Among the events of Cosmere, the universe-spanning backdrop to a majority of Brandon Sanderson’s books, the Shattering of Adonalsium is perhaps the most important (so far). I won’t go into the hows and whys of that (go read the books), but the gist is that the Cosmere’s god, Adonalsium, was broken and split into 16 pieces. These Shards, which are pieces of the being, each embody a specific intent and include: Devotion, Dominion, Preservation, Ruin, Odium, Cultivation, Honor, Endowment, Autonomy, Ambition, Invention, Mercy, Valor, Whimsy, Virtuosity, and Reason. Why is this all important, you may be asking? Well, those very Shards, some anyway, are the “suits” in Brotherwise Games’ latest Cosmere-inspired trick-taking card game, aptly titled Shards of Creation.
Shards of Creation Trick-Taking Game
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Designed by Hayden Dillard, with some utterly breathtaking art by Medusa Dollmaker, Shards of Creation’s gameplay is similar to most other games in the trick-taking genre. Each round begins with a player setting a card and dictating the lead suit for that round, the suit that the other players must follow if they have a similarly suited card, with whoever places the highest-valued card of the lead suit taking the trick. A special “trump” suit can be played that will win out over whatever was led, at which point whoever has played the highest value of trump will take the win for that hand. Shards of Creation maintains all of that status quo but also throws some magic into the mix that makes this card game a bit more interesting than your typical trick-taker.
A game of Shards takes place over the course of three rounds, with 10 hands played per round. Before even dealing out your first hand of cards, you need to pick the Shards that will be in play, choosing four or five (depending on player count) from a possible pool of eight. These include Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion, Dominion, Honor, Odium, Preservation, and Ruin, with nearly every one featuring unique powers when they are trump, card abilities, and even the possible values on their cards themselves (with a couple small exceptions — Honor is an old curmudgeon and doesn’t feature any abilities or powers).
Each round, a new Shard will be flipped and designated as trump, and its associated trump ability will be activated, such as Cultivation’s allowing players to draw additional cards and swap them out with other cards in their hands. Between this and the two unique abilities that each Shard’s cards can have, they turn a relatively basic trick-taker into something that feels unique and fresh, and also leaves me excited for possible expansions down the road. We only get half the possible Shards, after all, saying nothing about…other ones…that readers will be aware of but that I won’t spoil here.
The other aspect that I wasn’t expecting going into this game was that you don’t actually win by taking the most tricks, either. Instead, Shards of Creation is more of a set-collection game with a trick-taking lightweaving over top. Winning a trick will allow you to pick one of the cards in that trick and add it to your set row in front of you, with the winner of the game being based on whoever earns the most points. Points are gained from both the number of a single type of Shard you add to your pool and the number of complete sets of Shards that are in the game. As someone who grew up playing Euchre and has played my fair share of other games in the genre (check out our reviews of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game), this inclusion of having to not only plan out what cards to play in each trick but also what card to add to my row if I win made me realize how much I was enjoying it. I especially loved the fact that the Ruin Shard cards are worth negative points at the end of the game, requiring you to weigh the risks of loading your set up too much with them in an effort to earn more points.
Even with those features, Shards of Creation is a very approachable and quick game to pick up. Full games you can get done in a half hour, making it a great option to bust out during lunch at work, at the bar with some friends, or just a nightcap before bed. You don’t need to be a diehard worldhopper to be able to enjoy Shards, and can be appreciated just for its fun mechanics.
For as solid as the gameplay is, the artwork of all the Shards is possibly my favorite aspect of the game. The vessels shown off on the cards (vessels being the term used for anyone who is currently in possession of one of Adonalsium’s Shards) are of those predating the books released so far, with Odium, for example, showcasing the menacing visage of Rayse as opposed to its successor, or Tanavast for Honor, with his long, flowing white hair. For diehard Cosmere fans, this game also marks the first official look we have gotten at Dominion and Devotion’s vessels, too! These have all been wonderfully captured by Dollmaker in their signature almost stained-glass-esque layout and use of color. I would eagerly throw my debit card at my computer if a large composition of them all were to come out for me to hang in my office and gawk at.
As someone who thoroughly enjoys Brandon Sanderson’s work (check out the Cosmere reading guide I put together here on IGN), just looking at the box, it is easy to see the expansion and growth potential that this game has. With less than half of the Shards featured currently with the others being added at a later date, I wouldn’t say that the game we got is light on content, it also left me wanting a bit more in a couple of small ways.
As I mentioned, I grew up playing Euchre, whether it was on scouting trips, in the cafeteria at lunch, or at home with my family, so I will always associate trick-taking games with team or semi-cooperative play. It’s a bit of a bummer that the rulebook doesn’t include an official team-based variant that would facilitate that, though it is easy enough to house-rule in. I also found myself let down by the implementation of Honor, specifically how rather bland it is. I get that it makes some sense from a narrative and lore standpoint, but it feels out of place gameplay-wise; it is just a letdown when it comes up. It was never fun or exciting to see “Honor has no trump ability” get flipped. It was like being forced to use the white crayon when drawing your picture or only being able to get vanilla ice cream in a shop full of tasty choices. I found myself often omitting Honor as a choice altogether.
