Senda de Luz y Sombra: Solsticio

After years of war, the struggle for the throne has spread beyond the seas. On the distant shores, among ancestral temples, await artifacts of enormous power, guarded by a race that walks between light and shadow. Solstice is an expansion for Path of Light and Shadow that expands the content of the base game and adds several new modules. Designed by Travis R. Chance and Nick Little and illustrated by Naomi Robinson, it allows for games of 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, lasting about 90 minutes.

The Solstice box is packed to the brim! Among the new components included in this expansion are a mini-board with the new provinces of the Realm of the Trastierras, 4 player panel extensions, 187 new cards (including the new title cards, the solitaire mode cards, the relic cards and the different faction cards), 24 megalith tokens and the rules for the solitaire mode.

In Solstice, players will have the chance to travel by sea to the Trastierras, the realm of the Viratis, a new faction that will encourage them to stray from their moral path. Players will be able to explore these new lands in search of megalithic ruins where relics that grant unique powers await.

The Viratis are unique in several ways. For starters, they introduce a new mechanic, doubt. When a player suffers any amount of doubt, he must reduce his current level on the Morality gauge by the same amount. For example, if a player is Pious, suffering 3 points of doubt will mean gaining 3 points of Cruelty, while if he is Cruel it will mean the opposite, i.e. gaining 3 points of Piety.

The Viratis also improve their cards differently from the other factions. As with the Numerai cards, any combination of Labor and Strength can be used to upgrade them. In addition, the Viratis are divided into two tribes, the Njorv and the Anthyzum. Finally, when upgrading any Viratis card from a realm deck you have the option to choose one of two possible upgraded cards. This allows the Viratis to have more card availability and versatility than the other factions.

One of the main new features of this expansion, in addition to the new provinces, relics and the Viriatis faction, are the title cards, which will make each player start the game asymmetrically. These cards, dealt randomly and secretly, have two sides corresponding to each of the alignments. Thus, in addition to the benefits granted by that card, players will already start to move their Morality indicator towards the Pious or Cruel side from the beginning of the game.

In Path of Light and Shadow players compete to build the most prosperous empire, developing technologies, forging alliances, conquering provinces and kingdoms or improving their population cards. All this while defining their morality through their actions. With this expansion, the strategic possibilities are multiplied by providing players with more cards, more territories and a new faction. In addition, it incorporates a solitaire game mode in which a single player must face a horde of distant invaders.

Solstice cannot be missing in the toy libraries of the lovers of civilization games. A challenge for the most intelligent players that promises dozens of hard-fought games. Will you manage to take your nation to the top by making the best decisions?