While you may be saying to yourself that all these resources sounds like a beast to manage, it really is not. See, unlike other DBGs of the genre, Fantastiqa's win condition is based not on victory points, or filling your deck with meaningless cards at the end of the game to rack up points, but rather it uses a Quest system, that has a threshold of points you must be awarded for completing quests, that varies based on players and desired length. So, the more players and the more points you play for, the longer the game. Want a shorter game, even with 4 players? No problem. The system is highly customizable and completely flexible to provide a quick fix or a longer jaunt across the world of Fantastiqa!

On your turn, you can take one of three actions naturally:

Go Adventuring - Acquire new cards

Acquire new cards Visit a Statue - Acquire Powerful Beasts or Artifacts with Gems, Release Cards, or Teleport

Acquire Powerful Beasts or Artifacts with Gems, Release Cards, or Teleport Complete a Quest - Use Resources to complete a quest and gain rewards.

When you Go Adventuring, you simply travel from location to location by way of the roads that connect them. However, to do so, you must be able to play cards from your hand, with symbols on the upper left that match the "Subdued By:" trait of the monster or knight that is on the board, on the road, in between your travelling locations. If you can, you may travel to the next location, you acquire the monsters or knight you Subdued, and it goes into your discard pile to be used later for the resources it too provides as listed in the upper left.

For example, if I wanted to Go Adventuring from one location to the next, but the Troll (pictured to the left) was on the road in between, I would have to play a card from my hand that is a Helmet (the Goat's Head) to Subdue it and acquire it and arrive at my next location. In addition, the Gem symbol on the lower left means that when I acquire him, I obtain a gem form the supply (this is a money type resource we'll talk about in a second). The Monster icon in the lower right is used during set up based on the number of players in a game and is only used in set up. Once I acquire him, when I play him from my hand, the Troll will help me and provide ma Bat resource, as listed on the upper left of his card.

Now, one adventure from place to place is fun, but why stop there? When you Go Adventuring, you can continue to travel from location to location, provided you can Subdue each creature on the roads you pass through. Once you cannot, or if you choose to, you stop on the location you are at. You cannot travel via backtracking to a previously visited location, but it does provide you with an option to secure a good amount of cards.