Overview
Shards of Creation is a trick-taking game based on Brandon Sanderson’s interconnected fantasy literary universe known as the Cosmere. This is the third traditional board game from Brotherwise Games in collaboration with Sanderson, after 2020’s Call to Adventure: The Stormlight Archive and 2024’s Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game. This simple card game is a much easier entry into the Cosmere than those first two entries, however. Teaching this to anyone who has played a trick-taking game before is a breeze, and if they don’t have the experience, a few practice hands will quickly bring them up to speed.
Core gameplay
Shards of Creation is played over three rounds, comprising 10 tricks each. The winner of each trick takes one of the played cards into their tableau to be scored at the end of the game. Multiples of a single suit and sets of suits will give you points. The real fun comes from the playing card abilities and round modifiers unique to each trump suit. The round’s modifier could cause something as simple as drawing an extra card during the dealing phases, or something trickier such as not being allowed to lead with the trump suit. Each game uses only 4/5 of the 8 suits that come in the box, so ability combos and strategies are new every time.
Dealing with the Cosmere
The theming of this game is consistent with Brotherwise’s usual attention to detail. Each suit in the box represents a godlike entity from one of Sanderson’s book series. The designer has carefully crafted each of their abilities to match the characters’ personalities. While certainly not essential to enjoying the game, readers of the books will be delighted at the “aha” moments as a new ability is revealed, or a trump card’s limitation takes effect.
Beyond the game design, the card layout and artwork are incredibly well done. While the text is always quick to read at a glance, each suite has a different feel. While some characters appear more relaxed and contained, others are bursting from the cards’ margins or interacting with the background art in unique ways.
Expectations met or shattered?
This trick-taking game feels as though it started by stripping down the classics such as Hearts or Spades and then built the card ability and round modifier system on top of that. You won’t find any gameplay variants or asymmetrical win conditions common to newer trick-taking games, leaving the gameplay entirely dependent on card management. There is no betting, “breaking” of suites, and no special score conditions as in Hearts’ “shooting for the moon.” In that way, it makes for a great introduction for players unfamiliar with the genre, while perhaps leaving those who have already played several modern iterations wanting more. Leaving out these modern conceits also gets rid of some ideas designers have used to allow overcoming a bad hand. Playing a few of these thirty-minute games, however, should even out most luck-based problems.
Conclusion
Shards of Creation is a game that begs to be played. Just from the enticing box art, it is sure to draw in trick-taking fans and book readers alike. Using just half of the available cards each game makes players want to come back again and again. While simple, each suit’s abilities interact in interesting ways, and no two games are the same. This casual game fits nicely alongside the other larger titles based on the works of Brandon Sanderson and leaves players excited about what will come next.
