Res Arcana is a card game of resource transformation and growth for 2-4 alchemical mages. Re In Res Arcana, each Mage has a total of eight Artifacts per game. An artifact can be a magical object to create, a place to occupy, a creature to summon, a dragon to control ... It's up to you to determine which ones will be most useful to you to build a Victory Point Engine more effective than those of your rivals.

In the four corners of the world, the sky is covered with clouds, the oceans change color, the atmosphere crackles with magic. In the dim light of an Alchemical laboratory, on the snowy summit of a sacred mountain, in the depths silent of a corrupt temple, powerful mages prepare for confrontation. They harvest, handle and consume the essences that make up the magic of the world to create mysterious Artifacts. As they bring out strange creatures from the void, they conquer terrible Places of Powers and invoke gigantic Dragons to defeat their opponents!

In a high tower, an Alchemist prepares potions, using vials filled with otherworldly fluids. In a sacred grove, a Druid grinds herbs for a mystical ritual. In the catacombs, a Necromancer summons a bone dragon... Welcome to the world of Res Arcana™!

In it, Life, Death, Elan, Calm, and Gold are the essences that fuel the art of magic. Choose your mage, gather essences, craft unique artifacts, and use them to summon dragons, conquer places of power, and achieve victory!

Each player in Res Arcana starts the game with a deck of eight cards, drawing three of them at random for their initial hand, and a mage card, each of which has a unique power. In reverse player order, each player drafts a magic item from the reserve, with these items mirroring the power of all the mages in the game, although typically in a worse way since it's better to be an alchemist than to rely on a book of alchemy.

At the start of a turn, everyone collects resources generated by their cards and optionally removes resources located on their cards, adding all of this material to a personal resource pool. Then, starting with the round's first player, each player takes one action in clockwise order until all players have passed and the round ends. The actions are:

• Use the power of one of your items in play.
• Place a card from your hand into play after paying its cost.
• Acquire a monument or place of power from the shared playing area after paying its cost.
• Discard a card from your hand for any two non-gold resources or one gold.
• Pass.

The game ends the round that someone has at least 10 VPs, with whoever has the most VPs winning. Some of the cards in your deck will be worth VPs if you have them in play, but most of your points come from the monuments and places of power you acquire, with those latter cards often having a variable value depending on what you do with them.

Designed by Tom Lehmann (Race for The Galaxy) and richly illustrated by Julien Delval, Res Arcana offers a unique gaming experience!

2 to 4 Players
20 to 60 Min Playing Time
Age: 12+

It may not be possible to ship very heavy items outside of the Mainland UK.
Released: 12 March 2019