Aeon’s End, the newest game from Indie Boards & Cards, is a cooperative deck builder that will change the way you think of the genre. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world where players must stave off the advances of The Nameless, menacing creatures set on destroying what remains of the world.

~ Cooperative Play ~

From start to finish, players must work together as they battle one of many unique nemeses in order to defend this last stronghold of humanity, Gravehold, from extinction. Each player will be one of the remaining soldiers, known as breach mages, who are capable of holding off the threat of complete annihilation. Communication and strategic planning will be critical to success as each nemesis will be relentless in their attempts to conquer your city. Most of the threats presented by the nemesis will require the players to make a decision as a team as to how to best minimize its damage. In addition, many player cards will be most effective when used to assist your allies.

The cooperative play in Aeon’s End will test not only how well you can work together, but your abilities to plan a coherent strategy for attack and defense maximizing the inherent abilities of your breach mages and the weaknesses of the nemesis that you are facing.

~ Tremendous Replay Value ~

Aeon’s End is a game with incredible replayability.  Each breach has a distinct special power that takes time to build up, but has a particularly strong one-time effect.  Every breach mage starts with a different ratio of spells to gems, requiring you to develop your decks based on which character you’re playing.  And their breach configurations are a bit different.  This individuality helps to reinforce many different playstyles and creates a lot of variety in play.

Not to be outdone, the nemesis (the boss monsters that players need to defeat) will bring a wide variety of strategies they will use to conquer Gravehold. Each nemesis has a number of unique cards, rules, and abilities that will require your team to adapt to - or perish. One nemesis may generate a large number of minions that must be dealt with, while another will consume the cards in the supply which will limit the players’ deck-building options. Still another will pollute their decks with corruptions that offer a taste of power at an even greater cost. Different nemeses require totally different strategies to beat.

~ Innovative Mechanics ~

Aeon's End is a cooperative game that explores the deckbuilding genre with a number of innovative mechanisms, including a variable turn order system that simulates the chaos of an attack, and deck management rules that require careful planning with every discarded card.  Aeon’s End is different from most deck builders in that players don’t shuffle their decks. When your deck runs out of cards, you simply flip over your discard pile and keep going. This helps keep the game running smoothly while allowing players an unprecedented degree of control over their deck-building strategies.   While no shuffling lends a degree of control, that sway is ripped from the players elsewhere to keep the game varied and unpredictable. Unlike in most games, turn order in Aeon’s End is determined randomly via a turn order deck. This will leave players guessing as to which turn will happen next and planning for contingencies as the action heats up.

Aeon’s End features streamlined gameplay through an overall design approach which ensures that players can plan out the more complicated decisions of their turn before their turn begins. This is achieved by limiting the number of card draws during the game, making each player turn faster.  But, when the nemesis presents an interesting decision point, players will need to discuss the best course of action as a team. Each player is consistently included in nearly all major decisions of the game and only the teams that strategically cooperate can win.

~ A Special Game ~

Aeon’s End is a streamlined, cooperative deck builder that requires teamwork for success, features truly innovative mechanics, and offers a nearly infinite amount of replayability through the combination of different breach mages, market of available cards, and nemeses. Aeon’s End retails for $49.99, plays in about 60-minutes, and supports 1-4 players for ages 14 and up. It will be available this November.

~ Quotes from Reviewers ~

“The best fantasy cooperative card game on the market” – Rahdo Runs Through It.

“Each game we played came right down to the wire. We both highly recommend this game.”  - Man vs Meeple