Stats:
No. of players: 2
Amount of time to play: 30-60 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: minimal

Varia is a two player card duel. It uses a combination of cards and dice to resolve combat. The starter set comes with everything you need to play.

Varia Rules Description:

In Varia your deck consists of cards that represent your equipment and actions you perform throughout the game. Items and token cards are taken out of the deck and set aside then the rest of the deck is shuffled. You also start the game with 30 health and ten action points.

Each turn is broken into several phases taken by both players and starting with the active player. During the Start phase each player draws two cards (though on your first turn you draw six) and return to ten action points.

Next the active player decides if they’d like to move. You may move to engage your opponent, disengage them or stay where you ended the last round. You are always engaged or disengaged with your opponent. Attacks must be ranged to hit disengaged opponents.

Phase three is where the action begins. The active player places cards face-up in a line that will resolve from left to right. This line is called the Timeline and each card represents a Moment. You can play physical or magical attacks and blocks to the Timeline and even the item cards you set aside earlier.

After the action phase the inactive player has a chance to react. They place cards across from those played by the active player. The Timeline has no maximum size but the number of Moments is determined by the active player and the inactive player does not need to play a card for every one played by the active player. If the active player plays four cards to the Timeline then the inactive player may only play up to four cards to the Timeline.

Some cards are denoted as being fast actions. In the fifth and sixth phases the active player and then the inactive player can play fast actions. These actions replace a current Moment or are added to them. They do not add Moments to the Timeline. After both players have added fast actions, the active player may pass or add more fast actions. This goes back and forth until both players pass.

In the seventh phase you resolve the Timeline. First you pay the action point cost for all the cards in the leftmost Moment being resolved. If you cannot afford your Moment, those cards are discarded and not resolved. Cards that are labeled “start of moment” resolve first. Attack cards have both a focus and damage value. You roll a d4 that is added to the focus value and a d6 which is added to the damage or block value. If you are engaged with a block, your attack hits if its focus is equal to or higher than the block’s focus. Then you see if your damage exceeds the block’s value. If it does, you deal the difference in damage. If you are opposed by an attack, you just compare total power. The attack with the greater power deals its value in damage minus the other attack’s power. You keep resolving Moments from left to right until the last is resolved.

The eighth and last phase is the end of turn. All cards from your timeline go into your discard pile. Items come back to your character zone and you switch the active player. Any end of turn effects trigger now.

These phases are repeated until one combatant is out of health. The player remaining standing wins.

Quick Review of Varia:

The Varia Starter Set has everything you need to learn and enjoy this tactical dueling game. It has decks for two classes, the Volcanic Warrior and Shadow Assassin, and two d4s and d6s. This is a great intro to the game and will start you off running.

The components for this game are mostly cards. Some art on the cards is better than others but all of it is pretty good and some is excellent. Health trackers would be nice to have. The rules are pretty well laid out but I found videos helpful for me to learn the flow of the game. Then I read the rules again and they made more sense.

There are a lot of steps in this game and at first that is a bit overwhelming. But once you have played it a few times the steps are easier to remember and get through. You need to be willing to grind through the early games so you are spending less time in the rules.

I enjoy the Timeline and how Moments resolve. The mix of dice and cards is nice too. It is these elements that make the game feel unique. Being able to see your opponent’s plan as the defender and come up with a counter is cool. And then both players get a chance to react which adds tension.

Varia is a fun game, but I am not sure it is one you can play too casually. Picking it up and playing periodically might be tough. I think you could get into it, buy a few decks, and build out some characters (There is deck construction if you have other decks). Then play a bunch as you hone your deck with a few friends. And that would be a lot of fun. The starter set is a great way to see if you want to invest more time and money.

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