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Arcana Rising box art

Arcana Rising

Game ID: GID0027330
Game Info
Year
2022
Collection
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Description

Arcana Rising invites up to six spellcasters to participate in a competition to acquire arcane artifacts and cast mighty spells in an effort to gain knowledge and power. As they gather their mystical relics, they note the passing of the moons, which amplify the power of certain schools of magic, allowing wizards to cast spells at the peak of their power!

Arcana Rising is a drafting and engine-building game in which players compete over three rounds to craft a magical engine that will power their collected artifacts and generate points for them at the end of the game.

On a turn, players select a single card from the pile they are passed. Once a card has been selected, players pass the remaining cards clockwise, then choose whether to add the newly acquired card to their tableau OR to discard the card in order to run their engine and cast their spells. Randomized moon tokens tell players which of their spells may be cast. Therefore, the timing of executing your powers is nearly as important as the powers themselves.

The cards fall into schools of Charms, Herbology, Blood Arts, Potions, Alchemy, and Artifacts. Only a single type of spell can be cast each turn, depending on a randomized order for that round.

After three rounds of drafting, players calculate their scores based on the unique set of artifacts they have collected, and the player with the most victory points wins!

—description from publisher

Description

Arcana Rising invites up to six spellcasters to participate in a competition to acquire arcane artifacts and cast mighty spells in an effort to gain knowledge and power. As they gather their mystical relics, they note the passing of the moons, which amplify the power of certain schools of magic, allowing wizards to cast spells at the peak of their power!

Arcana Rising is a drafting and engine-building game in which players compete over three rounds to craft a magical engine that will power their collected artifacts and generate points for them at the end of the game.

On a turn, players select a single card from the pile they are passed. Once a card has been selected, players pass the remaining cards clockwise, then choose whether to add the newly acquired card to their tableau OR to discard the card in order to run their engine and cast their spells. Randomized moon tokens tell players which of their spells may be cast. Therefore, the timing of executing your powers is nearly as important as the powers themselves.

The cards fall into schools of Charms, Herbology, Blood Arts, Potions, Alchemy, and Artifacts. Only a single type of spell can be cast each turn, depending on a randomized order for that round.

After three rounds of drafting, players calculate their scores based on the unique set of artifacts they have collected, and the player with the most victory points wins!

—description from publisher

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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 2
This page: 2
Sentiment: pos 2 · mix 0 · neu 0 · neg 0
Mentions per page
Showing 1–2 of 2
Video kGWETVxgg-k UndeadVikingVideos Discussion at 4:03:33 sentiment: positive
video_pk 87757 · mention_pk 229912
UndeadVikingVideos - Arcana Rising video thumbnail
Click to watch at 4:03:33 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Positive
Pros
  • Fun gameplay
  • Visually appealing deluxe edition
  • Strong initial sales driven by aesthetic
Cons
  • Difficulty gaining traction/notice
Thematic elements
  • Magic casting
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Engine Building — Mentioned as a core mechanic that people were interested in after being drawn by the game's appearance.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • it was a little too long 12 hands was too many I would have preferred playing the 500 instead of a thousand
  • this system was had its cool things it had some cool things but it also had just some garbage ideas
  • it's just like who came about these rules it's just like these aren't streamlined these are garbage they are horrible
  • the Marvel superheroes game was like the Marvel Universe
  • spacehulk spacehulk spacehulk space Hulk I knew it was Warhammer I just didn't know
  • it's the one where you uh you're playing as a disease trying to kill everybody take over the world it's like an AA control game
  • I think it's in my top 25 or 50 games of all time
  • the game just chef's kiss
  • Shadows of Brimstone game and it's just like yeah doing nothing
  • Brimstone is our money maker they they'll milk the dead
  • it's sort of a Rog likee and I think it doesn't get enough credit
  • like you're doing the same thing just longer and more tedious and more like that's that's bad
  • the deluxe version of it um had a basically kind of a foil cover like as the person's casting a spell and so there's this kind of rainbow effect foil cover of like the magic that's coming up
  • it was it was insane yes crazy what people go foil covers bring to the end
  • the Cliffhanger game with a more compact box size streamline rule book and over a decade's worth of Polish and AATA worked in this is the ultimate edition of the classic Cliffhanger Adventure game
  • the cards were tiny
  • Shadows of Brimstone game and it's just like
  • we couldn't get any traction we couldn't get anybody to notice the game even existed anywhere
  • it was like it sold it we sold out day and a half just because it had a foil had a foil rainbow cover
  • I hate those things yeah I pick every box sleeve off of every game I've ever got
  • we would rather be cheated out of money than refuse a customer service request from somebody who honestly needed it
  • the owner said why isn't that guy allowed in the store and they told him why and he's like it's a free country he can say whatever he wants
  • I was like Rich if like quite literally Rich you should just tell people that I will be there and that will get more people to come in and and sell stuff and I and give me the table for free
  • I don't make anything so what's the point of
  • I don't have to pay $5 just so sit at a [ __ ] table now
  • we're not coming here anymore you come to my house for board game night that's it
  • well how about you buy it and when you're done with it bring it back to me and I'll give you the money back minus five bucks
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video heQWk_COI-A Rules Teach at 0:20 sentiment: positive
video_pk 69194 · mention_pk 165569
Arcana Rising video thumbnail
Click to watch at 0:20 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Unique gameplay
  • Engine building and drafting are enjoyable
  • Creates interesting dilemmas for the player
  • Good for smaller collections
  • Satisfying score achieved in solo mode
Cons
  • Doesn't have enough staying power for a large collection
  • Oversized box for the game content
  • Theme is okay, but 'nothing to write home about'
Thematic elements
  • magic spell casting
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • artifact cards — Special cards that provide end-game scoring bonuses, such as gaining points for disciplines with no spells.
  • Card drafting from a pyramid — Specifically for the solo mode, the host describes drawing cards from a pyramid structure, taking one from the first row, then the next, and so on.
  • Drafting — The host mentions drafting as a core mechanic, explaining that in multiplayer, players get a hand of cards, choose one, and then proceed. In solo, this is replaced by taking cards from a pyramid.
  • Engine Building — Described as a core mechanic where players build up an engine through card combinations and activations.
  • Resource Management — Players spend various resources like gold, alchemy, charms, herbs, and potions to activate cards or gain other benefits.
  • Set Collection — Points are awarded for collecting sets of certain resources at the end of the game (e.g., three of charm, herbology, and potions for one point).
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • I enjoy the idea of you having to choose like do you always have to draft a card or in this case you take one from the pyramid from the lowest row um in the solar mode and then you have to decide okay do you actually um like extend your engine or do you cast two spells or like all of them the lowest ones um here and I like that idea.
  • I don't think this has enough staying power to stay in my collection um in the long run just because I have just a lot of games and there's just other games that I enjoy more.
  • But I think this is a really good one if you have a smaller collection and you like engine building and drafting and stuff. This is a really good game to have.
  • It's very unique. I don't think I have any comparable games in my collection.
  • The box is not small for such a small game, right?
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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