KeyForge: Age of Ascension

A two-player card duel where every deck is unique and you pick one House per turn to forge keys with.

Designers: Michael Boggs, Brad Andres, Richard Garfield
Published by: Fantasy Flight Games
Editions by: Rebel Sp. z o.o., Galápagos Jogos, Edge Entertainment, Siam Board Games

KeyForge: Age of Ascension (2019) is the second wave of the Unique Deck Game, where every deck is one of a kind and no two are alike, and you never build one. Out of the box you get Archon decks, a quick-start rulebook, keys, tokens and two playmats, so the two-player starter is enough to dive right in. On your turn you pick one House and play and use its creatures, artifacts and actions to reap Æmber, which you spend to forge keys, and then you race your opponent to the finish. This age adds 204 new cards to a pool of 370 different ones. Your deck is your hand of fate: you learn it, you master it, you swear at it.

Every deck is one of a kind, no deck buildingChoose one House per turnTwo-player starter with decks, keys and playmats

Who it's for

You like Magic or Pokémon-style duels but would rather not collect and tweak cards, preferring to open a box and play what you get.

Not for you if…

You want to customize your deck or you only ever play in bigger groups. KeyForge is a pairwise duel with fixed decks.

Vibe's take

Tactical and reactive, like solving a puzzle someone handed you already half-built. You learn your deck's quirks over several games, and the pick-a-House choice each turn is where the thinking happens.