Keyforge’s fifth set, “Dark Tidings,” is scheduled to arrive next March. As has become the standard, two-player starter sets, single archon decks, and deluxe archon decks with tokens will be available when the set launches.
This set replaces Dis with a new house called the Unfathomable, which has a playstyle that Fantasy Flight Games described as “controlling their opponents by exhausting enemy creatures.” In KeyForge, players ready exhausted cards at the end of their turn, so having an exhausted card more or less puts it out of commission for the next turn.
Fast Facts about KeyForge
- Players accommodated: 2
- Stated play time: 15-45 minutes
- Lower age limit: Box says 14, community says 10
- Rulebook length: Hilariously, nonexistent
- MSRP: $10 per deck
In addition, KeyForge will put out two copies of the same deck in Dark Tidings. One of the decks will be designated an “evil twin” deck and have different art than the original.
“Dark Tidings also brings the possibility of evil twin decks into the game! Any evil twin deck is an exact copy of another deck in existence, except with many of its cards exchanged for their “evil twin” versions, featuring alternate abilities, graphic design, and art,” Fantasy Flight Games wrote about the new set.
For the uninitiated, this is a big deal in KeyForge world because the game has sold itself on every deck being unique. Deck lists are algorithmically generated and each deck is given a unique name and cardback. Unlike in other collectible card games, KeyForge does not have a deck construction element, and players are not supposed to swap cards out of their deck. Some decks are better than others, and that’s just the way it is.
If that sounds bizarre to you, you might be a Magic the Gathering player! I describe KeyForge as the polar opposite of Magic in several design features:
- Players untap and draw at the end of their turns, instead of the beginning.
- KeyForge has no mana system at all, instead of each card having a resource cost.
- KeyForge has lots of tokens that do different things, while Magic tried to avoid this.
- Players do not have life points. Unlike in Magic, the victory condition is not to defeat your opponent. It’s to forge 3 keys before your opponent does.
- Cards “in play” on the battlefield are not necessarily usable unless you plan for it. You can declare one house each turn, and if you want to play cards from one house, you can’t use cards of a different house for any purpose that turn.
- Players will reach the end of their decks and reshuffle their discard piles, potentially several times during the game. In Magic you lose if you hit the end of your deck.
Players interested in the new set can preorder it on Fantasy Flight’s Website or wait until March when your friendly local game store has them in stock. Might be until then (probably longer) until KeyForge events can resume.