outstanding. The depth of interaction — controlling an opponent's round tempo through the seasonal die and cleverly chaining cards to counter them — is excellent, making this a masterpiece intermediate strategists can dig into for an hour, savoring the thrill of combos.
Couple+−
♡☆☆☆☆ [Marriage-Damaging Zone] It's easy to be fooled by the pastel, dreamy magic theme and beautiful large dice components, but underneath it's a bloody, merciless magical war. Numerous sharply aggressive spell cards exist that directly eat away at an opponent's elements, steal their power, or forcibly send their cards to the graveyard, making it the polar opposite of a peaceful, healing time for couples.
Duel+−
♡♡♡♡☆ [2-Player Precision Showdown] Compared to the unpredictability and dragging turn waits of 3-4 player games, two-player games allow both players' full card pools to be counted, enabling a chillingly precise 1-on-1 counter-design from the draft stage onward. Control over the seasonal tempo via the die can also be kept fully under your own influence, making it perfectly optimized for brainy players choking each other out with micro-level precision in a two-player duel.
Gateway+−
♡♡♡♡♡ [Level 5 (The Ultimate Gateway)] For sharp newbies with a strong will to go beyond simple party or roll-and-write weight classes and properly learn and conquer 'card drafting' and 'organic engine building (combo construction)' — the essence of modern strategy board games — this is an irreplaceable masterpiece. The intellectual satisfaction and victorious thrill of watching your meticulously designed card synergies interlock and explode into a burst of score (power) are second to none.
Frequently asked questions
How many players does Seasons need?
2–4 players, and it is at its best with 2. It also works as a two-player game.
How long does a game of Seasons take?
About 45–60 minutes per game, plus roughly 20 minutes to teach the rules.
Is Seasons hard to learn?
It sits at 4 out of 5 on rules weight. The balance is 25 luck / 50 skill / 25 read, so the stronger player usually wins.
Who is Seasons good for?
It fits Gateway and Strategy especially well. One caveat: When a player feels intense mental overload, fatigue, or study-like tedium just from reading the long text of numerous spell cards and mentally combining synergies between them, even from the pre-game 9-card draft stage. Or when someone with a low tolerance for having painstakingly gathered elements and power ruthlessly stolen by an opponent's spell effects (e.g. the pillaging Kardliya, blood gems, etc.) or their engine cards destroyed — this kind of direct 'muddy interference' easily upsets them. Also for a group that finds a rules-obsessed atmosphere of meticulously checking special-effect resolution order and fine timing rules stifling.
How do you win Seasons?
After December of year 3, crystal and card scores are totaled to determine the winner The goal is Become a wizard and have the highest prestige score when the three years end
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