- Publisher(s) : Mandoo Games
- Designer(s) : Eric Hong
- Artist(s) : Jiahui Eva Gao, Gautier Maia, Stefano Martinuz, Erica Tormen, Jens Wiese
- Players : 2–4
- Playing time : 30 - 45 Min
- Weight BGG : 2.14
What's this?
The Vale of Eternity is a card and combo game where you play as a trainer of mythological creatures. Your goal? To capture, tame, and then summon monsters from myths around the world in order to accumulate victory points and become the greatest master of the Vale.
How do you play?
A game takes place in successive rounds (up to a maximum of 10), each divided into 3 phases: Capture – Action – Resolution .
1️⃣ Capture Phase
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A number of cards equal to 2 × the number of players is revealed .
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The cards are arranged by family around the board.
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In turn order, each player places a Capture token on an available card.
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Then, in reverse order, each person places their second token.
At the end of this phase, each player therefore has 2 “reserved” creatures .
2️⃣ Action Phase
Starting with the player who has the initiative, each player takes their turn and can perform as many actions as they wish , in any order they choose, as long as they have Capture tokens to collect.
There are 4 possible actions :
🪙 Sell a card
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Remove your Capture token.
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Discard the card.
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Earn magic stones according to the creature’s family.
⚠️ Strict limit: it is impossible to possess more than 4 magic stones .
🤝 Taming a map
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Remove your Capture token.
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Add the card to your hand .
There is no limit to the number of hands .
🔮 Summon a card
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Check that there is still space in your arena (the number of slots corresponds to the round number).
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Pay the cost in magic stones.
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Place the creature in its arena.
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Resolve the immediate effects .
The effects can be:
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Instantaneous (triggered by invocation),
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Permanent (continuously active),
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Activated (once per round during the resolution phase).
🚫 Ban a card
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Discard a creature from your arena.
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Pay a cost equal to the round number.
This frees up space for better synergies.
3️⃣ Resolution Phase
In turn, each player triggers each of their activatable effects present in their arena once , in the order of their choice.
Order is crucial: some abilities depend on the number of cards in hand or creatures already in play.
🏁 End of round & end of game
The game ends if:
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A player reaches 60 points or more at the end of a round.
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Or at the end of the 10th inning .
The player with the most points wins (tie broken by the number of creatures summoned).
Is it good?
The Vale of Eternity is a charming tableau card game that offers particularly satisfying combinations.
You’ll benefit from a wide variety of cards with different instant, permanent, and activatable effects. Some combos allow you to perform very rewarding tricks. But what truly sets it apart from other card games is its two-step mechanic: first, you reserve cards during the capture phase, which creates real dilemmas and demands tense tactical planning. Indeed, you are limited to 4 magic stones at a time, and the game doesn’t give change when you buy more.
This tense economic system forces you to make constant choices, while the gradual increase in the number of cards you can summon offers a real sense of growing power as the rounds progress.
The game offers numerous synergies between cards, some of which can even seem a bit overpowered when you manage to string together the right combinations. Yes, there is an element of chance in the cards drawn, which can sometimes favor certain players depending on their strategy. So be prepared for frustration if the cards you’re hoping for don’t appear.
The material is of good quality, with lovely illustrations on the cards, although the circular arrangement in the center of the table is not always the most practical in terms of readability.
In summary, The Vale of Eternity offers a strategic combo mechanic where every resource management decision matters, thanks to an original and challenging economic system. Despite an element of chance, it combines accessibility and tactical depth in a relatively fast format.
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My review of The Vale of Eternity
Positives
- Accessible rules
- Dynamic drafting system
- Rewarding combos
- Good replayability
- Relatively quick sections
Negatives
- The random release of the cards
- Primarily indirect interaction
- Possible frustration with certain strategies
