Scales of Fate Components Overview and Impressions

Prototype copies of games are becoming more and more impressive as the years go by, and when I unboxed Scales of Fate from IV Studio I knew it was going to be something special. First and foremost, IV Studio produces some of the greatest games in my collection, including the very impressive Deluxe Edition of Fractured Sky and Moonrakers, a fantastic card game with great quality cards and metal coins. Even on their prototype, IV Studio went above and beyond on their latest 2-Player experience, and it makes playing the game so much more enjoyable!

Please note that we are talking about the prototype version of this game. The production could change in the final product. Scales of Fate launches on crowdfunding on March 18th. You can check out the campaign page here! 

Wooden components are fabulous, and when wood components get a shiny inlay, it’s even more impressive. I think it’s important to note right off the top that there are NO cardboard components in this game. Everything is made of wood, is nice and chunky, and feels very satisfying to play. At first I was confused by the chunkiness of the pieces, but once you play a game or two, you quickly realize the importance of the larger pieces.

More impressive, and much more important than the wooden pieces is the dual layered central board. Each and every piece slots nicely into place, which is important for how this game plays. The board does fold out, and I know there will be concern about warping because of the glue used to create that board, but the weight of all the pieces keeps everything nice and flat, so no concerns there.

The iconography across all the pieces is phenomenal as well. With only a few central concepts to understand – losing points, gaining points, banishing demigods – it’s good to see IV Studio make the iconography large and obvious. And, it’s done in an aesthetically pleasing way as well. This doesn’t just apply to the central pieces, but to the demigod wooden pawns and as well as the score track markers.

Even the cards, of which there are only a few, are great quality. You won’t be shuffling them very often (and could avoid shuffling them at all since each age deck only has a few cards to choose from) but yet the card quality is better than average based on the games we have been reviewing. Once again, this highlights IV Studio’s attention to detail, and pride in their games. They are more expensive than other games on the market, yes, but the quality – both the gameplay and the production – are second to none.

We will have more on the gameplay of Scales of Fate soon, but for now rest assured that if you decide to back this game, you will be getting a solid product.