I don't feel that the artwork however is bad, I think it's actually quite thematic. In a dream not many things make sense right? I also really like the black misty type borders on the cards, it gives a really creepy feel to them and makes me feel like I'm peeking through a keyhole (strange but that's the first thing I thought of when I looked at them!). 

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The box is quite small so it's pretty good to take on trips, especially as it's a quick play at 10-15 minutes.

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Gameplay

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The deck of cards is shuffled (the first of many times!) and you draw a hand of 5 cards. At this point, any door or nightmare cards revealed are shuffled back into the deck. You then proceed to play a card in front of you in the labyrinth or discard a card and replace it with a new card from the deck. Your aim is to play a series of three cards in a row of the same colour, and the cards adjacent must not have the same symbol (there are three symbols in the base game; sun, moon and key). Once you have three cards of the same colour adjacent to each other, you search the deck for a door card of that colour, and place it in front of you. The game ends immediately when you have all 8 door cards on the table.

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If you draw a nightmare card from the deck when replenishing your hand, you can choose to place a door already in front of you back into the deck, discard your hand or discard the first 5 cards of the deck. When you're resolving a nightmare, any other nightmare cards or door cards that are drawn with the view of being discarded are instead placed in a limbo pile, which will be shuffled back into the deck at the end of the turn.

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Cards with a key symbol are special in that if you draw a door card when replenishing your hand, and already hold a key of that colour, you can discard the key to immediately gain the door. A key can also be discarded in the play a card/discard a card phase to reveal the top 5 cards of the deck, choose one to discard, then rearrange the remaining 4 in an order of your choice. They can be pretty powerful so are good to keep hold of!

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There are lots of little changes that can be made to the core gameplay to alter the difficulty of the game. For example, one option is to 'spend' the little incubus pawn to cancel the effect of one nightmare once in the game. This is pretty much the extent of the role of the incubus throughout the game, but these little variations are really good to make the game adaptable to everyone.

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In the two player variant there are some communal cards as well as your individual hands and you both need to collect a door of each colour. The gameplay doesn't change too much. I think this would be a very accessible game for all ages.

 

 

Thoughts

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I really enjoy this game for its simplicity and quick playtime. It's super quick to set up, looks good on the table, and I feel is the right balance of strategy and luck for a game of its size. The artwork is by no means for everyone, however I think it's pretty unique and interesting and complements the theme well.

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I do however think this game is played in short bursts. I find I play a couple of games in a row and then that's enough for me; I wouldn't want to play again for a good few days or so (unlike me, I'm usually up for any game!).

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Despite the many expansions in the box, I feel that these mostly offer a change in difficulty rather than alter the core of the game too much. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you're expecting 8 different games in one box I think you'd be disappointed. I think for what the game sets out to achieve, it is done well.

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Thoughts for solo play

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I have played the game mostly solo, but have also played it two player. I would not necessarily recommend this for two player alone; I don't think it's beefy enough, however the two player version is by no means less enjoyable. I like the game better solo as it's quicker and provides something a little different to other card games I've played.

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Pros

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• Good amount of ways to adapt the gameplay to your preferred difficulty through the many expansions or alternative options.

• Small footprint and quick playtime

• Very accessible and easy to teach

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Cons

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• There is so much shuffling which can become very tiresome. There is an app version of the game which may be better for some, but I still prefer the tactile experience.

• I don't feel that the game has a huge amount of replayability in a short period of time.

 

 

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Overall rating:

1- Poor, didn't really enjoy it much at all
2- It was ok. I wouldn't recommend it to play
3- Average game that does not particularly stand out and/or has a few negative points
4- Pretty good game that is enjoyable
5- Highly recommended to play
6- A must play!

 

 

Expansion overview:

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The Book of Steps Lost and Found

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This expansion offers the additional complication of goal cards which dictate the order in which the doors need to be obtained. To offset this extra difficulty, you are provided with three spells to cast. You need to remove a number of cards from the discard pile to cast these. This is a good expansion which provides a new interesting dynamic where it's not too bad to discard cards as you can cast the more powerful spells. It's also really easy to integrate with the base game or other expansions as there's not too many extra rules.

 

Dice rating: 5

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The Glyphs

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I consider this one to be a slight extension of the main game, and a way to increase the difficulty after you've mastered the main game. It offers an additional 4 doors to obtain, with the help of more location cards shuffled into the deck. If a location card with a glyph symbol is discarded at any point an incantation is triggered, which means that you can rearrange some of the top cards of the deck in an order of your choice. This expansion is, much like The Book of Steps Lost and Found, easy to incorporate into the main game. I do find the incantation slightly overpowered however, as when you draw the cards from the deck to rearrange, if any of them are a door, you are able to put it immediately in front of you.

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Dice rating: 4

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The Dreamcatchers

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This one adds a few extra mechanisms to shake up the gameplay a little. Four dreamcatcher cards are placed in front of you at the start of the game, and four lost dreams are shuffled into the deck. Whenever you have cards in the limbo pile at the end of a round, instead of shuffling them back in, you put them next to a dreamcatcher. Your aim, as well as collecting the 8 door cards, is to catch the 4 lost dream cards within these dreamcatchers.

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I also found this expansion a little easy. I may have just been lucky, but I found that I would draw and resolve a nightmare card, then continue to draw nightmares which would usually go into the limbo pile, but would instead just essentially be removed from the game by being placed next to a dreamcatcher. There is the rule that once the dreamcataches are full, one is removed from the game and all the cards next to it are reshuffled back into the deck (so they’re never really removed from the game as such), however this doesn't seem to happen too often so I found it to make the game easier by capturing all the nightmares for me. It is still an interesting little addition that changes the game enough to keep it feeling fresh.

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Dice rating: 3

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The Towers

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This expansion shuffles tower cards into the deck. Your aim, on top of gaining the usual 8 doors, is also to play a row of tower cards (separate to that of the doors); one of each colour adjacent to each other. In the game you may discard a tower card to look at a number of cards on the top of the deck and rearrange them. This is a good expansion which makes you think about the type of card you're discarding more than you usually would; there are very limited tower cards of each colour.

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Dice rating: 4

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Happy Dreams and Dark Premonitions

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There are 4 happy dream cards that are shuffled into the deck with this expansion, and in a standard solo game, 4 of the dark premonition cards are revealed face up on the table. These show conditions and effects, and the cards are resolved at any point in the game when the condition is met (and all are bad!). I thought this was quite an interesting expansion as it made me think about the order in which I obtained the door cards, and even exactly when I 'cashed in' cards to obtain the door, knowing that a negative effect was about to be carried out. This provides a good new way to play. I have not played it alongside The Book of Steps Lost and Found, but I wouldn't think they would complement each other too much as half the fun of this expansion is being able to alter your plans (in terms of the door to achieve next) according to what dark premonitions are on the table at any given time.

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Dice rating: 5

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Crossroads and Dead Ends

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Dead end cards are shuffled into the main deck in this expansion alongside crossroad cards. The dead end cards block up your hand, as they cannot be discarded like another location card; they can only be discarded when resolving a nightmare, or by triggering an 'escape' at the beginning of your turn, where you choose to discard your whole hand. The crossroad cards are wild cards that can be used as any colour location.

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I didn't have any strong feelings either way with this expansion. It was a nice change to play the game where the tactic was ever so slightly different (I held onto the dead ends until I could discard a hand full when I drew a nightmare) but it didn't change anything that much.

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Dice rating: 3

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The Door to the Oniverse

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I think I like this expansion the best as it seems to be the only one that is actually working with you instead of against you! Denizens are shuffled into the deck alongside an additional door to obtain. When you draw a denizen when replenishing your hand, you need to decide if you will discard a card to obtain the denizen, which can aid you in obtaining the doors. There are 8 types, and they all have a different power (a positive power!). I feel like this is a nice addition as, unless you have mastered the base game, the game can sometimes feel a bit punishing, especially as more negative things are added in with every expansion.  I think this one could be good to add in if you're struggling to win as it feels friendlier.

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Dice rating: 5