In a far off world of Swords and Sorcery the cyclopean Tower of Ravingspire looms over a mystic battlefield. Mighty warriors of the realm, known as Reavers, sojourn to this desolate valley to battle for dominance in an annual combat known as the Reaverquest. These warriors must fight with all their skill and cunning, as the seeping magic of the Tower may alter the very battlefield they fight on at a moment’s notice!

Reaverquest is a fast-paced card battle game of brawling and swordplay set in the Sword and Sorcery world of Ravingspire. For 2-3 Players.

Reaverquest consists of 30 Fight cards, 10 Rage cards, 9 Battlefield cards, and 3 Reaver Hero cards. Each Player chooses a specific Reaver to represent them in the combat, and uses that Hero card to track their health. Six of the ten Rage cards are randomly chosen and dealt into the deck of Fight cards, making the Rage dynamics of each game slightly different. The Battlefield cards are set aside as a separate deck near the gameplay area.

Each Player is dealt a hand of six cards from a communal Fight deck that contains various values of Attack, Riposte, and Deflect cards, all with values ranging from 1-10. The deck also contains six of the ten Rage cards, which have various effects in battle. This hand is then used to combat your opponent, with the goal of reducing your opponent’s health to zero. Health is known as Vigor, and is tracked by rotating your Hero card so your current value is facing you.

Each time a Player plays an ATTACK card a new Battle begins, and their opponent may DEFLECT the damage (partially blocking the Attack or sending the excess damage toward another Player), RIPOSTE the damage (partially blocking the Attack or returning the excess damage back toward the Attacker), or they may use one of the rare RAGE cards that have various effects. Ripostes may be countered back and forth until one of the Reavers takes damage, at which time that Battle ends.

Initiative for each Battle (including the decision of which Attack card to play and who to send it toward) goes to the Player who did not play the last card in the previous Battle. Sometimes it can be more advantageous to take damage from the current Battle rather than block it so as to claim Initiative for the next Battle!

If a defender ever uses a DEFLECT card to cause the value of the Battle to equal exactly zero, then they have performed a Perfect Parry. This kind of combat prowess so near the otherworldly Tower of Ravingspire causes a dimensional shift in the Battlefield. That defender draws a Battlefield card and benefits from the Perfect Parry effect listed in yellow on the card, which have various effects such as healing or drawing extra Fight cards. They then place that Battlefield card next to the gameplay area and all Players are now subject to the changes to the game listed in white on the card until that Battlefield is replaced. Where previously they may have been fighting in the Reaver Valley, where all Attack cards gain +1 value, suddenly they may find themselves battling within the Thief’s Maze, where any Deflect cards may be played as Ripostes!

The game is played in a series of Rounds. A Round ends when no Player can play an Attack card, or one Player takes full damage from an Attack without defending in any way. When a Round ends any remaining cards in the Players’ hands are discarded, as are any persistent Rage card effects on their Reaver. A new hand of cards is dealt to each Player and a new Round begins. The Dealer for the new Round rotates counterclockwise, and the Player to the Dealer’s left has Initiative at the beginning of the new Round.

The ultimate goal of Reaverquest is to reduce your opponents’ Vigor to zero, forcing them to submit to your rule and allowing you to claim the title of Vorpal Reaver.

—description from the publisher

Games