Review of the board game “Tamers of the Elements”

Are you tired of complex games or just want something easier than Journey into the Unconscious or Pamba? So, our review today will undoubtedly please you. The focus is on the available Elemental Tamer deck builds that will have you engaging in fierce battle. The following lines will tell you how the set plays out and what it can attract.

• Number of players: 2–4
• Game time: 45–60 minutes
• Price: 599 CZK (Alsa)
• Provided by: Asmodeus Czech Republic
• Age: 10+

The composition of your forces at the end of the day in Elemental Tamer will decide the outcome of the battle.

Elemental Tamers is a new addition to deckbuilding games that combines clever gameplay mechanics with visually appealing design. At the beginning of each game, players take on the role of the leader of one of four tribes, each of which has its own specifics. The Pebbles Tribe are defensive oriented and use shields to protect their units. In contrast, the aggressive Twig tribe with an orange glow prefers strong and uncompromising attacks. An addition are the Drop and Leaf tribes, whose tactics are based on slightly different principles than in the case of the first two tribes presented. Each tribe is led by a sage who gives players unique abilities and strategies, including access to specific tribal events.

The game is based on tribal battles, where you start each game with a smaller army of elementals. These representatives of individual tribes are located in three rows, which creates space for making tactical decisions. Besides the army, you have a deck and a discard pile, which is the essence of deck-building games. Your strategy depends on working with these cards effectively and gradually improving your deck as you play because you just want some cards to be in your hand and others not.

Each player’s turn consists of four phases. In the first stage, called dawn, players activate the special effects of their cards in their current formation. For example, you can use this method to get money to buy new cards or strengthen your elementals by discarding cards from your hand. The tactics and order in which these effects are used can significantly affect the further course of the game.

Next comes the Action Points phase, in which the player has four Action Points available for various actions. For example, you can unload cards from your hand into it, which allows you to bring another elemental onto the battlefield or use special command cards. The next action is to swap individual elementals in the formation or draw new cards if necessary. Tribal actions can also be unlocked during the game, which have a specific impact on your tribe’s strategy and can be used once per turn.

The third stage, the Marketplace, provides the ability to purchase new cards from a six-item menu. These cards can include warriors that strengthen your army, or command cards that add new tactical options. Purchased cards are immediately replaced with new ones. Players can also sell unwanted cards for half their value, adding another layer of strategy when managing the game’s budget. The last stage is optimizing your hand, where players can discard cards and draw new ones to reach five. The goal is to improve your position for the upcoming turns and take the life of the enemy sage in the end with the help of the right cards.

The Elemental Tamers have more aces in their claws than you might expect.

Elemental Tamers will especially impress with its fast pace and clever deck-building mechanics. Each game has its own dynamic course, which forces the player to react flexibly to the situation. The card designs reflect the signature style of Charostin’s authors, who once again bring a unique visual concept. The gameplay itself is very decent. It’s definitely not a very complex concept that can be easily understood by anyone, which is good in my opinion because it won’t be difficult to explain to newbies.

In fact, it can be said that Elemental Tamers is a game that can be recommended to a very wide range of players. It offers accessible gameplay that gives you enough flexibility that you won’t have any problems winning using a variety of tactics. Overall, Elemental Tamers is a great deck to consider.

We would like to thank Czech distributor Asmodee Czech Republic for providing us with a copy of Tamers of the Elements.