Faraway is one of the few board games to go into 2024 with some serious buzz behind it. This game, designed by Johannes Groupy (see "'Nautilus Island'") and Corentin Lebrat (see "Scorpion Masque"), earned nods from Man vs. Meeple, Board Game Geek, and other board game media outlets since Spiel Essen 2023 and is now heading to U.S. markets. In Faraway, players draft a row of eight cards in front of them, playing them from left to right. These cards represent the regions in the mysterious continent of Alula, the setting for the game, and have various characters on them.
The characters depicted on these cards produce grant victory points if a player later fulfills the conditions on the card. Each turn players play a card from their hand and pick up a face-up card from the tableau. Play is simultaneous, which adds an additional strategic element to the game. This family game features open drafting, contracts, and set collection mechanisms, and in general, is a very puzzly tableau-building game.
Faraway is for two to six players, ages 10 and up, and plays in 15 to 30 minutes. It will retail for $24.95.
