Etherfields First Impressions (Spoiler Free)

Etherfields is a cooperative, deck-building game.

Title: Etherfields

Year Published: 2020

Designer: Michał Oracz

Publisher: Awaken Realms

Players: 1-4

Game Time: ~90 but can vary session to session

Set-up Time: ~15 mins

Ages: 12+

Theme: A disturbing dreamscape

Mechanisms: Deck Building

How to win: Complete the scenario or campaign.

Game Description

Learn about the Dreamers, their forgotten past, and their desperate mission. Uncover the surreal, sprawling dreamscapes. Just don’t be surprised when—just like dreams often do—they become a little disturbing…

How to play Etherfields (Spoiler Free)

How to play video potentially coming soon. There is an official one out there to get you through in the meantime. But, as this game isn’t available to buy in retail outlets right now it’s not worth my time!

If when it happens, it will be a spoiler-free look at how to play Etherfields giving you just enough information to get started. The rulebook and the way the game teaches it to you can be daunting/confusing (it was for me!) so I hope it will help!

Theme

A weird creepy dreamscape.

You never know what’s around the next corner and every button press or passage read in the book could bring something nasty. I really like this surreal theme, it’s what attracted me to the game, to begin with.

Setup & Rulebook

The setup is very simple. It’s actually really well described in the rulebook.

But it’s the only things explained well in the rulebook, the rest is awful! I know what they want to do but as someone that wants to know how to play the game 100% before starting, it does a terrible job.

This is especially true when playing solo. I don’t want to go in and get it wrong, especially in a campaign game.

They give you all of the information, but not in a useable order. Most of the rules are spread through the Secret Scripts book in various places in the 900+ passages…

The tutorial scenario does a fairly good job but this way of teaching doesn’t work for me.

Components & Artwork

Phenomenal.

All of the components are great and the minis are nice and strong.

I really like the dark artwork too, it’s a style I really like.

I did an unboxing of the game… but the camera pointing at the game didn’t roll so you couldn’t see anything. So here is an unboxing of the 5th player expansion which did work, plus outtakes from the lost main game unboxing, enjoy!

Ease of Teaching & Accessibility

Hmmm… I’ve only played it solo so I haven’t had to teach it but as with any co-op game, you can teach step by step.

A barrier to accessibility is needing new players to understand all the abilities of the cards on their hands. As always, you can play with hands face up for a few rounds until the deck has been cycled a few times.

Etherfields Summary

So I’m only playing this solo and it’s a bit big and more complex than the games I usually play solo. I prefer little card games like Samurai Spirit and Hero Realms or short, quick escape room games like the Unlock! series.

But I don’t mind this due to the ease of gameplay (in a way) and the cool exploration/story.

The main mechanisms of the game, the deck-building and the skill checks are really fun. The threat you feel is tense, it all works.

It’s hard to say much else because right now everything I want to say will be spoilers. So, come back here for more spoiler-free updates on the game as I play further into the story.

Etherfields Round-Up

A very good game let down by a terrible rulebook.

Rating I give it 7/10