Stats:
No. of players: 2
Amount of time to play: 30-45 min
Age requirements: 8+
Set-up time: minimal

Serpent Stones is a card game in which you must build a chain of warriors from your side of the board to your opponent’s side. This wins you the round and the first player to win three rounds wins the game.

Serpent Stones Rules Description:

You start Serpent Stones with seven cards then chose two to discard. Each turn you draw a card and play or discard a card. Your goal is to reach and place a warrior on your opponent’s Temple Stone. The first player to do this three times wins the game. The other way to lose a game is if you are forced to discard and have only one card.

There are six different types of cards. Warriors are needed to capture your opponent’s Temple Stone. Strike and captures cards let you remove enemy warriors or turn them to your side. The three god cards force your opponent to discard, let you draw a card or sacrifice a card. When you sacrifice a card you must play it first the next round and then play another card. You can even perform a double sacrifice and then play two sacrificed cards and another as usual.

Warriors may only be placed next to friendly active warriors. Warriors are active if they can trace a path back to their side of the board. In order to use capture and strike cards one of your active warriors must be adjacent to an enemy warrior.

Quick Review of Serpent Stones:

Serpent Stones is very accessible. It is easy to teach and play. But you must be able to manage your hand and get lucky to win.

The components for this game are good. The art is decent and the cards are well made. The board is a fabric mat that works well. The rules are pretty good but seem a bit more complicated than the game really is. The rules have a few variants in the box which is nice.

The way sacrifices work and their ramifications make for some interesting decisions. Since they reduce your hand and you can lose the whole game if you have just one card remaining, they can be a risk.

I also like how important keeping your warriors active can be (or making a long line of your opponent’s warrior’s inactive). Without active warriors strike and capture cards are useless.

Serpent Stones is not perfect though. The randomness of the cards can be frustrating. If you end up with a hand without warriors you cannot press towards your goal. And if you end up with a hand no strikes or captures then breaking through your opponent’s warriors is impossible.

Serpent Stones is a fun abstract strategy card game that appeals to a variety of people. Non-gamers, young and old can all enjoy this game.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6