Seasons: Enchanted Kingdom

Seasons is one of my favorite board games to play, because of how easy it is to play, how stylized the game is, and how helpful the instruction booklet it when it comes to answering questions. As a result, when I heard there was an expansion coming out for the game, I was keenly interested in it. I had a general idea of what the game would add, to the mix, but was unsure how it would fit. When I finally ordered the expansion and tried it out with friends, I can honestly say that expansion fit flawlessly.

The expansion itself is rather small, and only adds a few new details to the game. One of these details is the errata-ed version of two cards that existed in the base set, Balance of Ishtar and Idol of the Familiar. The changes aren’t dramatic, and so I think it’s ultimately up to the player(s) if they’d like to use the new version or not. The first time I played the expansion, I missed the instructions on replacing the cards, and played with both sets in by accident, but it didn’t affect the game much that I could see.

Another of the details is the addition of a number of new power cards to add to the mix, with helpful expansion symbols on the bottom of the cards to help you separate them. A number of these cards make use of a new mechanic in the game, and that’s the decreased energy reserve token. The decreased energy reserve token is used as a null energy to take a location in a sorcerer’s energy track, and is used when a player takes an action or plays a card that would reduce their energy track by 1. This is a severe penalty at times, but the rewards will often make up for it if timed correctly.

Also new to the game are Enchantment cards. Enchantment cards are cards that change the way that Seasons is played. At the start of the game, 1 of the 10 Enchantment cards is selected at random and placed on the field of play to remind everyone what Enchantment is in effect. These Enchantments can both help and hinder players; several Enchantments will affect the way you draft power cards at the beginning of the game, while the Enchantment called Drought will penalize the player highest on the crystal track when the season changes from spring to summer.

Lastly, there are the special ability tokens. These tokens provide a unique power for that specific individual to use, but that ability can only be used once per game. These abilities, if used, will affect the final score of the game. There are 12 special abilities in all, and every player selects three at random, then selects one of those three to use in the game. These special ability tokens fit snugly into the hole in the sorcerer’s energy track, and when activated, are flipped over to their opposite side to show that they have been used. These abilities range from gaining two energies of any type, to drawing a power card, to sacrificing 4 water energy for a return of 18 points at the end of the game. Most abilities, when used, will penalize a final score, but some (like the water example used above) will reward you at the end. Since a player will have a choice of three abilities to select, any player should be able to find a special ability that falls in with their particular strategy for the game.

I love this expansion. It doesn’t add a whole lot, but it adds enough to make the game much more interesting to play. In addition, the rulebook for the expansion follows the same model as the original, with details instructions for how the cards work in varying situations. Tack on little benefits like a first player token (not horribly needed, but helpful at times), Raven tokens (for use with a new Power Card that allows you to copy an item and its abilities – but not its prestige points), a Bespelled Grimoire reserve, and it makes this expansion quite satisfying. Not only that, but the expansion cards and pieces fit nicely into the original Seasons box, which means I can carry everything with me in one go. With a $25 price tag, I feel this one is just right for the price.