Arcs: The Blighted Reach Expansion

Played on 6 ocassions since records began *

  • 2025-12-14 (1)
  • 2025-12-13 (2)
  • 2025-03-19 (1)
  • 2025-03-12 (1)
  • 2025-03-05 (1)
BGG entry

Arcs: The Blighted Reach Expansion

Half formed thoughts December 16 2025

Having finished our 2nd 3 player campaign I remain ambivalent. There's an unwelcome tension between trying to get power and complete your fate's objectives. These two scoring mechanisms become fungible in the final reckoning but only one of them really feeds into the overarching campaign so during play they're not weighted the same. The rules really stack up by the third act and as with base arcs not playing the cards your dealt can be fatal, that's fine to some extent but it does mean that the thematic elements can come second to the mechanical. e.g. your a ruthless zealot who's just succeeded in your ambition to spread your religion through the galaxy but this has let you weak do you a) comtinue your crusade at any cost b) do something different so you can accrue some abstract points? the game mechanism feel like they encourage you to do the latter whilst it feels like the story demands the former.

After 10+ games and having internalised the rules I think that base Arcs is fantastic, particularly when played in a low analysis group, fast and loose works best. The campaign feels like it could get there but to do so would require repeated plays of what ammounts to a 9 hour game (the individual games can feel a bit insubstantial incomplete) and tbh do I have the time to play less enjoyable version of agame I know well for some future possiblility of a payof or should I just play Oath where the campaign and relation ship between stand alone games is both looser but more clearly articulated.

* early 2024 with some exceptions