I wasn’t sure what to expect with Etherstone. The art is gorgeous, the rules are light, and once you get rolling it’s deeper and faster than I thought. My first play left me hungry to explore new leader combos. I was a bit lost at first, but by my second game I was ready. It’s crunchy, turns move along, and I can’t wait to play again.
Etherstone is designed by Virginio Gigli and Simone Luciani, with art from Paolo Voto and published by ThunderGryph Games. The game plays 2 to 4 players with ~15 minutes per player. Players take on the role of powerful leaders competing for victory points by summoning cards, overcoming threats, and wielding mystical abilities.
What’s in the Box
● Rulebook
● Leader, basic, player aid, and threat cards
● 5 Etherstone six-sided dice
● Life dials
● Etherstone, Counter, victory point, and void pact tokens
How It Plays
Setup is simple. Each player drafts a Leader and starting hand of seven. Based on the leader specs, set the life dial and get Etherstones. Then set three threat cards, roll dice, and select a card from your hand and pass them to the next player. After you select seven cards, you are ready to start, voila!
On your turn, draft an Etherstone die to gain two resources and trigger matching powers. You can spend Etherstones to summon cards from your hand. You can rest your exhausted followers or push them into battle against Threats to earn rewards. Everything revolves around Etherstones, the five-color currency that fuels your cards and abilities. Threats are the main source of victory points, but your Leader and followers can build engines that chain into big swings. Keep an eye on your life though. If you push too hard you may be forced into a brutal Void Pact. Void Pact gives you negative seven points and reset your life dial. The game ends when someone runs out of cards, victory point pool is empty, or when all the Threats are cleared, and the player with the most points takes the win.
Pros
- Dice drafting tension
- Combat feels high stakes but rewarding
- The Void Pact is a clever “reset button”
- Minimal downtime, turns move along quickly
- Multi-layered strategies with multiple ways to win
- Deckbuilding and leader powers provide endless replayability
Considerations
- The game starts out a bit slow, but it ramps up quickly
- Lots of icons and abilities to parse through
- No direct combat
- Not a consideration, but I really thought it was interesting that the box does not say anything in the back or the sides. It reminded me of a perfume box that I would want to buy
Bottom Line
Etherstone surprised me. It looks mystical and pretty, but under the hood it’s a crunchy engine builder with tactical combat and meaningful choices every turn. It can feel a little overwhelming at first with all the icons and abilities, but once you get the flow, the dice, leaders, and threats create a game that’s fast, fun, and endlessly replayable. If you like multi-layered strategy, engine-building, and chasing combos, this game is a must try.
About the Author:
Coty is an avid reader, board gamer, reviewer, and playtester who enjoys everything from fine-tuning rulebooks (even in Spanish!) to designing 3D print upgrades. Follow her on Instagram. More thoughts and favorites are shared at KaCo Plays.
