Dreams can be filled with power. Energy that can be harnessed, and brought to bear on the physical world. As this power grows it attracts the interest of higher beings, who desire a place in reality. And so their servants fight over the limited spoils, balancing life and death, until a god walks the earth.
Luminous Ages is a deck building card game. Players summon places, creatures and objects in an effort to defeat their opponent. This can be done in a number of ways, from depleting the opponent’s life force to summoning a powerful god creature. Dragon Mode is essentially a starter box for Luminous Ages, and allows players to select a number of play type options.
The main thrust of the game seems to be directed at what is called PvP Mode, where two players face off against each other with specifically chosen cards and custom built decks. Land cards are played which, depending on their type, provide the player with amounts of Dream Energy. This Dream Energy is expended to summon creatures to an area, manifest artefacts and cast spells.
Certain creature cards add Dream Life to the players’ total. Once Dream Life reaches 30 points the player can summon their god creature. Having the god creature out for two turns ends the game. Players can also win by draining their opponent’s life to -10, or having a god creature summoned while also reaching 50 Dream Life.
To stop this happening players can send their summoned creatures to attack their opponents. Enemy creatures can be defeated, removing them and any of their effects from the board. Or land cards can be destroyed or drained depending on the circumstances, either depleting the opponents existing life or adding to the players own total.
Combat is handled by totalling the attacking and defending creature’s power values. These totals are subtracted from the opposing player’s creature power values. For each allocated amount which exceeds the creature’s power value that card is removed and placed into the players discard pile.
There is also the chance to augment or bolster the forces in the form of Quests. These are locations which creatures can be sent too, with a chance to activate special conditions. Some creatures also possess quest abilities which trigger on successfully completing a quest. Creatures on quests are treated as being in a separate location, so sending them out may deliver benefits while exposing the player to attack.
The other modes of play on offer are Deck Building and Dragon. In Deck Building players are striving to summon their god creature, but while building a deck from communal stacks of cards. They are also utilising shared quests and lands. Dragon Mode pits 1-6 players cooperatively against a collection of dragons and their minions.
Of course, with Luminous Ages thoughts immediately turn to Magic: The Gathering. Which can’t be helped, really, as the game is ubiquitous at this point. True, Luminous Ages utilises a fantasy theme and deck building mechanics, and borrows some of the conceptual gameplay shorthand which Magic has drilled into players. But it is where the game diverges that holds the most interest.
The game has a very well defined core. Players are striving to either go up in life to a certain point, or push their opponent down. This two handed approach, delivered on a sliding scale, means that players have options in not only how they play but also in what outcomes they aim for. So when it comes to choosing cards it is easy to select options which contribute to an overall plan.
It also helps to feed into the options in chaining abilities, spells and artefacts together. Some have certain criteria or provisions, and juggling the movement and bonus abilities of cards to bolster multiple locations can be a fun challenge. Plus this gives players some impetus to experiment with what cards they include when creating their decks.
In the Dragon Mode box itself the components are really well produced. Colours on the cards are vibrant and fit with the dream-like nature of a lot of the images. So too the included tokens are large and bright, making them easy to read when placed on cards. The art itself is also generally pretty good. Some of the landscapes and creatures are quite evocative, and create a unique feeling world.
Most of the issues with Luminous Ages seem to stem from the rule book. It appears to be lacking from critical input by someone unfamiliar with the game. This manifests mainly in the structure of the information, which can make the rules quite disorienting. For example, game concepts are referenced before they are explained or put into any kind of context.
Dragon Mode as a boxed product is also slightly confusing. It seems to be intended for two players, as an introduction to Luminous Ages proper. Especially since it comes with two player boards and sets of tokens. But one of the elements specified in the rules, which each player should have as part of setup, is a Deck which contains 60 cards of specific types. Except Dragon Mode doesn’t come with 120 Deck cards. Additional packs of cards are available to purchase, though. So it is possible to meet the requirements without purchasing an additional copy of Dragon Mode, with the added bonus of increasing the card selection.
To me it seems like the Luminous Ages rules, and the Dragon Mode box, are assuming a level of familiarity with either trading card game style deck builders or this game specifically. Which isn’t that surprising since Luminous Ages primary market seems to be sales through conventions, where people can demo the game first and learn the fundamentals. But coming in cold is much more of a challenge. The included rule book is from a couple of years back, and updated rules and how to play videos are available online. So finding a better guide on how to play is possible, though it is an added step which isn’t outlined in the product itself.
Which is annoying because I really do think that there is a solid game in Luminous Ages. A lot of thought seems to have gone into the main mechanics of it, which has been followed through with interesting abilities and an eye on creating balance. This same level of dedication has gone into the visual and production aspects of the product. It’s just too bad that this didn’t quite make it into how the rules are delivered.
If deck builders interest you then Luminous Ages is probably worth taking a look at. It hits all the marks that competitive deck builders need too, and without forcing players to resort to purchasing blind booster packs or an expensive singe card market to gain an edge. The creators of the game attend a number of events Australia wide, as well as a limited number internationally. So tracking them down and getting in some demo plays first is probably a good idea. Alternatively find a video providing a rules breakdown.
You can purchase Dragon Mode on the Luminous Ages website. A Kickstarter for the expansion cards Dragon Dreams will go live 22 August.