Board game Portal Games Aeon's End: Nowy początek — cooperative strategy deck-building game

Aeon's End: Nowy początek from Portal Games is a cooperative strategy deck-building board game in which 1–4 players assume the roles of breach mages defending a city against a powerful nemesis. The game features unique turn order mechanics, persistent player decks without shuffling, and a focus on resource management, spellcasting and tactical cooperation. Players choose mages, acquire new cards to improve their decks, and coordinate actions to survive multiple rounds and complete campaign or standalone scenarios.

Advantages

The game uses a non-shuffling deck system that preserves card order and enables planning based on known discard stacks, increasing strategic depth. Cooperative play encourages communication and shared decisions, while the modular setup and scenario options allow variable difficulty and replayability. Compact components and clear player roles make it suitable for solo play as well as full 4-player sessions.

Suitable for

• Cooperative gaming sessions with 1–4 players
• Campaign-style play and standalone scenarios
• Fans of deck-building and tactical resource management
• Players who enjoy asymmetric roles and planning without random shuffling

Key specifications

• Player count: 1–4 players
• Game type: Cooperative strategy, deck-building mechanics
• Playtime: Variable depending on scenario and player count
• Components: Player decks, nemesis decks, tokens, cards and scenario materials
• Language: Components and rules typically in the language indicated by the edition

How to use

Players select a mage and associated starting deck, set up the nemesis and market according to the scenario instructions, and take turns performing actions such as gaining resources, playing spell cards and using unique abilities. The game proceeds through rounds of player turns interleaved with nemesis actions; players must coordinate purchases, upgrades and spell sequencing to control threats and manage health. Because decks are not shuffled in the same way as traditional deck-builders, tracking discard order and planned draws is part of the strategic play.

Usage recommendations

For a smooth first session, follow the scenario setup step-by-step and play a short standalone scenario to learn turn sequencing, card interactions and the non-shuffling deck mechanics before attempting longer campaign play. Use player aids and reference cards to speed up decisions and ensure consistent cooperative planning.