Faraway

Faraway is a set collection card game. Throughout the game you will play 8 cards into your tableau, representing your journey. The cards are played from left to right. However, at the end of the game when you score points, you resolve the cards from right to left. This is the most important twist in Faraway. 

All cards have a number and a type. Some cards have features. Some cards have scoring conditions, and some of these scoring conditions have prerequisites. You are playing cards in the reverse order of how they will be evaluated. That means in the early game you can play a potentially high scoring card with many prerequisites, and after that you try to play cards which satisfy the prerequisites. This game is literally about working backwards. You want to play many scoring cards, because, well, they are scoring cards. Ideally they have similar prerequisites, so that you can try to satisfy them all. You have a hand of three cards, so you can somewhat plan ahead. Every round there is a pool of cards you will refill your hand from. The lower the card number you have played that round compared to your opponents, the earlier you get to pick a card. By watching the kind of cards your opponents pick, and also the cards they have played, you can strategise whether to compete with them. 

Features are along the top, scoring conditions are at the bottom right. Activation conditions, if any, are in the middle just above the scoring conditions. 

You have incentive to play your cards in ascending order. If a card you play has a larger number than the previous card, you will get to take one sanctuary card. Think of sanctuary cards as places you have already visited before you do your final scoring. All the features and abilities of sanctuaries take effect before you start evaluating your eight main cards. Sanctuaries are very helpful in fulfilling those prerequisites for scoring cards. 

The smaller cards along the top are the sanctuaries

This is a light strategy game with a fun little twist. It is mainly about collecting card combos. The challenge in the reverse order evaluation and the incentive to play cards in ascending numbers presents a fun puzzle.

This is one high-scoring journey by Han