Heart of Crown
Japanime Games
2-4 Players
Playtime: 30-60 Minutes
It’s time for another board game review of a deck builder published by Japanime Games. Now, dear reader, I’m sure you might be asking “Wow, another Japanime Games deck builder? Surely you are tired of these games by now.”
No, we surely are not.
A Brief How To Play
I won’t get deep into the process of how to play Heart of Crown, because it mostly follows the formula that is in 90% of deck builders. Instead, I will highlight a few differences. Players can look at the rulebook for Heart of Crown here.
Setting up Heart of Crown is a lot like setting up any other deck builder, though it does of course have its own gimmicks. After players draw their initial hands from their small starting decks, play begins as most deck builders do. One of the two significant differences here is the way the market works. Rather than a mostly open market, all of the cards are shuffled into a deck and 8 are revealed. Duplicates stack, adding a bit of variance to every game.
The other significant difference is the player’s ability to choose who they want to wear the crown. If players can pay 6 coins, they can choose a princess and take the benefits that come with her. After a princess a selected, players will begin to work towards the endgame and earn succession points, which effectively act as victory points. Players will forfeit buying cards on their turn to earn these points instead.
When a player has 20 succession points, they can declare a coronation ceremony. All other players will get one more turn with the opportunity to declare their own coronation ceremony. If multiple players declare, overtime will begin, and there will be a race to 30 succession points. Whoever reaches this first wins.
Pacing and Interactivity
Heart of Crown is easily one of the fastest-paced deck builders out there. A game will almost never run more than an hour, and the amount of player interactivity makes it play in a brisk manner. The easy-to-understand rules help the game go quickly for new players too, so there isn’t much need for lengthy explanations.
It certainly isn’t a mean game, but there is a fair amount of negative interactions with other players in the form of holding other players back from racing their full potential. There is just enough here to make this deck builder feel more interactive than most deck builders. Fans of Tanto Cuore will have a good idea of what to expect. Heart of Crown is built quite similarly with interaction, making it more than just a race towards victory points.
Theme and Components
You might have heard that Tanto Cuore is Dominion but anime. If that is indeed true, then Heart of Crown is also just Dominion but anime. There is a lot of overlap in cards, and the game fully leans in on its theme. The art is mostly lovely, though there are a few cards that have art that simply clashes with the rest. Still, the theme works excellently with the gameplay. Choosing a successor makes the experience feel immersive, and many of the card effects suit their presentation. Heart of Crown certainly isn’t a one-to-one copy of Dominion, but it makes use of the retheming incredibly well.
If Heart of Crown falls short anywhere, it’s the quality of the components. They aren’t excellent cards by any means, but they also aren’t offensively flimsy. This is one of Japanime Games‘ oldest games, and most of the more recent deck builders are much sturdier. The cards are full of color and the art is mostly high-resolution art though, so this alleviates the quality a bit.
Replay Value
Like most deck builders, there is plenty of reason to play Heart of Crown over and over again. As a card game, variability is high. This is exacerbated by the market that changes from game to game. Most games have more static markets, so Heart of Crown is a little more diverse from game to game. Heart of Crown will last for a long time at most deck builder and anime fans’ tables.
Heart of Crown Is Great For Fans Of…
Anyone who loves the genre will enjoy Heart of Crown if they aren’t averse to anime visuals. The easiest comparison is to Tanto Cuore. There is room for both at the table, so fans of the maid deck-building game will get their money’s worth here.
Heart of Crown
Like It
The Good
- Gameplay suits theme well
- More variety between games than most deck builders
The Bad
- Some inconsistent art
- Components are middling at best