Hand of Fate was quite the indie surprise when it launched in early 2015. The punishing Dungeons & Dragons inspired card game melded multiple genres and excited many geek fantasies. It pushed the boundaries of imagination, bringing a punishing tabletop adventure that reveled in telling stories and leaving the fate of the player in the hands of chance. Though its ingenuity impressed, it wasn’t without its fair share of technical hiccups that made the road traveled a little rough. Now that the sequel is out, not only have most of the rough edges been polished, but the formula has been touched up to tell better stories and more spectacularly test the player’s luck.
Told and played through the cards, Hand of Fate is an adventure that’s at the whim of the deck. Each card is an encounter, and it might be something as simple as seeing forest maiden and asking for assistance, or as difficult as getting ambushed by bandits on a rickety bridge. Combat is separate, done through the increasingly popular Arkham style of fighting, but health carries over between the combat encounters and the tabletop campaign. Many of the encounters are left to chance, and a randomized draw of the cards could result in resounding success or brutal failure. Fall to zero health in either, and your adventure will need a new beginning. Hand of Fate 2 dives deeper, cultivating the experience to be less random in many ways, while still making every single moment feel unique, exciting, an...