There are two clear contenders for the best board game of 2022

Many board game publishers make a tidy profit on upgraded components — things like metal coins and card sleeves that make their products more appealing at the table. Some companies even build entire games from these bits. Just look at the poker-style chips and custom dice that Chip Theory Games uses, or the neoprene game board at the center of Leder Games’ Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile. Clear plastic playing card is another costly and scarce component which has seen its moment of glory this year.

The unusually transparent sheets are just as easy to use and feel like playing cards. They can be shuffled and sleeved, making them easy to integrate with decks of traditional playing cards. You can print them on as well, which allows you to create layers or hide game components. Used in clever ways, clear cards offer players new mechanics and features that simply weren’t available in board games before. Two of the year’s best games — John D. Clair’s Dead Reckoning and Corey Konieczka’s 3,000 Scoundrels —Use them in your own unique creative way.

A stack of two cards, one clear, along with a card sleeve.

A clear card, a traditional paper card, and a card sleeve combined.

Dead Reckoning It is an open-ended, sandbox-style game where exploration and conflict take place on the high seas. Each player is given a team of sailors to help him or her sail. The crew is able to be improved over time and gives players an increased sense of ownership. Clair uses one clear plastic card for each of these crew members — for the bosun, the first mate, the deck hand, and so on.

These transparent cards have art that only covers half the surface. Pair each card with a matchmaking card sleeve and an equally sized traditional card. To upgrade their squad, players simply take out the standard playing card and flip it over. This will reveal the new stats, which can be seen through the transparent top card. It’s a clever system both in how it uses novel materials, and also in how it reinforces the sense of investment players have in their crew.

A collection of traditional cards and clear cards. They show traits, like elderly, patient, and spiteful alongside jobs like hacker, butler, and prospector.

A clear card, a traditional card, combined with a card sleeve.

3,000 ScoundrelsKonieczka created an elaborate bidding system in which designers can create characters that will work with them to collect the most treasure. Konieczka uses a lot more of these transparent cards in his design — 60, versus Dead Reckoning’s 8. These 60 unique cards combine with 50 traditional cards to create thousands of potential characters, a rogues’ gallery that similarly supports the game’s promise of variety implicit in the title.

A horse overlay turns a human into a horse. — Apparently “horse” is a job.

Implementation of clear cards 3,000 ScoundrelsThis is a very clever idea. While the game’s traditional cards have art for NPC faces, clear job cards overlay clothes and other props on top — sort of like a paper doll. The traditional and the clear cards also interact by creating new combinations of stats, perks, and costs depending on how they’re paired. It makes setting up for each new game an act of discovery — further reinforcing the game’s futuristic time-traveling storyline.

A set of boxes, plus instructions on how they go back inside the box. — In addition to a higher price, *Dead Reckoning* boasts one of the best pack-in solutions I’ve seen in a modern board game.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that clear cards have been used in tabletop games. My personal favorite, GloomSince 2005, the, is a well-known brand. This is actually a fact. Dead ReckoningThis is the latest game in an extensive line of AEG-related games, including titles such as Mystic Vale Custom Heroes. Even the company owns the name of its solution, which they call Card Crafting System.

Why have these two companies produced such highly-publicized games with similar parts? Well, that’s one of the joys of tabletop gaming. While names, locations, and certain mechanics can be legally protected, barring other companies from using them in their own games, more common items like dice can’t be. This leads to co-evolutionary designs.

What’s more, even though both games utilize clear cards in similar manners to accomplish various tasks, these games also take up very different positions in the marketplace. 3,000 ScoundrelsIt is very economical and big-box friendly at $49.95 Dead ReckoningThe other component that is extremely costly, like the plastic miniatures, sturdy boxes and 3D resin tokens, is. The premium price tag of $79.95 is expected to rise once the product reaches retail.

Find out more Dead Reckoning Backerkit has a second printing available for pre-order. 3,000 ScoundrelsPre-orders are available at Asmodee’s website as well as at your friendly local gaming stores starting Sept. 23. The worldwide retail release will be Oct. 7.