Welcome to the war of the heavens with Zodiac War! The astrological signs are competing for the favor of mankind and will use any means necessary to come out on top. Two to four players will choose a sun sign to play as and use their asymmetrical abilities to gain an advantage over their competitors. Bringing together the concepts of astrology and fortune-telling through horoscopes and tarot, this game’s designer, Paul Starr, has put a lot of thought behind his concept and it shows. With a stated playtime of around an hour, Zodiac War can easily make it to your game table.

The art for Zodiac War was provided primarily by Katerina Poliakova with additional illustration by Conor Smith. We were working with a prototype copy for this review, so the images may not be reflective of the final product. We really love the art, as it is bright and vibrant while depicting each zodiac sign in a unique and dynamic piece of work. It really is gorgeous, and we would love to see more from these artists in the completed version if possible. The game uses repeated artwork of the zodiac signs to more easily depict who could receive bonuses from playing each card, yet part of the appeal of many tarot decks is individualistic art. We felt this was a missed opportunity that would really help build the appeal of the product as a whole to potential owners, but in no way did it detract from the experience. Perhaps more art could be added in a Deluxe Edition, as Kickstarter stretch goals, or simply as a companion tarot deck at a later time or in a different campaign. Each of the pieces provided was intricate and beautiful with bright color and imagination in their depiction.

Setting up a game of Zodiac War is fairly straight forward. Players must first place the rotating game board in the middle of the play area. All Faith tokens should be placed within reach next to the board while the Tarot and Zodiac decks should each be shuffled separately and placed next to the board as well. Each player then receives a player mat matching their chosen sign, two player markers, and a starting hand of five Tarot cards. The player mats can be distributed either by choice or at random. The Star Crystals are then scattered around the edge of the board. To decide on who will be the first player, Zodiac War makes it really simple by declaring it to be the player whose birthday is coming up next. At the start of the game, the rings of the board are aligned with the Element, Sign, and Planet of the player to the right of the first player. All players will then mark their Signs and Planets with their player markers for reference and play can begin.

The Zodiac War board is comprised of three different rings: Element, Sign, and Planet. As play progresses these rings will rotate into different alignments and are the key to winning the game. A player’s turn begins by revealing the top card from the Zodiac deck. This card will change the alignment of the board’s rings, affect the game through a bonus action, give the current player extra Faith points, and possibly produce other effects depending on which signs are currently being used by the players. The current sign will then use cards from their hand to build a tarot spread of three cards, with a possible fourth if they hold any Major Arcana, to determine actions for the turn. Each Minor Arcana card will have different effects based on which position it is played in and those are displayed on each card individually. Rotating the board rings, gaining or losing Faith, and drawing more cards are all possible when the player makes their choices. Major Arcana can also be played, but each one will have a unique text describing a grander action than those of the minor cards. With the board’s rings now in new positions the player will determine any rewards for elemental and planetary alignments, and, if a perfect alignment was achieved, may buy a star crystal. They then have the chance to buy more cards, thus refilling their hand, and play rotates to the next person in clockwise order. Play continues until a sign manages to purchase 3 Star Crystals.

Since the zodiac cards essentially reset the board to a random alignment at the beginning of each turn there is little in the way of a long-term strategy in Zodiac War. Having a full hand of seven or more tarot with a variety of values will greatly improve your capabilities on your turn, and certain zodiac abilities will suit a particular playstyle better than others depending on the person. The luck factor of what is in your hand combined with what fate throws at you for your turn does mean that there will be times you accomplish little and simply play cards because you must. This can be a turn off to some players, and we don’t recommend Zodiac War for long term strategists. It is definitely a great game for those looking at a lighter and faster-paced seat of your pants decision gaming experience and if you have any interest in the themes this game will be right up your alley. The zodiac cards read like horoscopes, the zodiac signs describe personalities and motivations, and the tarot each depict their meaning from an actual deck at the bottom of each card. The menagerie of thought and care, again, was greatly appreciated during our review process. We cannot say enough good things about Zodiac War and are excited about the upcoming Kickstarter in early 2021!

All photos of Paul Starr’s Zodiac War were taken and edited by Krista.