Arcs review: "A whole lot of game in a small package"

From forests filled with furry critters to treehouse forts out of a child's fantasy, Leder Games is launching into the cosmos with their latest project, Arcs: Conflict & Collapse in the Reach.

The developer has made a name for itself as a studio that creates deceptively deep and strategic fare wrapped up in the fantastical art of Kyle Ferrin. Titles like Root (which is arguably one of the best board games overall), Fort, and Ahoy have found themselves as common staples of my game nights thanks to the richness of the worlds that the team has created and the tactical depth they pack in. Arcs continues this tradition with a game that may just be the team's most approachable title, especially at the smaller two-player count.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Arcs (designed by Cole Wehrle and with Kyle Ferrin returning to deliver his recognizable art style) began reaching backers and finally landed in retail this year, much to eager fans’ delight. In this strategy game, the goal is simple – be the one with the most victory points at the end.

A match consists of five "chapters" where players will be playing cards, building and moving their army of starships around the galaxy, constructing buildings, waging war, and spreading their influence. All of this is done in pursuit of completing "Ambitions," which are particular tasks that will net you those coveted victory points. These Ambitions, which are declared by the player with the initiative (more on this in a bit), include destroying the most ships in a chapter or having the most of a specific resource.

Perhaps the most defining aspect of Arcs is how it handles player actions through a unique card system. A majority of your actions come from the cards you play, dealt out at the start of each round. These fall into one of four possible suits (Aggression, Mobilization, Construction, and Administration), and the number printed on them can be thought of as their strength. The higher the value, the harder it is to surpass. Each card also features pips that show how many times the actions of the suit can be taken. Meanwhile, the Ambition symbol shows what goal the card will activate.

The first player in each round sets the suit for the turn and can take advantage of all the pips on their card by default. From there on, the other players have three possible actions:

A player is able to seize the initiative marker from whoever has it as well, but this can only be done once per round. This action will leave you one card short, meaning that you are in essence sacrificing a later turn to be the first player. Still, since this coveted spot will let you play any card in your hand and take all the actions it offers, it also gives you the chance to declare the Ambition you want, potentially letting you score a lot of points at the end of the chapter.

The heavy reliance on luck of the draw will, understandably, be a turn off for some folks, and I get it. Some of this luck can be mitigated by the ability to use resources you gain from taxing cities to add a specific action on your turn, but Arcs is still a game that is won or lost thanks largely to the cards you draw. Feeling like you are boxed in and can’t do what you want is frustrating.

My view however, is that this turns Arcs from a standard tableau into a puzzle game, where how you manage a bad situation (e.g. a bad hand) is almost as, if not more, important than the strategy you play out. During my sessions of Arcs, the only thing I knew I could count on was the fact that I couldn’t count on being able to do exactly what I wanted. But knowing about this uncertainty and planning for it was where I found the game's real strategy.

For fans of more asymmetrical gameplay, Arcs offers players the option to pick from a host of Leaders and Lore cards at the start of the game that will add special powers and unique setups. These additional elements are completely optional, with the rulebook even going so far as suggesting NOT to use them your first couple of games until you acclimatize. Once you start using them, though, it’s tough to return. Whether you randomly deal out these cards or draft them, they add so much variety and replayability. For instance, one allows you to sacrifice a ship to destroy someone else's in the same system whenever you take the Move action. Another lets you reroll any dice when a specific Ambition is declared. Take my word for it: you will want to work these Leader and Lore cards into your games of Arcs as soon as you can.

Want to expand on Arcs? You can currently grab the Leaders & Lore pack for extra options, the Blighted Reach add-on for narrative play, and a miniatures set for more immersive sessions.

The area that I found Arcs to be lacking in the most is its combat, which doesn't have the excitement that I'd associate with flying around and fighting in space. Encounters boil down to the classic "roll some dice, tally up the damage" routine, but the action is one-sided, with the defending player having no involvement or input in the skirmish. Depending on the dice result, the attacker’s ships will take damage, the idea being that the defenders have fought back, but there is a distinct lack of input on the side of the defender to make these encounters dramatic.

I wasn’t expecting something like Star Wars: Rebellion or Twilight Imperium with their extensive list of ship statistics, tech trees, and weapon profiles, mind you. That’s not what I'm looking for in a game like Arcs either. Even in Root, arguably Leder Games’ most well-known title, the defender could play an ambush card if they had one for some possible interaction. But something like that is missing in Arcs. I would like to see an expansion add a bit of depth or at least interaction on both sides of the encounter as a result.

In the meantime, a house rule my friends and I introduced to address this criticism was having the dice marks that would normally indicate a counterattack (damaging the attacker’s ships) instead give the defender that many dice to roll themselves. It does reduce the damage that can be done back to the attackers, but this little tweak did an excellent job in adding to the tension of encounters nonetheless.

Luckily, Arcs provides players with a good variety of avenues to explore and pursue in their quest for galactic victory, meaning you can avoid combat altogether if you want. Feel like buffing yourself with new abilities to set you up for success? Spread your influence among the space guilds to gain their cards, or try to steal from other players. Or just become a space oil baron, in control of all the fuel in the galaxy. Seeing as earning victory points is dependent on what Ambitions are declared, you can declare for the ones that you prefer – such as being a resource baron or the best empath in the galaxy. Want to wage war, on the other hand? That is just as valid of an option, so let loose those missiles.

There's plenty more to love here, too. For as much as I enjoy Leder’s catalog, one recurring issue I have is that most aren’t as enjoyable at minor player counts, particularly as 2-player board games. As a case in point, Root and Ahoy lock players into using specific factions to avoid an unbalanced experience. Arcs, I am happy to report, is an excellent time at any player count, including just two, which is what I spent most of my time with. The mix-and-matching nature of the Leaders and Lore cards, or omitting them altogether, gave us more control over the experience, and I never felt like I had to hinder myself from having a good time by not being able to choose my preferred faction or playstyle.