Review: The Vale of Eternity

Introduction & Overview

Step into a fantastical world of gods, monsters, and spirits! As a tamer, you will hunt and train a variety of beings. With mythological creatures from all over the world, every game will be unique and unpredictable. In each round, players will draft cards, take actions, and use the effects of the minions they have summoned. The player who tames the most incredible creatures will be the victor.

This is the premise behind The Vale of Eternity, designed by Eric Hong (Pocket Farm). It was first published in 2023 by Mandoo Games in an English and Korean edition. The artwork is credited to Jiahui Eva Gao, Gautier Maia, Stefano Martinuz, Erica Tormen, and Jens Wiese.

The title was published in Spanish by Maldito Games (featuring language dependence on both cards and rulebook). It supports 2 to 4 players, with a recommended minimum age of 14, and has an approximate playing time of 30 to 45 minutes. The MSRP is €30. For this review, we used a review copy of the Spanish edition, kindly provided by the publisher.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom) measuring 21.3×21.3×6.7 cm (a medium square box similar to Harmonies), we find the following items:

• Main Board (cardboard)
• Eternity Figure (cardboard)
• Score Track Board (cardboard)
• 70 Creature Cards (62.5×88 mm)
• 42 Magic Stones (cardboard):
  • 16 Value 1
  • 14 Value 3
  • 12 Value 6
• First-Player Marker (wooden)
• Round Marker (wooden)
• 8 Taming Rings / Markers (2 per color) (wooden)
• 4 Player Tiles (cardboard)
• 4 Score Markers (1 per color) (wooden)
• Rulebook

How to Play

The Vale of Eternity is an engine-building card game featuring five card families that depict various mystical creatures. The game plays over a maximum of ten rounds. Each round begins by revealing two cards per player, followed by a card reservation phase structured into two passes: one clockwise and the other counterclockwise. Afterwards, in turn order, each player decides what to do with their two reserved cards (selling them to gain coins or adding them to their hand). Additionally, players can play cards by paying their cost, bearing in mind that no change is given and personal coin pools have a hard limit. There is also a cap on the number of summoned cards in play, which cannot exceed the current round number. Cards offer immediate one-time effects, ongoing passive abilities, and end-of-round triggers. The game concludes at the end of the tenth round, or earlier if one or more players reach 60 victory points.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the core element of the game: the Cards. In the upper left corner, an icon denotes the card’s family (there are five: fire, water, earth, wind, and dragon) alongside a numerical value representing its summoning cost. The central area features a dedicated illustration, while the bottom section displays the card’s effect with a timing symbol (immediate, passive, or end-of-round). The family icon and cost are repeated in the bottom right corner.

Coins (or magic stones) serve as the currency players spend to play their cards. Three denominations exist: red with a value of 1, light blue with a value of 3, and purple with a value of 6. A player’s personal reserve holds a maximum of four coins, regardless of their individual face values. If an action or effect causes a player to exceed this limit, they must immediately discard down to four, choosing which coins to keep.

At the beginning of each round, cards are revealed for players to claim. These are laid out around the Supply Board, a pentagon where each edge corresponds to a card family and illustrates the quantity and type of coins awarded when selling a card of that type.

To claim cards, players use two Reservation Markers (taming rings). These are large discs in each player’s color featuring a distinct icon on top. Each card can only hold a single marker.

Finally, there is the Score Board. It features a winding circular track with spaces numbered from 1 to 60. The central area accommodates the round track, with 10 spaces numbered from 1 to 10.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

1. Shuffle the creature deck and place it face down to one side.
2. Form a general supply with the coins.
3. Place the supply board in the center of the table.
4. Place the score board nearby and set the round marker on space 1 of the round track.
5. Each player chooses a color and receives a scoring marker, 2 reservation markers, and a multiplier tile.
6. Randomly determine the first player, who takes the starting player marker.
7. Lastly, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player places their scoring marker on the lowest available starting space of the score track.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of The Vale of Eternity is played over a maximum of 10 rounds. Each round consists of three phases.

Phase I: Hunting

At the start of this phase, reveal twice as many cards as there are players in the game (if the draw deck runs out, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck).

Next, starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player places one of their reservation markers on a card that does not already have a marker on it.

Once every player has placed their first marker, repeat the process in reverse order, starting with the player to the right of the first player and going counterclockwise.

The phase ends once all players have placed both of their reservation markers.

Phase II: Actions

Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes their action turn.

On their turn, the active player may perform multiple actions (actions may be repeated as long as their requirements are met).

Once the player has carried out all desired actions, play passes to the player on their left. This phase concludes when every player has finished their action turn.

The available actions are:

• Sell a Reserved Card. The player discards a card bearing one of their reservation markers and takes coins from the general supply as indicated on the supply board for that card’s family. A player’s reserve may never hold more than four coins. If this limit is exceeded, the surplus must be discarded before taking another action or ending the turn (the player chooses which coins to discard).

• Add a Reserved Card to Hand. The player takes a card with their reservation marker into their hand. There is no hand size limit.

• Summon a Card from Hand. The player puts a card into their play area by paying its cost with available coins. The spent coins return to the general supply (no change is returned if an overpayment occurs). If the card has an immediate effect, it triggers right away. Keep in mind that a player can never have more cards in play than the current round number. While certain effects can reduce card costs, a cost can never drop below zero.

• Banish a Card from the Play Area. The player discards one of their summoned cards by paying an amount of coins equal to the current round number.

Phase III: Resolution

Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player resolves their end-of-round triggers.

During their resolution turn, the active player resolves any end-of-round effects on their cards in whatever order they prefer.

The phase concludes once every player has finished their resolution turn.

If the end of the game has not been triggered, pass the first-player marker to the player on the left, and a new round begins.

Game End

The game ends at the conclusion of the tenth round or immediately if one or more players reach or exceed 60 victory points.

The player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, the player with the most summoned cards in play breaks the tie. If the tie persists, victory is shared.

Personal Opinion

Card combo games are, as a rule, a dependable bet. They are designs built on solid mechanics that have been tested and refined across countless previous titles. Naturally, the flip side is that these games often feel remarkably similar to one another.

In this genre, the primary goal typically revolves around piecing together combinations of effects whose synergy produces a far greater payoff than activating each piece in isolation. Distinctions between titles usually emerge around three foundational pillars, namely: how cards are acquired, how they are played, and what triggers the end of the game.

Today we examine The Vale of Eternity, one such design where the aim is to race towards a target victory point threshold before your rivals do, or simply hold the highest score when the maximum round limit is reached. Before diving in, special thanks go to Maldito Games for providing the review copy that made this write-up possible.

In this game, cards represent different entities tied to natural elements plus dragons—the latter feeling slightly shoehorned in, though the mythological patchwork is undeniably charming, mixing Norse, Eastern, and Greek deities among others. Best not to be overly demanding when it comes to thematic cohesion.

Every card features a summoning cost, a suit or family, and an ability that can be immediate, passive, or end-of-round. Acquiring them is straightforward: every participant gains access to two cards each round (card effects aside), as twice as many cards as there are players are revealed at the start of each round.

From there, a snake draft in classic Catan style takes place: the first pick goes clockwise starting from the first player, while the second pick proceeds counterclockwise starting from the last player. Thus, the first player gets the premium first choice but picks last in the second round, whereas the last player enjoys consecutive back-to-back picks.

Each player must then figure out what to do with those two cards. Here lies the core hook of the design: the main avenue for earning coins to pay for summoning costs is selling those very drafted cards. Each family offers a specific payout in coins, reflecting the relative power curve of their abilities.

Fire cards, for instance, rank as “the weakest,” granting fewer and lower-value coins, whereas wind or dragon cards yield high-denomination currency to match their potent abilities. For every selected card, a choice must be made.

Watch out, though! The game imposes a tight restriction: players can never hold more than four coin tokens at a time, regardless of their values. This creates engaging tactical puzzles where finding the right sequencing is paramount.

For example, if you have enough funds to play one of your chosen cards, it pays to summon it first to clear space in your reserve before selling the second card, because exceeding the four-coin limit when completing an action forces immediate discards. Other games are more lenient and check limits strictly at the end of a turn, as in Race for the Galaxy (tocho-review here), making this feel closer to Seasons (tocho-review here).

That comparison is particularly apt, because The Vale of Eternity feels like a streamlined take on Régis Bonnessée’s design, borrowing many of its core tenets. Both are card engine-builders featuring a strict resource token cap that must be respected between actions; both depict creatures drafted by players and place a ceiling on how many can be summoned simultaneously; and both utilize immediate, ongoing, or round-end triggers (though Seasons includes game-end scoring cards as well).

Consequently, both games foster very similar table dynamics: if you enjoy one, chances are you will appreciate the other, and vice versa. Yet because shelf space is finite, choices must be made. Personally, Seasons stands as the superior game due to its deeper long-term planning and considerably beefier deck of cards.

On the other hand, Seasons can prove more punishing due to the whims of its chunky dice, and it presents a steeper learning curve when mapping out strategy across multiple game years. The Vale of Eternity is snappier, much easier to teach, and sheds extraneous chrome, allowing players to focus squarely on drafting cards and stringing together efficient combos.

Hand management, typically a staple of the genre, is quite streamlined here. You will rarely hold a large hand, since the overarching priority is getting cards onto the table as swiftly as possible (barring specific combos requiring setup). More often than not, you will hover around a hand of two or three cards at most.

The primary drawback of The Vale of Eternity is its relatively shallow deck size. After just a few plays, you will inevitably run into the exact same cards repeatedly. At four players, the deck consistently runs dry, making a discard reshuffle unavoidable.

While the arrival sequence of cards and how players pair them during the draft alters the puzzle, I am not convinced it offers enough variety to support heavy, regular rotation. In that regard, Tom Lehmann’s feat with Res Arcana (tocho-review here) is all the more impressive: restricting players to just eight cards while wringing immense variety out of an equally compact card pool.

Furthermore, the design leaves little room for wacky effects due to the sheer mechanical trimming compared to Seasons. Lacking crystallization, custom dice, or diverse energy types, the effect variety boils down to gathering coins, drawing cards, scoring points, and minor player interaction.

Even with those limitations, The Vale of Eternity remains an appealing package, particularly if your collection lacks this style of game. If your shelves already house Seasons, Res Arcana, or similar titles, this one may feel somewhat redundant. However, if you enjoy high library turnover or want an accessible, mechanically elegant entry point into engine builders, it serves as a solid contender.

Regarding player count, the game shines brightest at two, which is typical for the genre. Player interaction is largely confined to hate-drafting or denial (though a handful of cards directly target opponents). A two-player setup also leaves cards unseen in the deck, boosting overall variability. At four players, downtime creeps up and reshuffling is guaranteed, though it remains perfectly playable.

Replayability yields mixed feelings. A two-player match can wrap up in just over twenty minutes, and piecing combos together feels brisk and rewarding. Conversely, bringing it out too frequently risks burning out on the card pool rather quickly. Moderation is key.

In terms of production, the quality is quite respectable. The cards boast sturdy cardstock, linen finish, and great snap (sleeving is still advisable given how frequently cards are handled). The wooden pieces feel hefty and well-painted, while the punchboards are reasonably thick with clean cuts, if a touch porous to the touch. The rulebook is clearly written and leaves little ambiguity. There is also an included cardboard standee that serves no mechanical purpose whatsoever, serving purely as table dressing.

Visually, the game catches the eye, even if the solemn tone of the box art clashes somewhat with creature illustrations that skew closer to Pokémon than epic fantasy. The art is great in its own right, though it might set mismatched expectations for newcomers. All told, a solid visual outing.

And let’s wrap this up. The Vale of Eternity is a card-driven engine builder featuring an elegant, streamlined resource and acquisition loop that produces fast-paced, engaging sessions. That same streamlining does limit card versatility, which can cause matches to feel slightly repetitive over time. Even so, for anyone seeking an accessible, low-friction combo builder, it is a great choice. For all these reasons, I give it a…