Favorite Board Game for December 6th

#19 A Universal Truth

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." — Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (1813)

In A Universal Truth players use multi-use cards to try to win the favor of their chosen suitor. This is one of three board games that I own with a theme inspired by Pride and Prejudice, and one of two in my top 20. I suppose these games come the closest to the "relationship sim" aspects of computer games that I like, such as Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon.

In this deep, strategic card game, players choose a suitor early (ideally) in the game and then collect different qualities to make themselves appealing to that chosen future spouse. The cards do all the work here. Every card does everything. Each represents your income, your skills, your friends, your relationship with your intended, as well as displaying that potential intended. Every card is a person that you can focus on to create your game's ultimate objective as well as everything else. The entire game is just one huge deck of cards, some pawns and some dice.

Each time you choose to use a card for one thing this means you are giving up using it for anything else, and that decision can feel agonizing in the best possible way. It's a brilliant game, and the most diverse use of cards that I've seen in a game. Sadly, it's also self-published on GameCrafter. I say, "sadly" because GameCrafter is a print-on-demand service for board games and can be quite expensive. However, A Universal Truth is worth it, and proof that self published works can be genuinely fantastic. And this game certainly is.