As a Dream Master in Luminous Ages command you chosen Dream Gods to the Ultimate Victory
In Luminous Ages you play as a Dream Master, loyal to one of the 13 Dream Gods. The Dream Gods are all trying to be the first to claim Ekratoria; the physical realm and through it Oniro, the Dream Realm by relying on you the players to summon them.
To summon your Dream God you must gather Dream Life, which you can generate in a number of ways, such as capturing or draining lands and by protecting your own lands. When you have gathered 30+ Dream Life you can summon your Dream God into the world of Ekratoria but you still need to protect them for 2 full turns in play to win
SETTING UP THE GAME
To play, each player must prepare the following:
- 1 Dream/Dragon God card
- 1 Quest Creature card
- 5 Core Land cards
- 1 Quest Land card
- Dream Life counter – must be able to count from -10 to 50
- A six sided die
- 1 Deck with 60+ cards
- Extra standard creature cards, how many and what type depends on your deck.
There are many options when building your deck. However there are some rules and guidelines in the rulebook, I won’t go over them all here.
At the start of the game, place:
- 1 Core Land in the middle of your area.
- 4 Core Lands in the middle at the bottom.
- Your Dream God and Quest Creature cards to the bottom right.
- Quest Land in the top left.
- Your deck in the bottom left.
- Your Dream life counter, spare low cast Standard Creature cards and 6-sided die to one side in easy reach.
Each player shuffles and roll a die to see who goes first. Each player draws 8 cards. You get one free mulligan.
PLAYING THE GAME
Once you are happy with hands proceed with playing. During the first-round players cannot use any offensive abilities or attack other players. However, the results of quests, spells and passive abilities can be used.
Each player’s turn is divided into phases. There tend to be multiple chances during each turn to perform the same task, giving you more options.
PHASES:
- Draw a card.
- Return creatures from Dark Call.
- Un-tilt all cards on your side.
- Place a Land.
- Summon creatures or artefacts and return creatures from Oniro. Make choice for Declared abilities.
- Spell Phase. *
- Go Questing.
- Use Quest Creature abilities that aid questing (e.g. Dark Call) and move creatures as needed.
- Roll for the Quest.
- Gain any rewards of a successful quest or deduct any penalties for a failed quest.
- Abilities Phase. *
- Instant abilities including Structures’ & creature abilities.
- Activated abilities including artefacts’ & creature abilities.
- Attack Phase. *
- Declare attackers and defenders.
- Cast any spells.
- Declare any defensive abilities.
- Determine damage and Dream Life. Remove dead creatures.
- Summon creatures and artefacts. Cannot return creatures from Oniro. Make choice for Declared abilities.
- Spells Phase. *
- Go Questing.
- Abilities Phase. *
- Bring out your Dream God.
- Conclude your turn. All creature life totals reset
* Opposing players can also choose to act during this phase. However, they always go second and cannot declare an attack on another player’s turn, only respond with defence. E.g. During phase 7 other players can also cast spells.
HOW TO WIN
There are three ways to win the game:
- Drain your opponent’s Dream Life down to -10.
- Gain 30 Dream Life and bring your Dream/Dragon God into play and keep them in play for two consecutive turns.
- If you reach 50 Dream Life and have your Dream God out for one full turn.
- If you reach 80 Dream Life and summon your Dream God.
Luminous Ages is in a single word, Stunning. I have never played a game that leaps off the table more than this one. I know normally, I wait until the end of the review to talk about the art; but this can’t be helped for Luminous Ages. It truly is stunning. The creatures are whimsical and mystical; the humans are so realistic and the whole world is so colourful. If Skittles slogan is ‘Taste the rainbow’; then this game’s slogan should be ‘Play the Rainbow’. I have never seen so much colour on a board and it done this well.
In the past, I have place games that go overboard with colours; they using every single colour I have ever seen and more; Luminous Ages is so colourful, and yet does it in such a way that it really works. The artists of this game have invented a bright, mystical world that has such a light and beauty energy to it. But there can’t be a light, without the dark; and the dark for me has been knocked out of the park. You can clearly see these cards have a darker theme; yet they still fit into the colourful world so perfectly. The artists have used source lighting or a bright, single colour highlight to make the card pop and share the essence and energy of the world.
I could write a whole review about the art alone, but I won’t. As you can have the most stunning game, but if it plays poorly, there is no point in getting it. Luminous Ages is not all show and no play value. This game is a lot of fun, I know I shouldn’t be saying it is fun, as I only won one game of the 12 or so we played. But I really enjoyed this game.
I sat down with a few friends who have played both Netrunner & Magic the Gathering casually to immediately. We all picked a deck. As is the rule in my house, I always get to play purple. Let the mischief begin! (its theme is mischief and exile).
We decided to play similar to an MTG tournament, best of 3. I won the first game, and was excited as maybe I found a card game I was amazing at…… but Karma you heartless person you. As that was the only game I won for the whole day. My Kiwi mates that are over really enjoyed the game and it was a great night of PVP. I liked that we each played one another and got to experience all the decks. Our little tournament was eventually won by Tim and the Knightmare deck.
A lot of people will look at this game and think it is another Magic the Gathering, and I understand why must people would. It is the biggest card game in the world of this kind; but Luminous Ages is about as similar to MTG as Pokemon, or Hearthstone or any of the TCG around. There are some similarities to the MTG Commander format, you tap a land for energy (mana in MTG), you are trying to get out your Dream Dragon (Commander) and you have creatures and spells. Those are the only real similarities. This game plays very differently and has so many touches; that if you play a game or two you will clearly see this is its own game.
The Questing in this game is a beautiful touch; that is very unique to this game. It gives it an almost RPG feel to it, though it is only a single dice role to resolve. The ability to steal or destroy lands in this game is another element I really like; as it makes you think and adds another level of depth. You need to guard your lands, which forces you to play creatures and not get complacent about your board.
These competitive decks are great for PvP; everything is in the box. It is as simple as opening and shuffling them and you are ready for a game. That being said, you can choose to build your own deck, to get the best out of all the cards. As the lands make energy but it isn’t limited to a certain colour like other TCGs; which gives you the ultimate freedom in Deck Building. Other than the rules listed in the rulebook, these 4 decks can make anything you desire.
I really hope people get behind Luminous Ages: Dragon Dreams and don’t just see it and label it a TCG clone. As if you do, you will miss out on a great card game that has a more depth and freedom than you might expect. If like me, you are more a casual to immediate TCG or card game player. I would highly recommend this game to you, as you will love that look and playstyle of Luminous Ages: Dragon Dreams.
If you would like to get your copy Luminous Ages: Dragon Dreams, you can head to their preview Kickstarter here.
The campaign goes live on Tuesday the 21st of August at approximately 4:00 pm AEST (an hour after this article is published).
I also recommend you follow the Designer, Anthony Christou, profile on Kickstarter here to keep up to date with his future projects.
*** Please note: This game is completely finished and ready to ship within a few months of funding, so there is no risk to backers. You can also pick up a copy of the Orginal Luminous Ages: Dragon Mode
About Dragon Mode
Dragon Mode is the first version of Luminous Ages we released and comes with 48 punch-out tokens, 120 cards, 2 x 6 sided die, 2 x 30 sided die, 2 life cards, a rulebook and a card of the phases in each turn.
Cards and accessories from Dragon Mode and other earlier versions of the game are compatible with the theme decks. Cards from all versions can be combined to create more options for personalised decks. However, the theme decks are competitive with personalised decks. It’s all personal preference and skill.
Many of the items included in Dragon Mode can also be used for player’s convenience when playing with the theme decks.
