Aradel Summergaard and a Furious Chimera from Ashes Reborn
Learn how to harness the power of a Phoenixborn against a dangerous Chimera in the exciting battles found in Ashes Reborn.
After organizing the full set of Ashes Reborn: Rise of the Phoenixborn, I promptly felt overwhelmed and stepped away. But with the beautiful box looming on a nearby shelf for a bit, it was time to return to this system! My past solo experiences were very limited, so I decided to dive in a little deeper to find out if this dice and card battling system would be fun for me.
Game Overview
Game Name: Ashes Reborn: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Publication Year: 2015
Designer: Isaac Vega
Artists: Thander Lin, David Richards, & Fernanda Suárez
Publisher: Plaid Hat Games
Solo Mode: Included in Red Rains – The Corpse of Viros
A Phoenixborn goes up against a Chimera, and the variety is quite extensive! There are pre-constructed decks to easily get started playing, along with a more free-form option. Battles come down to using dice and cards in clever ways to whittle away the Chimera’s health, all while surviving.
First Play
May 18, 2023
Complexity
3
Latest Play
July 10, 2026
Expansions
30
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
10
Play Time
40 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
24" x 24"
Low Score
N/A
Aradel Summergaard
The only downside to starting off with a full collection is the sheer number of options! I tried to keep it simple and go back to the original base set to learn all of the rules.
From a few quick searches, Aradel Summergaard looked like the right option. Her deck covers most of the main concepts and actions. Perfect! I eagerly dove into the rulebooks.
I remember struggling with the rules in the past, and that was still true. Everything was spread out all over the place.
Now I know why I hesitated… It’s not an overly complex set of rules, yet it’s presented in a somewhat convoluted way.
Decorating the Table
In a perfectly timed event, I started playing this in the midst of re-reading an old book series from my childhood. The White Gryphon was a nice complement to the Chimera!
And don’t forget about the best Calico Critter costume. I remember rushing out to pick up a set that included this little dragon, and it was worth it. Look at the little feet!
Lots of reading ensued, mostly around the rulebooks. I had most of it down, but kept losing the important spots.
Like countering… Does a unit that counters exhaust? Yes. That took me around 10 minutes to track down, though.
Managing Damage
So how was gameplay itself? Much better than the rules! Dice provided most of the options for main actions and side actions. I felt like the iconography was easy after a bit.
I wasn’t so sure about my first play, as I felt like I made a lot of poor decisions, yet still managed a victory at the last moment. That was actually exciting, though! I did it!
There is a simple campaign system to play through a trio of difficulty levels against the Chimera. That sounded fun!
Although there are rules to change up a deck in between the victories, I stuck with what Aradel had. Seemed pretty good!
Fly, Butterfly Monks!
What fun the battles were! The Chimera’s aspects act as units, and timing everything is key. I had a little help from some Calico Critters, too. They took on that little Chimera!
The spellboard feature was neat as I built up the ability to summon more units. Plus, it was awesome to see what those units could do in battle! Mending was most helpful here.
I loved how I picked out my starting hand, too, as it helped limit the dreaded nothingness of some unlucky early turns.
This play was fun, but I wasn’t sure if I liked it. Comfortable with the rules, I moved onto the second difficulty level.
Easing Into a Sprawling, Complete Collection
Part of the fun of this hobby is in getting everything organized, and this used to be one of the worst offenders! With nowhere to put the newer decks, they ended up in drawers or odd spots. With the large storage solution, I was glad to gather everything into a central spot. But I was then faced with an enormous set of cards and choices… A daunting start.
That’s why I tried to ignore everything beyond the initial set. This is a system that offers so much, but can be approached in a simpler way. Decks already exist for each character, so I quickly realized I could pick up a stack and just play! Figuring out the dice was about the only thing I needed to do, but this is often as simple as using 5 each of the pair a character uses.
In that sense, I could ignore the majority of what I saw in the box. No longer sprawling, I got it down to a couple of decks and a handful of other components. Easy enough! Gigantic boxes are sometimes a little overwhelming to consider opening up, yet this was a nice reminder that games like this don’t use a lot… It’s much easier to start playing than I imagined!
Mist Spirit Swarm
And then, just like that, it all started to come together. The Chimera was a challenge! No longer could I luck into a win.
This was really where I found my stride. I loved learning what my deck could do. And the dice powers! The reference guide was right in front of me, yet I forgot about it initially.
So it came to pass that I saw the power of summoning, casting spells, and using abilities at the right time.
Such a neat puzzle! I finally got the hang of these Mist Spirits, too, casting a spell to grow one into a temporary giant version who helped deal some serious damage.
Blue Jaguar Costumes
To add to the fun, more Calico Critters arrived! Aradel’s special unit was the Blue Jaguar, and I will admit that it’s a pretty rare creature to come by in the real world. Ha ha!
Tiny cats with polka dot blue outfits, further augmented with blue exhaustion tokens and blue-tinged dice were the closest I could get. But they put on a pretty great show!
I still had to find my rhythm, though. Part of it was learning the rules, and part of it was understanding the cards.
It took me awhile to alter my units with spells, and that was obviously what those cards were there for. New strategies!
Spellboard Success
Such beautiful artwork! Every card looked amazing, even the summoning spells. At a glance, they just look like pages, but each has little illustrations related to the units. Cool!
Early on, I got a little unlucky with my deck and couldn’t focus these spells. Since there are 3 copies of each card in the deck, multiples can be quite useful and powerful.
It wasn’t just a matter of summoning as quickly as I could, though. That Chimera attacked and had lots of abilities!
Instead, I had to carefully plan my turns to prepare without setting up most of my units to be immediately destroyed.
Into the Firebelly
A Chimera has a set of aspects. The main set includes fury and shadow, and I started with the former. I was vaguely familiar with these cards from prior plays. Very tricky!
Figuring out how to deal with each card is also part of the puzzle. Destroying aspects helps damage the Chimera, but how to handle their attacks and abilities? That’s the fun.
Naturally, I was on a roll after that first victory and thought I would win, but there it was… Firebelly! A terrible card.
I liked the randomness of the Chimera’s behavior, as I could plan in some ways, but had to hope for a little luck at times.
Session Overview
Play Number: 5 & 6
Expansion: Red Rains – The Corpse of Viros
Solo Mode: Included in Red Rains – The Corpse of Viros
Play Details: The Corpse of Viros Standard 1 (Fury)
Outcome: 1 Win & 1 Loss
At least there was one moment when I could celebrate a win! This was a nice way to get back into the system, and my goal to spend some time with it paid off nicely. I was far from done with these plays, as Aradel needed to complete this campaign and defeat the Corpse of Viros! Such a great sort of puzzle with tons of strategies and layers to unfold!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
4
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
+ Pros (Positives)
- The artwork is amazing on every card, capturing a combination of beauty and action in all of the colorful details.
- Each character features a pre-constructed deck with its own strengths, and figuring these out is a lot of fun.
- After the initial hurdle of learning the rules, gameplay is relatively smooth with an emphasis on the decisions.
- Lots of nuanced layers exist beneath the surface, and learning what works best is an ever-evolving challenge.
- Campaigns are quick and allow limited changes to a deck, allowing for a sampling of optional deck construction.
- Managing the dice and cards is an excellent mix of doing the most with what’s available during every round.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Learning the game or finding a rule can be a very challenging time with the way information is spread out so much.
- It can be helpful at first for learning, but the Chimera board’s cutout spaces for dice don’t do much and take up space.
- As a new player, getting started can be difficult without clear guidance on the dice to use for each character’s deck.
- The lore is a bit sparse in the printed game materials, which can make it hard to connect the mechanics with a story.
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Chimera
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win a standard campaign as Aradel Summergaard.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy about Ashes Reborn: Rise of the Phoenixborn? Is there a character or Chimera aspect you find to be the most fun or challenging? I was a little skeptical as I got back into this one, but it’s a wonderful sort of solo puzzle! So much content to explore, although I’ll be content with successfully completing a campaign as Aradel Summergaard. Onward!
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