Stats:
No. of players: 2-5
Amount of time to play: 45-60 min
Age requirements: 10+
Set-up time: 5 min

Shards of Infinity: Shadow of Salvation adds a cooperative campaign mode and a new faction to the series.

Shards of Infinity Shadow of Salvation Rules Description:

Shadow of Salvation is the second expansion for Shards of Infinity. You will need the base game to play this expansion. If you are reading this I figure you understand the basics of how to play the game. If not you can read my review of the Shards of Infinity App where I give an overview of the game.

Shadow of Salvation introduces a new playable faction, the Aion faction. If you like you can simply add his faction cards to the main deck and use him in the original PvP mode.

The bigger change in this expansion is cooperative mode. You and your former rivals team up against bosses and minions from the Shadow faction. There is a campaign book which tells you which boss you face and the minions they are working with. You take all the cards related to the current boss and minion groups and create the Fate deck. Every mission you start with over with your starter deck.

The boss goes first and on its turn each player draws a card from the fate deck and resolves it. Drawn cards tend to be attacks or minions. Attacks are resolved immediately and are discarded. Others remain are ongoing and remain infant of the player that drew them. Minions are like other champions and will attack every round until they are eliminated. Some Fate cards give the boss focus. At certain thresholds of focus the boss will gain additional abilities or attack.

Players’ turn remain generally the same as in the base game. The biggest change is that you can attack minions that are in front of other players and you can heal your teammates too. Minions do not need to be defeated to attack the boss. When you defeat a minion you gain two focus.

The majority of the rules are the same. You still buy cards with crystals and can block damage by revealing shields. If the boss of other factions change the rules it is explicitly detailed in the campaign book or on the cards.

When you drop the boss to zero health you win. Each chapter in the campaign book presents you with a decision. What you decide usually determines the boss you will fight. So the story is different depending on your decisions. You might even pick some allies for your starting deck along the way.

Quick Review of the Shadow of Salvation Expansion:

Shadow of Salvation expands the ways you can play Shards of Infinity. I enjoyed the app so much I got a physical copy of the base game. My son and I enjoy it often and had fun running through the campaign.

The components for this game are on par with the rest in the series. The art work is great and the cards are durable. The rules are well written and easy to follow too. My only wish would be for a box that could fit both the base game and its two expansions.

A few deck builders have added in a campaign mode with differing levels of effectiveness and fun. Shadow of Salvation is one of the better implementations I have played. It does not drastically change game play and isn’t so difficult everyone instantly wants to quit.

The decision tree let us decide who we will face. And though the branching story is not too diverse, it adds some variety and choices.

I also like that we can just add the new faction cards and play the usual PvP mode.

As I mentioned above my son and I played through the campaign and it was a lot of fun. That said it was a bit easy. I am not sure if we just fought the easier bosses, used the Infernal lies expansion, or got lucky draws. But we were rarely in danger. We might try it again without the first expansion and make some different choices.

If you enjoy Shards of Infinity, pick the Shadow of Salvation expansion up. Especially if you like cooperative games or have people you’d like to plays Shards with not against.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6