The Vale of Eternity Artifacts Expansion

Vale of Eternity was one of my favorite discoveries last year. I played it extensively at all player counts, and it was a hit with everyone I introduced it to. For those unfamiliar, it’s a brilliant card-drafting and tableau-building game where you summon monsters in a bid to score the most points. The game is fast and intuitive to play, with different strategies you could adopt each game depending on the cards available to you. Yes, some cards feel more powerful than others, but thanks to Vale of Eternity’s shorter playtime, it never felt overly punishing—even when an opponent destroyed a card or reserved the one you needed.

Given how much I enjoyed the game, I immediately picked up its first expansion, Artifacts. This expansion introduces 28 new creature cards—a great addition for those who, like me, have played the base game extensively and are ready for new challenges. These cards are not tied to the expansion’s new mechanics, so you can shuffle them into the main deck and enjoy them in every game, even without using the additional elements. These new cards are spread across the different classes in the core game and boosts replayability and opens up fresh strategies.

The main feature of this expansion, however, is the introduction of artifacts, and this is the core reason to pick it up. The clue is in the name, and Vale of Eternity Artifacts adds 11 artifact tiles, with the number used in a game varying by player count. Players can also choose between basic or advanced tiles, depending on preference. These artifacts introduce new mechanics, such as shelter, which allows you to save creatures for later rounds. While the shelter mechanic is a clever idea, it can feel a bit fiddly in practice. On the other hand, artifacts that let you expand your tableau with additional areas are particularly satisfying, as they allow you to summon more creatures per round against the limit set in the base game. Overall, the artifacts are balanced and add enjoyable ways to interact with the cards and explore new strategies for scoring.

Artifacts also bring changes to the game’s core structure. The scoring threshold increases from 60 to 80 points, as the artifacts provide more scoring opportunities each round. This opens up additional strategic possibilities but also alters one of the aspects I loved most about the base game: its simplicity and speed. A four-player game of Vale of Eternity typically takes about 45 minutes once everyone is familiar with the rules, with first games often coming in under an hour. However, with the artifacts and their added decision-making steps, playtime can increase by up to 10 minutes per player, depending on how prone players are to analysis paralysis. This shifts the game from a quick, more casual experience to a lengthier, more complex one. Whether that’s a positive or negative depends on your group’s preferences.

The expansion also includes a cave standee (as unnecessary as the dragon from the base game), reference cards (helpful for the additional mechanics), and player tokens for artifact selection and shelter tracking.

Conclusion

The variety added by the new creature cards is fantastic and almost worth the purchase on its own, providing fresh strategies and increasing replayability. The artifacts are another highlight, as the selection each game ensures you’ll need to adapt your approach every play. The main thing is that all of these new additions breathe new life into the base game, offering both variety and strategic depth.

However, it’s important to note the extended playtime. While the added complexity and strategy are welcome, the longer duration may not suit all groups, especially at higher player counts. For me, this expansion shines at two and three players, where the added time feels manageable but that probably also aligns to how I feel about the base game. At four players, the longer playtime might prompt me to choose a different game.

If you’re a fan of Vale of Eternity and enjoy more strategic depth, Artifacts is a worthwhile addition, especially for smaller player counts or groups willing to embrace the extended gameplay.