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Game Info
Year
2017
Players
2-5
Age
12+
Playtime
30 min
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
Experience two fantastical centuries of expansions and combat in Paper Tales. Remodel your assorted assembly of characters, units, and buildings in each period based on your developments and the age of your heroes. Write a new legend of the rightful ruler who brought unity to the rival kingdoms.
In more detail, Paper Tales is a simultaneous drafting card game. Each turn, players draft five units that they then recruit into their kingdom — assuming that they can pay. These choices determine the players ability to shine in battle, generate great income, construct dominant buildings, and earn legend points. There are only four hiring positions available during the four rounds of the play, but your units grow older with each turn until time takes them away.
Build a comprehensive strategy and adapt the shape of your realm according to opportunities and restrictions and you will make history!
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 8
This page: 8
Sentiment:
pos 6 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–8 of 8
Video SO-SOqA1BDE
JestaThaRogue Rules Teach at 0:00 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 91915 · mention_pk 246744
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
- The drafting and tableau-building framework provides meaningful, evolving choices that reward foresight across multiple rounds, not just a single quick win.
- A clearly defined kingdom area with front/back rows creates a tangible spatial puzzle that interacts with card text and unit abilities, making positioning central to strategy.
- Progression through building upgrades offers a tangible sense of growth, with Level 2 unlocks expanding options and reinforcing a sense of escalating power as the game unfolds.
- Aging tokens introduce an additional layer of timing and resource management, giving players a way to influence future rounds while managing present needs.
- War mechanics, commander bonuses, and adjacency-based scoring create dynamic tensions between players, encouraging interaction beyond pure engine-building.
Cons
- The rule set unfolds across multiple phases, which can present a fairly high initial learning curve for new players and may slow down early sessions while players internalize sequencing.
- The front/back row positioning adds a nontrivial layer of abstraction that can complicate comprehension for beginners and may require a few playthroughs to master smoothly.
- Drafting can introduce variability based on card order and draw order, which might lead to luck-influenced outcomes in some games, potentially reducing perceived control for some players.
- Some of the aging and time-token mechanics can be easy to forget during complex rounds, especially in a live play setting without steady reference materials.
Thematic elements
- Core themes include tableau-building through card drafting, resource management via income and land costs, and strategic combat that determines how much legend each player earns. The game blends fantasy imagery with a Eurogame-like structure: careful planning, incremental upgrades, and a race to accumulate legend points before the four-round clock runs out.
- Paper Tales presents a stylized fantasy kingdom where players draft a mixture of buildings and units, place them into a small kingdom tableau, and shepherd a narrative of growth, aging, and conflict across a fixed number of rounds. The setting unfolds in a compact strategic space where front-row and back-row units interact differently, where aging tokens mark the passage of time, and where the very act of construction and war pushes players toward a climactic scoring stage.
- The game is presented as a crisp, rules-driven experience with a vivid, compact fantasy theme. Narrative emerges primarily from the interactions of units, buildings, aging, and scoring, rather than from a heavy storytelling overlay. The aging mechanic acts as a recurring narrative device, signaling both risk and opportunity across rounds and incentivizing forward-thinking decisions.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Aging and aging tokens — Aging tokens attach to units and influence the unit’s abilities, production, or scoring potential. Abilities tied to aging tokens may trigger during certain phases or upon specific conditions, adding a countdown-like tension to decisions as players anticipate the consequences of aging in succeeding rounds.
- Building construction and upgrading — Buildings can be constructed or upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2 by spending the appropriate resources. Level 2 buildings unlock more slots and grant stronger or more flexible effects, enabling players to sculpt a more powerful late-game engine while balancing short-term costs and long-term gains.
- Card Drafting — In each round, five unit cards are drafted from the unit deck, which creates the core of each player's strategic hand. Draft order and the direction of drafting influence early-game tempo and medium-term power curves, forcing players to weigh immediate power against future synergy with other cards in their kingdom.
- End Game Bonuses — Legend points accumulate from various sources, including level-two buildings, unit contributions, and successful wars. The end-game condition culminates after four rounds, and tiebreaks are resolved in favor of the most gold, which keeps monetary strategy relevant to final outcomes.
- Engine Building — Buildings can be constructed or upgraded from Level 1 to Level 2 by spending the appropriate resources. Level 2 buildings unlock more slots and grant stronger or more flexible effects, enabling players to sculpt a more powerful late-game engine while balancing short-term costs and long-term gains.
- Kingdom placement — Players deploy units from their hand into a four-space kingdom, with two spaces in the front row and two in the back. Placement matters because front-row units often contribute different strengths, enable different abilities, or trigger special effects when paired with other units, thereby creating a spatial optimization problem.
- Land costs and mobility — Deploying and upgrading units and buildings require land resources tied to the number of structures you control. Land costs introduce a zoning dynamic, compelling players to plan expansion carefully and to weigh early expansion against later upgrade opportunities.
- Phase structure and player order — The game is organized into distinct phases (recruitment, deployment, war, income, construction, aging) with a fixed turn order that shapes decisions, rewards efficiency, and clarifies the exact timing of card effects and building interactions.
- Resource income — The income phase provides a baseline of money (gold) and can be augmented by cards and buildings in play. This income fuels deployment, construction, and upgrades, tying financial efficiency directly into long-term strategic choices and the cadence of round-to-round progression.
- scoring and end-game — Legend points accumulate from various sources, including level-two buildings, unit contributions, and successful wars. The end-game condition culminates after four rounds, and tiebreaks are resolved in favor of the most gold, which keeps monetary strategy relevant to final outcomes.
- Time tokens and round sequencing — Time tokens advance the game through rounds, marking the progression and, ultimately, signaling when aging effects and round-specific events occur. The tokens help enforce pacing and ensure the game moves toward a defined end condition, tying the macro rhythm to micro-level decisions.
- Variable Phase Order — The game is organized into distinct phases (recruitment, deployment, war, income, construction, aging) with a fixed turn order that shapes decisions, rewards efficiency, and clarifies the exact timing of card effects and building interactions.
- War and combat scoring — Combat is resolved by summing the shield strength of front-row units, with additional bonuses from commanders. War outcomes contribute legend points and alter the relative standings between players, incentivizing careful counting of strengths and strategic targeting of opponents.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a game for two to five players
- you build a kingdom of buildings and creatures from the fantastical to the normal
- score the most legend points and win the game
- monkey gives you 1 gold for each aging token on it when he dies
- time token to start a new round
- the game ends after the four rounds
- round two is a distinct phase where deployment and aging set up the midgame dynamic
- construction options include building new structures or upgrading existing ones
- tiered buildings provide escalating benefits and more kingdom slots
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video U8Ot1Vhwxjg
Game Night Picks - Pair Of Dice Paradise Unboxing at 5:06 sentiment: positive
video_pk 91725 · mention_pk 246150
Click to watch at 5:06 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Fantastical centuries of expansions and combat, building a kingdom and ruler's legend.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — this is a dynamic fast- playing card drafting game
- Space management — tight Space Management
- Tableau Building — players will write the legend of their Kingdom and their ruler as they build their Tableau throughout the course of the game
- Unit aging system — It combines an original unit aging system
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- hello ladies gentlemen and any small pets that are joining us my name is Chaz Marler and I'm joined once again by a occasional co-hostess V buug hello
- so today's box comes to us from wow you're just ripping right into the box I brought you a tool to help oh you can open the box with this blue rubber ball
- hey guess what our first item is what our first item is matrina
- I am the key to your Fame don't make me replace you with the dog
- so gizmos is the next thing in the old boxo this time woo yay hey you know what what it's time for a Christmas commercial right no it's not yes it is
- look next up is probably uh game about eating sandwiches in space Oh no imotep
- wow say thank you Cosmos thank you Cosmos does it have snow maybe snow in Egypt that would definitely be a new combination of things WAOW
- so that is drop it the last thing in this month's box oh no I don't think it's laughing oh no it's Ollie the goofy looking dog
- hello everybody thank you for joining us for this unboxing video uh full of games and dogs dogs sure let's go with dog
- so here's everything that joined us this mon in our Ollie come here so there you go there is the wide array of half dozen games or so that joined us in this month's uh box to be added to our collection
- so what I want to know as always is which of these games have you partaken in uh which of them are in your collection and why or why not uh you know I'd love to uh find out more but in the meantime for more board game news reviews commentary and countdown videos be sure to subscribe to Paradise paradise and remember above all else the most important thing when it comes to opening up a box is to be shielded from olly to be shielded from to be shielded from olly yes thank you and and your loved ones be shielded tonight
- so this is a game called drop it this is a really cool little AB not abstract I have an idea uh what what if we make a trailer for this game
- Cosmos send us a box with nothing in it um and we'll just drop it in random places and you'll get a million buys really yeah tell me how this will work so you pick up this box and you just drop it in random places like in the desert and in a cave and in a snowland and in a grass landscape and in a savannah it's just like a montage of the Box dropping lands like that it'll be a good business Choice ah
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 8T2Z6yN58NI
Watch It Played News at 4:14 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90785 · mention_pk 242929
Click to watch at 4:14 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- kingdom building war
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — Paper tails is a car drafting game of kingdom building war and victory points.
- Kingdom Building — Paper tails is a car drafting game of kingdom building war and victory points.
- upgrading — It's full of upgrading and special powers.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is the same designer back with another car driven engine building game back in outer space.
- It's terrifying though we know that warship gaming is a gaming company we don't quite know what type of gaming company they're going to be.
- Critical role the hugely successful actual play dungeons and dragon show have announced that they're getting into the board game game with their new venture and publishing company darrington press.
- Paper tails is a car drafting game of kingdom building war and victory points.
- Carpe diem is a game that while i love it i do i think it's really good fun.
- I'm happy that he's getting a third edition that is in yes a much more subjectively attractive package.
- Azmoday who legally now own me after a contract negotiation gone awry released a new line of print and play games in their connect and play initiative.
- And as tokyo game market is single-handedly the convention that i want to go to more than any other.
- Satish was by all accounts just a real wonderful person and while i didn't have the pleasure to know him personally i certainly have benefited personally from his impact on the board game industry indirectly.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video JTYTGmWoMWk
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Top List at 9:25 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89151 · mention_pk 236481
Click to watch at 9:25 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- One of the best solo modes for turning a multiplayer game solo
- Lich King is diabolical with multiple difficulty levels
- Solo mode still leaves decisions to the player
- Lich King gains points based on cards you don't take
- Neat aging mechanism for units
Cons
- Base game is not solo friendly, requires expansion
- Card drafting and area control are difficult to translate to solo
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Aging mechanism — at the end of every round they all age so there's an aging mechanism.
- Area Control — card drafting plus area controller two mechanics that I think are difficult to move into the Solo Space.
- Card Drafting — Paper tails is all about card Drafting.
- Resource Management — you have your units that you need to pay for to bring out there but you have typically two in a front line and two in a back line that's it.
- Solo opponent AI — the Lich King and that is a solo opponent he is diabolical multiple difficulty levels but what ends up happening is he brings out a new card every round and that card has to do with these two battles that take place so you need to build up your army but also during the card drafting phase there is a way for the Lich King to gain points based on the cards that you do not take.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it is all for fun
- these are games that have stood the test of time
- the rumor and asset system I really like but it is the narrative experience that I really really love about the kilforth series.
- some of the rules aren't 100 clear there's things you have to look up and some rule books.
- I really have never seen something like it.
- it's the only game in my collection that has a perfect score.
- everything just works so well.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GEZpWB4l8ls
All You Can Board Discussion at 0:00 sentiment: negative
video_pk 83253 · mention_pk 209410
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- cool aging mechanic; beautiful art
Cons
- premise not fully delivered; drafting feels underwhelming compared to peers
Thematic elements
- storybook/fantasy aging
- drafting with aging mechanics
- drafting puzzle with aging cycle
Comparison games
- Seven Wonders
- It's a Wonderful World
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- aging / aging tokens — cards age out at round end, changing value and strategy.
- Drafting — delta hand of cards; pick one, pass left or right; aging tokens affect value.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- "The theme of this one is kind of I guess like not learning to let go and also it kind of deals with the feeling of obligation."
- "The theme is awesome. The artwork is great. The components are great."
- "This is a solid game. It's just not something that I feel the need to own anymore."
- "It's a tough decision. Do I want to fold or surrender with a certain number of cards left? It's such an interesting decision."
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video CIaLewJuDLI
Sir Thecos Top List at 3:51 sentiment: positive
video_pk 80612 · mention_pk 196702
Click to watch at 3:51 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Really like it
- The solo mode is excellent
Cons
- Only played the base game so far
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Drafting — A drafting game that I really like.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is just my opinion, right? Yours may very well differ, so let me know in the comments what you think about the games that I will be talking about today.
- It's possible that I will rank a game differently next month.
- So usually my rankings seem to be a little bit more on the more positive side.
- It's not really a game. It's more like an activity, so I would give it a good C.
- This is an amazing small box cooperative game where you like play cooperative poker.
- I urge you if you play this, you should play real time.
- Um it works turn-based, but it's much better real time and it's even better when you speak with a few people with people somehow.
- It's like really great in person, right?
- Wingspan is a number one game.
- It's a good social deduction game that is a kind of um that is like paired with Who Am I?
- Similar to a fake artist goes to New York, just with words instead of drawing.
- It's a very solid game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video SzY6xw9YMeo
Review at 0:07 sentiment: positive
video_pk 70958 · mention_pk 168118
Click to watch at 0:07 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Unique paper craft artwork style.
- Cards age and simulate history.
- Fantastic solo draft mechanism simulating multiplayer feel.
- Lich King opponent makes strategic decisions.
- Quick and simple sequence of play.
- Summary cards are helpful.
- Front line and reserve mechanics.
- Buildings provide benefits and upgrade options.
- Neat card combinations.
- Plays quickly (20-30 minutes solo).
- Multiple difficulty levels.
- Challenging with a good gauge of needing to improve.
- Hard to find good solo drafting games, and this one does it differently.
- Feels organic and decisions feel made by the opponent.
Cons
- Expansion consolidated into base game box, original expansion box not kept.
- May lose by a couple of points in solo mode.
Thematic elements
- Simulates history where cards age and are not permanent.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Building upgrades — There are buildings that start in play. You can upgrade a building to level two, which allows for three cards in your front line.
- Card Drafting — The biggest part of the game though is the draft. In solo games, simulating a draft is a very difficult thing to do. The solo mode involves choosing cards while deciding which ones the opponent (Lich King) gets.
- Combat — When war phase, those battles happen, each round only your front line typically gets to battle.
- Resource Management — Decisions about resource production versus participating in battle, and saving up to build something. Cards have a cost to play.
- Tableau Building — The cards you're drafting actually go out in front of you, with a front line (usually two cards) and a reserve or back line.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This has one of the best solo drafts that I've seen because what you're doing is when you draft cards in the solo mode you are choosing what you pick up but you are then deciding what the lich king gets.
- It does feel like that opponent is doing things that feel organic um that's maybe that's not the right word but they feel like they are making decisions and you have some authority in those decisions.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GsZaTVZFwDA
Review at 0:26 sentiment: positive
video_pk 67574 · mention_pk 163715
Click to watch at 0:26 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Stellar production quality for the price.
- Nice tactile feel of the wooden upgrades (coins and tokens).
- Custom insert in the box holds sleeved cards.
- Linen finished rulebook and FAQ.
- Very easy game to get into and learn.
- Good amount of fun with satisfying puzzle elements.
- Not overly hateful interaction, primarily through gear cards.
- Artwork is lovely and contributes to a cozy feeling.
- Well put together published package.
- The mechanic of building an engine and then having to destroy it is a cool system.
- Tactical and strategic choices offer depth.
- Satisfying solo mode with minimal piloting required.
- Difficulty levels for solo mode are well-tailored.
- Good blend of cozy aesthetics and thinky decisions.
- Solid two-player package that impresses others.
Cons
- Upgraded wooden tokens are very slippery.
- Solo mode rulebook is not included in the box, requiring download from the internet.
- Replay value is a little questionable without more themed decks.
- The 'epic length game' variant using all cards outstays its welcome.
Thematic elements
- Destroying your engine
Comparison games
- Valley of the Kings
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players get two actions per turn, which can be to play a card or activate a card.
- Area Movement — Players can 'adventure' around a side board with three routes, collecting rewards and triggering first-come, first-served mechanics for tokens.
- Bag Building — The core deck is a 75-card deck comprising core cards and one of two themed decks, acting as the game's timer.
- Card Play — Players play cards using coinage, triggering their effects before they go into a score pile.
- Deck Building — Although not a deck-builder, it shares a similar feel to Valley of the Kings where the deck is used to build an engine and then depleted for scoring.
- Engine Building — The game is described as an engine builder where players build up abilities and effects, but must eventually 'destroy your engine' by putting cards into a score pile.
- Push Your Luck — The decision of when to put cards into the score pile is highlighted, balancing using abilities now versus scoring points later, especially as the deck depletes.
- Resource Management — Players use coinage to play cards and manage 'supplies' on cards which represent activation and eventually lead to cards being moved to a score pile.
- Set Collection — Scoring is partially based on having a balance between three different types of villagers, calculated by multiplying the smallest and largest groups.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It's an engine builder where at some point during a game, you have to kind of destroy your engine.
- So you had to destroy your deck eventually to get the points.
- The rules very simple. It's a very easy game to get into.
- The artwork in this is lovely. It's a very cute kind of cozy feeling game.
- It actually is really quite a lot of fun here because this idea with the Valley of the Kings that you had your deck and then you built it up and then you took it apart again. I love that mechanic.
- Overall, I think this deserves a 9 out of 10.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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