Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Stonemeier Games newest release: Origin Story!

From Stonemeier Games, the company that brought us familiar game shelf favourites such as Wingspan, Scythe and Tapestry; Origin Story is the newest member of their gaming pantheon. Designed by Jamey Stegmaier, one of the world’s most easily known board game designers, and design newcomer Pete Wissinger. Origin Story blends classic card play with a self created narrative arc for your character.

I have been a fan of Stonemeier Games for a while now. The quality of the components, the ability for players who love a particular game to enhance their copy by optionally purchasing upgrades (removing Kickstarter FOMO), and the rebalancing packs you can get for games like Tapestry, shows a company invested in their players and not just their bottom line. However, every game is different, not all mechanics and games work for all players. Would Origin Story be a game that fights crime in the shadows, thanks to the solo mode, or would it fight in the light, coming back to the table for more outings with my game group? For me, it’s certainly a game that I will play through with my friends again. My playthrough quickly showed me that this game can sit on my shelf next to Finspan, Viticulture and its other siblings with pride.

Origin Story is a trick taking game, the first of its kind from Stonemeier, and they have come out swinging. You start with a small hero tableau board, featuring an impressionist hint at how your hero first got their powers, but it leaves it up to you, the player, to decide what story it is telling. Each board is unique, but the characters all have the same powers, ensuring the game starts balanced

What Origin Story lacks in stated narrative, it makes up for with its evocative art. The stunning artwork by Clémentine Campardou, created with water colours, immediately gives every card a sense of motion with a soft and flowing style that compliments the game magically. 

The rule book is minimal, but that is understandable for a trick taking game, as there are really not many mechanics. This makes the game easier for those experienced with this game mechanic, as you only have to learn what is unique to Origin Story, but as a player who has only previously played one trick taking game, it took me a couple of turns to grasp what a lot of things in the manual were trying to tell me.

Setup is fast and easy, each player is given two superhero identity cards that stay face down on their boards with the side facing up acting as the reference card for your rounds. 

The game unfolds over five rounds. At the start of each round, you draw eight cards for your hand and receive three story cards, which feature allies, powers, gadgets, or adversaries. Choosing one and discarding the others nudges your hero’s development without slowing play or drowning the game in story text. It is all suggestion and imagination and works wonderfully. After selecting your new story card, you play the stamina you have built up onto the cards you choose and can afford to activate them for that round. These can do things such as power up your hand cards or make you the first player of the round.

Scoring is primarily based on whether you decide to play the round as a hero or an anti-hero. 

Heroes earn one VP per trick won, anti-heroes earn four VP if they go the round without winning one. It is a very clever system that flips what you would think is a bad hand into a tactical opportunity. On the other hand, you could choose to lose a hand in order to stop an anti-hero gaining points that round. This all keeps players engaged no matter what cards they have drawn.

During our playthrough, we encountered an issue with a card; Beast Mode, which we could not decide as a group what it meant. Not wanting to delay play any further, we added it to our discard pile, and carried on. Post game, I searched for this card on the internet and found that the same question had been asked on the Stonemeier website. Johndor called for aid, and Stegmaier answered. Whilst it is amazing when a creator engages with the community, it shows a small hole in the level of understanding needed for at least one card. So, in more plays, would I need to search the internet again, potentially slowing down play? For any future reprints I would suggest some keyword text and explanations in the rule book for clarity.

When I first started the game, the hero cards did not mean anything to me, but as the game progressed and I got closer to the final round, the powers of my final hero choice became clear and based on the equipment I had chosen throughout the game made the decision of who my hero should be, a very easy one. 

In the third round of the game, you draw an event card. This gives a twist to shake up the gameplay and can potentially allow players who are flagging, a chance to catch up. The card that came up in my play was the Gladiatorial Showdown. At that time in the game, I had some powerful abilities compared to my opponents, and this event card meant that for that round, all abilities were nullified. If a player were to win at least one trick, they gained an additional stamina point, and the player that won the most would get a staggering five VPs. For us, it was a tie, so no extra VPs for us. 

In the final round, you don’t get a story card, but the player will choose one of the two hero cards that have been face down since the start of the game. This is their final reveal, from foundling, to fully fledged hero with all the gadgets and powers they have accumulated through their game.

Origin Story is a well crafted, fast flowing game, helped by straightforward gameplay and easy decision points. Our first setup and playthrough took about forty minutes, and a second game would easily half that. It’s an ideal opener for a game night; quick to teach, quick to play, and appealing enough that you will likely want to dive straight into another play. With its simplicity and charm, it’s also a great choice to introduce non-gamers to trick taking; chances are they’ll be asking for another go as soon as the last card hits the table.

You can find out more about Origin Story on the Stonemaier Games website