Hero Realms

Hero Realms
Box cover art
DesignerRob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle
PublisherWise Wizard Games
Players2 to 4[1]
Age range12 and up
Playing time20-30 minutes
Chancecard draw
Websiteherorealms.com

Hero Realms is a card-based deck building fantasy tabletop game, designed by Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle and published in 2016 by Wise Wizard Games. The game started out as a Kickstarter campaign in 2016. The goal of Hero Realms is to destroy your opponent or opponents by purchasing cards using "Gold" and using these cards to attack your opponent's "health" and their champions using your "combat" points or other powerful effects.[1]

Hero Realms is similar to other deck building games, like Star Realms,[1] Ascension, and Dominion. The game is marketed as portable and expandable, as it comes in a small box and contains only cards and no dice or markers.

Winning the game

A player wins when they reduce their opponent's score (called health) to zero.

Expansions

Wise Wizard Games have released five Character Packs that act as custom starting hands:

  • Wizard (2016)
  • Cleric (2016)
  • Thief (2016)
  • Ranger (2016)
  • Fighter (2016)
  • The Dragon Boss Deck (2017)
  • The Lich Boss Deck (2017)
  • The Ruin of Thandar Campaign Deck (2017)
  • The Lost Village Campaign Deck (2019)
  • The Ancestry (2019)
  • Journeys – Travelers (2019)
  • Journeys – Hunters (2019)
  • Journeys – Discovery (2019)
  • Journeys – Conquest (2019)

Reception

Hero Realms won the 2018 Origins Award for Fan Favorite Card Game.[2]

  • 2018 Origins Awards Best Card Game Nominee[2]
  • 2017 Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game Nominee
  • 2016 Golden Geek Best Card Game Nominee[3]
  • 2016 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Nominee[4]

The game has mainly received neutral or positive reviews. Sprites + Dice have mentioned that the game "succeeds in refining Its predecessor",[5] and BGL have described it as "perfect if you need a quick, fun card game as a filler between heavier games"[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c James Floyd Kelley (December 9, 2016). "'Hero Realms' – Deck-Building or RPG Card Game? Both!". GeekDad. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  2. ^ a b https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d4db01d648a4e0001199c62/t/5d54143bc0ef3b0001c05d30/1565791295626/Origins+Awards+Winners+2018.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "2016 Golden Geek Best Card Game Nominee | Board Game Honor | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  4. ^ "2016 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Nominee | Board Game Honor | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  5. ^ "Hero Realms Review". Sprites and Dice. 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  6. ^ "Best 2 Player Card Games of 2020". Board Games Land. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2020-01-16.