Sharts of Creation

All I play anymore is trick-taking games. At times, that feels like an invitation to make me regret what little time I have left on this Earth. Shards of Creation is the latest unfortunate example. Designed by Hayden Dillard, it fails to utilize the past decade of sound tabletop design principles, let alone the trick-taking revolution that has produced so many wonderful trifles. It is the anti-trick-taker, the title I would place before someone I was hoping to dissuade from getting into the hobby. Playing some cards. Grudgingly. Before we discuss Shards of Creation, there’s something I need to get out of the way. This thing is nominally based on Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy novels. Now, I’ve read a few Sandersons in my time, and even enjoyed one or two, although I wouldn’t label myself a fan. When it comes to the Cosmere, the shared setting for most of his novels, I know very little. Perhaps the Shattering of the Adonalsium is meant to be represented as a capricious slog, a lanced…