The best lane battler?

Pillars of Fate was one of our most anticipated games from GenCon25 and as it turns out: for a good reason!
This is a 2-player lane battling duel and tug-of-war game. We are fans of this genre and this one has a plethora of clever twists and additions!

The core principle works as you'd expect: There are 3 lanes where you are playing cards one at a time, with the round (aka. an Age) ending when all the lanes are full (which is normally 3 cards per player in each lane). But from here on out there are some cool ideas!

First of all you check who dominates each lane as usual, meaning who has the biggest sum of power there. However you don't necessarily want to win this all the time! Cards also show different amounts of feathers or scorpion tails which you also sum up to see how the quest card of the lane scores. Depending on which suit is bigger, the player dominating the lane will either win or lose points. (Just like how you evaluate quests in Veiled Fate). Quest cards keep changing in the 3 Ages you play through, keeping things interesting, and upping the ante.

Players are each allowed to play one card per lane face down which really amps up the mindgames. Then there is also a random modifier in the middle lane, again changing things up each Age - e.g. making it so the player with the least (instead of most) power dominates, or nullifying the first card played in the lane, or changing how many cards are played there, etc.

Finally, players don't just play with their standard decks, you also get 3 Divine cards that are each unique with a diverse range of abilities. You draft these, picking a card for yourself and giving two to your opponent so you have an idea what they have - but not when they will play them! It again amplifies the whole mindgame-bluffing aspect of the game.

By the way you both have your own decks with the same cards, which are randomly shuffled. You always have 5 in hand, and draw back to 5 after every round. The deck runs out just as the final 3rd Age ends, so you have to keep in mind what suits and what strength cards you have already used up already. After 3 Ages you check who accumulated more points and they are deemed the winner!

I really like the mindgames here. As an Age is set up and you see what quests are out and what the middle modifier is, you start planning with your hand of cards. And of course as you start playing you also have to react to your opponent’s card placement, which is made harder by the fact that they can also play a facedown card to each lane. Winning or losing lanes always seems to be really tight, and you only really know who wins the lane when you reveal everything at the end of the Age, so the game remains exciting and engaging throughout.

I think this game is spectacular. We love lane battlers and have quite a few already in the collection, but I think this beats them all handily. The evocative art direction of the Veiled Fate universe is also added to this on top. I just love these illustrations and the muted color palette!

Definitely give this a go if you enjoy 2-player duel games.