Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Unique Deck Building and Dueling
The tabletop world is currently entrenched in a golden age of dueling battle systems. Among titles like Unmatched, Dice Throne, Summoner Wars, Star Wars: Epic Duels, Wildlands and Guilty Gear Strive, we now enter Ivion. Ivion: The Sun and Stars is one of three sets from the debut season. This set pits the Invoker—a fallen mage fixated on revenge against the magic academy—against the Wizard, an old sage defending the institution, in a classic student-versus-teacher story. Each core set features two fighters, each with unique starter decks. The game includes advanced cards that can later be added through the “hero-crafting” system and can be expanded to four players with additional box sets.
Slow Your Enemy or Go for the Attack?
Ivion is played in turns until one hero loses all their health and is defeated. The arena board is a 4×4 grid, with each hero starting in opposite corners. Players begin with three standard actions per turn, which can be used to move, attack, trigger abilities, generate resources, or manipulate the board state.
Cards often generate resources such as power, initiative, or actions, which can be spent on subsequent cards to resolve various effects. Some cards have a range requirement and can only be played if the enemy is within a specific number of spaces. Others can add “control” tokens to the opponent, preventing them from playing certain card types until those tokens are removed. Cards can also be played as obstacles—placed directly on the board and triggering effects based on player proximity.
Each hero plays differently and requires the player to lean into their specific strategy to gain the upper hand. Heroes also begin the game with unique trait cards that offer usable abilities, permanent modifiers, or rule changes. Resource and hand management is critical, as players don’t automatically draw new cards each turn.
Once a player’s initial health pool is depleted, they flip their health tracker, entering a “last stand.” This grants an extra card draw (and may trigger some abilities) and replenishes health at a reduced amount. May the strongest hero survive!
Fire Magic vs. Spellcasting
Ivion: The Sun and Stars is a strong introduction to the broader Ivion system. Both heroes offer distinct but somewhat parallel play styles, requiring knowledge of both to achieve victory. The Invoker fights up close with bursts of elemental attacks, while the Wizard prefers a ranged approach and sets magical traps around the board. Spatial positioning is key, as the two heroes’ ranges are essentially opposites. The game often becomes a tense cat-and-mouse chase across the board to get into position for attacks and abilities.
In our experience, the Wizard felt stronger, with attacks that dealt massive “nuking” damage and effects that slowed the Invoker to gain the upper hand. The Invoker was still fun to play, with mechanics focused on stacking elemental damage, but required being in close range. While the system doesn’t feel entirely new compared to other dueling games, that’s not necessarily a bad thing—it’s streamlined, accessible, and includes a helpful step-by-step “learn to play” guide in the box.
That said, some card wording can be confusing for new players, leading to potential misunderstandings. While a rules reference is included, I’ve been told that later box sets feature a more refined rulebook. For this initial set, though, it’s a slight drawback.
The standout feature of Ivion is the hero-crafting system. Players can build their own unique heroes by mixing decks and creating “archetypes,” allowing for deeper competitive play. The mixing requirements are relatively flexible, providing endless opportunities for creative synergies that keep the system fresh. While the box includes some advanced cards, fully exploring the system requires purchasing additional box sets, which can get expensive. It’s unfortunate that individual heroes aren’t available through smaller card packs, forcing players to buy sets that may include unwanted content.
Still, each box features two heroes with contrasting play styles, making it worthwhile to explore both. Some light narrative elements help establish the story behind the battles, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Additional world-building materials are also available for players who want to inject more theme into their bouts.
Overall, Ivion is a solid dueling game that offers dramatic push-and-pull gameplay. The Invoker and Wizard feel like a great entry point into the system, with potential for deeper strategies in future expansions.
Ivion: The Sun & The Stars details
- Designer: Aaron Shaw, Aislyn Hall
- Artists: Alexandra Schastlivaya, Benjamin Goutte, Dario Marzadori, Katerina Poliakova, Ksenia Kozhevnikova, Lucas Torquato, Paolo Cagampan, Septimius Ferdian, Wojciech Depczynski
- Publishers: Luminary Games
- Release Date: 2022
- Player count : 2 - 4
- Age range : 13+
- Time range : 15 - 30 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Action Points, Deck Construction, Grid Movement, Hand Management, Interrupts, Resource to Move, Take That
- BGG Geek Rating: 7.96441 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
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